1999 march 02

fewer

i am worried about the penguins.

i read an article on the cnn site about their declining numbers and how scientists are trying to reverse the trend. i am most distressed, but also intrigued. the claim is 4 of 5 baby penguins never make it to adulthood; they are mostly eaten by foxes [understandable], seagulls [slightly less understandable but if you've ever seen a gull go after a french fry you can imagine them going after anything] and armadillos. armadillos?? i didn't even think they ate meat!!

tonight on fox: killer armadillos from hell!! hide your children and penguins!!

sudden swerve to the left: jubilee just called.

my great aunt fiona died yesterday. she was in her eighties and apparently it was a quick and painless death. she was on the phone with a friend when she made a sudden strange noise and the line went dead. the friend called fiona's son, who went over to her house to find her dead on the couch. she was still sitting upright so the preliminary guess is massive stroke or coronary. that's the way to go--BOOM!--you're dead.

she is the last of her generation on my father's side. it is a strange feeling knowing that a whole group of people have just disappeared and my father and his brothers, sisters and cousins are now at the front line.

i didn't know aunt fiona well. she lived in the midwest and didn't travel, and quite frankly, i never felt the need to head in her direction. that is a failing in me; i am rather self contained and with the exception of my immediate family and a circle of very close friends, i don't feel the need to search out new people for my life. that includes relatives. i am sure i have missed out on great relationships with any number of cousins and aunts and uncles, but i just don't feel there is enough of me to go around as it is. i get along well enough with all of them when we do congregate, but i just can't seem to make the effort to stay in touch past these small reunions.

do i get one tiny little point for sending christmas cards to most of them? hand made christmas cards?

great aunts and penguins, fewer today than yesterday. i can't even decide which ones i will miss the most. how pathetic. how sad.

waddling, claire