Snow Day

We got up pretty early this morning and had a good walk. It's lightly snowing, but not more than a light dusting so far. There are still a few drifts around and Zoe loves to roll in them. When she gets up, she looks like she has a bad case of dandruff.

I picked up a clamp-on lamp this morning and a few 100w bulbs, and plugged it in to see how well it would heat the cabin. It works really well, but you need to be careful with those things, since they could burn up the boat if they fall and touch something. However, they are much better than the heater I have, which is highly dangerous when unattended.

It's just a 100w bulb, so really no different than leaving a light on, but they do generate a lot of heat. Anyway, I'll experiment a little over the next few days, but I'm really happy with it so far. With both the lamp and heater running, it's really warm in the boat today.

Zoe's lounging on the starboard side settee trying to sleep while I work, but whenever I talk to her, she'll open her eyes and wag her tail just a little. But if I say a magic word, e.g., "kitty" or "cookie," she's wide awake and ready for action. I try not to tease her too much, so when I used "cookie" and gave her one.

Honestly, she's really the best dog I've ever known. She's even figured out how to communicate with me. If she needs water, she'll sit in front of her water bowl and stare at it. Eventually, I'll notice, since otherwise she's sleeping, and give her more water. She sorta does that for food, but water is usually more pressing. I've also noticed that while sailing, she'll sometimes stare at the leeward jib sheet winch.

I could never understood why, but now that I think about it, the wind normally changed shortly afterward, requiring an adjustment. Maybe she anticipated it an was trying to let me know -- she doesn't like it when the boat heels too much -- either that or a bug landed on the winch and she was fixated on it. She loves to eat bugs, especially bumble bees. I had to take her to the vet right after I got her to get a stinger removed from her tongue after she ate one -- not a good day -- so I discourage that behavior nowadays.