As the weather improves, I started wondering when we might see our fox family again. Looking through all my pictures from last year, I realized I'd meant to post these, too.

So, without further ado:

We were eating outside one evening, and guess who thought he was coming to dinner?

Maybe he mistook me for his adoptive leopard mom.

We had just gotten new carpet and the installers left the remnant rolled up right outside our bedroom. One night, I awakened to thump, thump... scatter, scatter. Thump, thump, thump... scatter, scatter, scatter. I got up to investigate and this is what I saw:

They were chasing each other into and through the rolled up carpet.

Tim and I have been debating about the whole ammonia thing. The bears are ending their hibernation and coming down from their caves in the mountain. It was a real chore to get our garage door fixed, so I thought we should put the ammonia soaked rags on top of our garaged garbage bins, again. Tim says since it's been so wet, there'll be plenty of berries around for them and they won't need to break into anything. But, wouldn't it be nice not to have piles of bear scat in our driveway? He had to concede I had a point. So sorry, Yogi. Ammonia it is.

But, what about the fox in the backyard? Tim's the one (what do you want from me?) who has to clean all their poop. We could put some ammonia under the deck to dissuade them from using it as a den again. On that decision therefore, I deferred to my husband who said, "Oh, but we enjoy them so much. What's a little poop?"

I guess we'll see if momma fox thought the accommodations at our humble abode were good enough for her. Judging by how she seemed to take ownership, I'm thinking, yeah.

This was taken after Tim and I walked home from downtown. It was eerie indeed to come up to our driveway at dusk and see her, pretending she's queen of all she surveys, on our garage.

There can only be one queen of this road, toots.

Taking the "Fox Xing" sign a neighbor put up, literally:

At least she's looking both ways before she crosses.

If last year is any indication, the little ones should arrive in about two weeks. I've seen a couple of adults in the yard (neither of whom looked preggers), but since it only takes two...

Yes, I know this is wild speculation, but that's what we do here on the Fox News Update. We report, you decide.

This was a special evening. Five bookclubs in Bemidji, MN met together for the first time at the only speakerphone in town (really?) so we could discuss QUEEN OF THE ROAD. Over 30 ladies crowded into a 12X12 room at the Bemidji Airport.

They certainly got into the spirit of things:

The Book Bags: Back Row: L-R, Ann Cease ("who is a witch when she travels" - yeah, Tim says the same about me), Cori Rude, Leona Hambrecht, Sue Bruns, Martha Nelson, Evi Thompson, Nancy Bensen, Robyn Schulke, Lin Ward. Front Row: Mary May, Polly Scotland, and Trish Quistgaard.

The Finer Things Literary Society: Erin Curran and Amy Haskell

The Bemidji Belles (a new club that's been meeting only 6 months) and one member of the Tuesday Book Club (who didn't seem to mind meeting on Wednesday) wearing her pajamas (center in black - my kinda gal). L-R Back: Jeannie Peterson, Shelly Anderson, Joyce Siegert. Front: Carole Holmes, Vicki Holmes, Joel Olson.

Ladies of the Lake: L-R, Back Row Dianne Wilds, Pat Schneider, Susan Colliander, Eileen Gothman, DeeAnn Najjar, Mary Melchoir. Front Row: Peggy Olding, Annette Mackenroth, Nancy Ramsey. (I was told that 2/3 criteria had to be met to be in this club: Read the book, live on the lake, not be a virgin. I didn't ask who met what.)

Other book clubs take notice: All the ladies were either in tiaras or Burger King crowns. (I'm partial to the one I got from Target.)

Tim and I actually drove through Bemidji, MN. It's the first city on the Mississippi River. We even stopped for heavenly Walleye fish 'n' chips on Leech Lake, in the town of Walker. The book clubs told me I'd misidentified the lake as "Walker Lake" in the book.

Now, which would you rather swim in?

Thanks for a very special and lively evening, ladies!

Well, this was a first. These two book clubs in Lansing, MI had already met to discuss QUEEN OF THE ROAD, but I couldn't call in that night. So, several of the ladies met again the very next night when I could.

Talk about gluttons for punishment.

front row l to r: Liz Hutchinson, Kay Shapiro, Judy Blinn-Rudman
second row, l to r: Marilyn Ruben, Clare Berkman

l to r: Marilyn Ruben, Judy Blinn-Rudman, Liz Hutchinson, Clare Berkman
In front: Kay Shapiro

KI stands for Kehillet Israel Congregation and SZ for Temple Shaarey Zedek

Turned out to be quite an unusually adventurous group: Several RVers (my people aren't really known for hitting the road - hitting the desert, yes. Road? In an RV? Not so much), and even a woman, Judith, who sailed on Lake Michigan for years. Apparently, her husband had quite a bit in common with me: he wasn't, shall we say, the best passenger.

I especially loved one of their takeaways from the book: Differences are something to appreciate rather than overcome to stay together.

I couldn't (and didn't) say it better myself.

Thanks for doubling down on your Queen, ladies!

In honor of the ladies in this book club - who are all retired - I decided to (temporarily) retire from coming up with "clever" (yes, I know - depends on your definition) titles for these book club posts.

Thank you, ladies!!!

TOP ROW Left to right: Ruth, Peggy, Geraldine, Martie, NEXT ROW DOWN left to right: Marge, Nancy, NEXT ROW DOWN left to right: Betty, Ginny, Alice Jeanne, FRONT ROW left to right: Rita and Sue.

This club very appropriately meets in a clubhouse. Unfortunately, they do it on Thursdays in the early afternoons, so alas, no drinks (that I can see, anyway, and believe me, I have eagle-eyes for this sort of thing). Bridgeville is in the southernmost county in Delaware and these ladies live in a 5 year-old community there.

Hmm... if I lived in a community where I knew alot of people in the neighborhood, would that disuade me from going out to get the mail in this getup?

Nah. I don't think so, either, despite what Tim said when I went out to the mailbox like this, "Say hi to the neighbors. We'll tell them we're adjusting your meds."

Thanks again, for a lovely discussion, ladies!

Not that I'm lazy or anything (what do you want from me?) but, one of my Facebook friends from Amarillo, TX recently (well, sort of recently. What DO you want from me?) forwarded this picture of her book club's meeting to discuss QUEEN OF THE ROAD:

Rather than attempt a description myself, I was so tickled with Kelly's, I'll just post it here:

We aptly named ourselves the "Not Yo Mammas Book Club" and we have had it faithfully the last Tuesday of every month. We enjoyed reading and discussing the book. Lots of laughter had by all discussing the pitfalls of hitting the road for a year.
We each came in our pj's and received a boa and tiarra. Funny thing was when they were purchased we didn't realize until we got them home that they flashed....oh yeah, classy! A couple of the girls got together and made the martini glasses. They turned out BEAUTIFUL and complimented the green in the Pelican Pucker!
We had such a great time that one of our members stated the following morning she was sitting in her pj's, wearing her tiarra and drinking coffee out of her martini glass. She simply was not ready to give up being a princess yet.......

You be the judge on that Pelican Pucker:

Quite the nice job, I'd say. Gee. I sure hope we have Midori in the house...