Folks,

Another cloud shrouded day here just considerably colder. Our current temp is 42°F. / 6° C. under solid overcast. The cat is going nuts trying to see the birds she hears gossiping about the poor flying weather up on the roof above her. A few big crows have flown by the cat TV (window) but most flights seem to have been cancelled this morning.

Happy Valentines Day tomorrow.
I used to give my late wife a dozen red roses on Valentine's Day. It really should have been on EVERY day. Then it became just one long stemmed red rose. She never seemed to notice how thrifty I had become. To her, it really was "The thought that truly counted."

Her favorite flower was not the rose but always the Daisy. A simple flower, yet so beautiful. That was her as well. There was a pop song years back titled "Give Her a Daisy a Day". A melancholy song of true love and remembrance. Now and then I'd pick some Daisies for my wife for no particular reason other than I saw them by the path. I knew how big her smile would be when she saw them. Usually, that was when old Chief (the rescued K9 trained Belgium shepherd) and I went on one of our long, therapeutic walks. When I see a Daisy or hear that song today I always pause and think a long while of her.

I suspect I've saved Dux's hide many times, when he was married, by reminding him of important holly days, anniversaries, birthdays etc. over the years right on these very pages. Remember what I typed the other day about how to never forget your wife's birthday ever again? I typed from my own sorry experience, "Just forget it ONCE." Well, Dux was spared that experience as far as I know.In truth, I doubt he ever really forgot an important date in his life, yet he always seemed to appreciate the heads up.

I see Remington Firearms has or is filing for bankruptcy. They are an old and respected company. Strangely, after all my days of shooting, I did not know they were a NC based company. Hopefully, filing chap. 11 will give them the relief they need to regroup and get through this industry wide slump in sales.

They lost market share after the tragic Sandy Hook killings with the Bushmaster. Then there was a recently settled lawsuit due to mfg. defects in some products. There was a huge boom in gun sales during the election when it appeared Clinton might win. There were rumors that tighter gun laws would follow Clinton's election. Apparently, with that risk abated sales have fallen off quite a bit since Pres. Trump's election. Some slices of society have shown a marked increase in sales however. The LGBT community, afraid of backlashes due to Pres. Trump's policies, have shown a large bump in gun sales, or so I've just read.

AN OFFER YOU CAN'T REFUSE FROM THE OLD MAN

An old Mafia Don is dying and he called his grandson to his bed. "Grandson, I wanta you to listen to me. I wanta you to take my .45 automatic pistola. Do dat so you will always remember me." "But grandpa", said the lad, "I really don't like guns, how about you leaving me your heavy, gold Rolex watch instead?"

" You lisina to me boy, some day you goin' a be runna da business. You goina have a bootiful wife, lotsa money, a big home and maybe a couple sweet bambino. What iffa somea day you goina come home and maybe you finda you wife in bed with another man?"

" Whata you gonna do den mista smarty? Pointa to you watch and say, "TIMES UP"?"