Crazy Cat Ladies, Etc.

I drove to southern Vermont for a meeting on Sunday and later had a visit with my beautiful friend Julie.  It's raining in this photograph - can you tell?

Anyway, she and I and another dear friend Lesley had a fabulous dinner and more margaritas than was good for us.

Julie's house is a refuge for animals, in the best sense.  Full of rescued cats and dogs (and clean as a whistle, may I add - she must spend half her life tidying up).  The feline population is  always between 8 and 12, plus a collie and a Newfie.  Julie is very big-hearted and loves all those animals unreservedly.

I am a pet owner, too, as you know, and have always loved cats.  I am more reserved with dogs, but they've grown on me over the years.  I know, I know - man's best friend.  But my personality is more suited to the cerebral, aloof demeanor of cats.  They're not really brainy, I suppose, but they can sure fake it.  Here are just a few of the permanent house guests:

I headed farther south on Monday for a board meeting of the Professional Photographers Association of New England (PPANE).  I have been on or connected with the board since the early 90s and have made some of my best friends in that group. 

Photographers are pretty gregarious on the whole and since we mostly work alone or with other family members, it's great to network and share ideas with other crazy people in the same boat.  Kidding, Nancy, you're not crazy.  A lot of the hard work of PPANE gets done in these board meetings and you can see from the photographs how glamorous it all is.

They're not all big showoffs, but I am, so here's a photo I've always wanted to have taken: