EXCITING STUFF (AT LEAST FOR ME)

FLASH!  Seymor is "no more!"

Yesterday at 3 AM, Cookie came out of her hideout to greet me.  She had proudly stretched her tiny bright black body to a length of a half inch.

However, before she could say, "Good Morning, Mr. Joe," she spotted Seymor Spider and quickly ran back into her shelter.

I had warned Seymor that someday one of our cleaners would spot him and hurry his demise.  

And so it was today.  Seymor was discovered and hurriedly deposited in a watery grave.  RIP, Seymor, we could have become great friends.

Besides Seymor, our helper also found a congregation of baby spiders conducting a meeting right under my bed.  They joined Seymor.

(Are you crazy like me and talk to creatures.  Try it.  It's fun.)

This reminds me: 

"Pierre is no more!"

(I've written about this before.)

Pierre Bourgeois was a good friend.  We both worked at the Social Security Administration headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland, and also brewed delicious red wine together.

One year Pierre and his beautiful family went on a week-long trip to the "Outer Banks" in the Carolinas.

When the week was up, I called his house to ask him how the trip went.  A female voice answered and said, "Pierre is no more."

Pierre had died on the way home from the trip. I don't believe he was more than thirty years old.

His mother had flown in from California and was answering his calls. She was (is?) a well-known painter of nautical scenes. "To remember Pierre," she gave use a painting that I treasure.

Pierre's wife also gave us something "To remember Pierre."  She planted a small azalea bush in the middle of our yard.  That was over 25 years ago and yesterday my daughter Diane, who now lives in our earlier home, says that the azalea bush has become a massive glorious plant that is the envy of the neighborhood.

RIP Pierre, mon ami!

To end this entry on a lighter note, here are some punny definitions from Bennett Cerf (Random Books leader here in Westminster)

BIGAMIST - an Italian fog

DOGMA - a puppy's mother

GUILLOTINE - a French chopping center

HATE ORGANIZATIONS - sour groups

MOLASSES - additional girls

PASTEURIZE - something you see moving

SPECIMEN - an Italian astronaut

VIOLIN - a very bad hotel

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