Holiday greetings to all! Alert: Just before Thanksgiving, my wife and I were visiting friends in NYC. We took a train out to see some other friends in Mamaroneck NY, (I have no idea whether that's the correct spelling) and while strolling along the main street we ducked into a pet shop. They had 6-8 ferret-babies shoved into a (ok, good-sized) cage, with cedar shavings and without any food. When I confronted them about this, the employees told me that they were fed twice a day, and patronizingly assured me that ferrets "blow up like balloons" when given free access to food. Grrrr! Yeah, maybe when DENIED ANY EXERCISE, they do! Anyway, these jokers were not in the least bit interested in listening to my protestations. If any other dedicated FMLers live in that area, you might want to stop in and enlighten these gentlemen. I forget the name of the place, but it's a small shop on what appeared to be the main business drag of the town. Give 'em... uh... heck! On another note, winter is upon us (with a vengeance, here in Chicago), and as usual, Alexander has completely changed colors. In the summer, his face is mostly dark brown, with a dark brown badger-stripe going all the way up his face, between his ears, and over the back of his head. In the winter, this all turns much lighter (a J. Crew catalog might call it "ecru"), and he's left with only a tiny chocolate-brown mask around his eyes and across his nose, like an little old man with small pair of reading glasses perched precariously on the bridge of his nose. Moxie's siamese coloring doesn't change a bit. Curiouser and curiouser... Take care, all. John & Rebekah Alexander & Moxie (The power behind the throne) [Posted in FML issue 1418]