Close Encounters of Three Kinds (with a hint of Groundhog Day)

Brrrrr ..... chilly! Well, by Vancouver standards. This morning's temperature would be considered downright balmy in Winterpeg. Or pretty much anywhere else in the country. Anyway, I'm NOT complaining. Just look at all those sunshines ....

I considered putting a jacket on Freddie, but he seemed comfy in his own fleece coat ...

To equalize things, I wore my fleece-lined jeans ...

There's snow in them thar hills ... but big buildings kept getting in the way of my photos.

Here's close encounter #1: a frozen puddle, possibly Freddie's first. He had a great time smashing the ice and trying to extract the leaves.

Encounter #2: the ginger cat. In his encounters with Ginger, Freddie reminds me of the Bill Murray character in Groundhog Day. He would love to play with this cat, but his first attempts were complete disasters. Lungeing, pouncing, tail flapping, tongue lolling. Hardly a surprise that Ginger would scram immediately. But with each new encounter, he manages to curb his galumphery a little more. Today Ginger actually sat in this spot for several minutes while Freddie nosed around, trying to figure her out. In the end, he blew it again and she bolted. But maybe next time, Freddie .... maybe next time ...

Encounter #3: juicy red mystery berries. I have no idea if these berries are toxic or harmless, but I didn't want Freddie to find out. As the Boss says (sort of) in a tune with the most smushed together lyrics ever, "You can sniff, but you better not touch, boy."

And back to Groundhog Day to wrap up ... here's that song the Bill Murray character keeps hearing morning after morning ... because, as the radio guy in the movie says at the end, it's just so good!