Rain, rain, go away

Had to attach this photo of Miss Veeka with her new umbrella which I bought in Nova Scotia. She adores it and loves walking in the rain underneath it. It is a perfect size for her. Just today we took a walk through the puddles as she tried licking water off the leaves of the bushes. Strange child.Yet another death, unfortunately; this time the genial host of a classical music program for the Roanoke NPR affiliate. The obit is here.  I met Seth Williamson while researching the snake handlers piece about six weeks ago in West Virginia and we had just started a rousing email correspondence about the matter. Seth won his way to my heart real fast when he told me he had been following my work for years (and liked it!) which of course got my attention. I still have emails from him in my in-box but unfortunately, he died a week ago after what was thought to be a routine operation. He was only 62 which at this point in my life, doesn't seem that old!