Dear Cousin,

I don't know if the e-mail below made it through. I tried to send it yesterday from somewhere nice and warm and not sure if it got through.

Please tell Ann that I will try to get my lady human to make a nice jumper for me. She's a great knitter . . . when she wants to be!

How is winter there? I recall that you had plenty of snow last year.

Cheers.

E Mail December 2007 to Jimby in Melton

Things here are bad. The ice storm wreaked havoc on Tulsa.

At our house, the power is out; the heat is out. The humans stuck it out at home for two days, but they have decamped to some friends' house. The friends have a generator, which is providing power. The only things that work at our home are the water and the telephone line. But the humans have only one normal telephone. The others are cordless and require electrical power to function! So, they've got one phone and no answering machine, too. But thank goodness for the water so they can still have a good wash. The human shaved in the dark yesterday. Good thing I don't have to shave! Ouch.

You wouldn't believe our neighborhood. It's like the blitz hit. Almost every tree is partially down. Many trees are totally down. And many, many, trees fell on cars and houses, crushing them. The neighbors' giant oak fell on our house, but it didn't seem to break through. And the humans were quick to find a tree removal service to remove the tree from the roof.

All of central Tulsa (except the main university campus) is without power, and much of the surrounding area is without power or water. Cousin, I tell you, it's like someone went on a bombing run through the city or like a tornado went through. Maybe I'll take some photos.

About half of the streets in the city are blocked. I've been staying inside, but those crazy humans! The male has been going to work, and the female has been doing errands. The few grocery stores and service stations open are dealing with giant, frustrated mobs. It isn't pretty.

On another topic, after seeing the lovely sweaters there, I have been told I might get one knitted for me.

Thank goodness for fur!

Cheers,
Jimby Tulsa

PS: The elves are hilarious, but that monkey on the right, the one with the glasses, he doesn't look much like a monkey! He he he.