It's a miracle! Arlo can speak English!

And what's more, according to Mike, he speaks the truth!

Happy birthday, Auntie Julia!

Wow! Has it been a whole 'nother year? Today we wish an especially fine birthday to my Auntie Julia, Mike's baby sister. Here's a little surprise for her: a picture of them taken when they were kids in Jacksonville, soon after the camera was invented. (Just kidding about that last part, but it is a pretty old photo!)

Gracie says, "I don't know much about art, but I know what I like."

What she likes, apparently, are cat pictures. Mike caught her checking out this one of two kitties relaxing in front of a place in Key West called the Ernest Hemingway Home.

M thinks this is a step in the right direction. He says now if we can get her to like real cats, we can have some peace in the valley. But I think she's sitting there wishing that all of our other cats were just pictures on the wall.

For those who don't believe in reincarnation...

. . . consider this:

Mike says the resemblance is even more startling when you look at their elementary school pictures:

I rest my case.