Goodbye, Ichabod

Ben and I lost another ferret earlier this week: Ichabod, a.k.a. The Great White Weasel:

He was our "special" ferret, by which I mean he wasn't in the gifted and talented weasel group, but we loved him all the same. It's been barely a month since we lost Rocky, so the apartment is getting mighty empty with just Tiny Weasel hanging on.

Ichabod had a legion of stuffed animal buddies who he would bring food, take on walks around the apartment, and also use as pillows. His favorite pursuits included scratching at the bedroom door, followed closely by getting into the bedroom, where he would run around like a maniac at being in the "forbidden room."

His most famous moment was emptying the entire contents of a litter box over our bathroom floor in North Branford, and then planting his stuffed monkey in the wreckage. This was immortalized in a photo called "The Monkey Did It":

We'll never forgot Ichabod's enthusiasm for life. There's nothing he loved more than the most boring of foods, Marshall's dry ferret food. Whenever anything is particularly awesome, Ben and I still refer to it as being "totally Marshall's" in honor of Ichabod.

Here are a few classic Ichabod shots:

Connecticut Adventures

Apparently Connecticut becomes much more beautiful if you leave it for a year. I didn't think I missed it until I visited--good times with friends, camping at Hammonasset (despite torrential downpours), and seeing my family (including some visitors from abroad and out-of-state) all made it a wonderful time.

Below are my cousin Peter and his wife Michelle who came as surprise visitors from England, Ben's parents Cam and Greg, my brother with his wife Rose and baby Arthur, and my mom and dad.

It was a short visit, but I was lucky to be able to see most of my friends. Jess came down from Hudson to camp at Hammonasset with me, Evan drove down from Northampton for a day, and Justin and Beth made a point to see me at every chance they got. Jess and I even caught up with Andy Erickson, a friend from high school who we hadn't seen in over a decade! Below are Justin, Andy, Beth, and Jess on the beach at Hammonasset.

Notable events: a Hammo evening spent with Jess, Eric, Joe, Becca, and Andrea; a throw-back Guilford Diner breakfast with Jess, Eric, Andrea, Ashley and her boyfriend Billy; spending a night on the beach talking with Justin and Beth (until we were kicked off the beach); eating delicious Taste of China with my co-workers from Shore Pub; breakfast with my mom at Edd's in Westbrook; tasty Thai with Kate, Justin, and Beth in Middletown; a tag sale at my parents' home with my brother, Rose, and Arthur; Bella Lisa's buffalo chicken pizza and a day spent talking with Evan and hiking the Branford Supply Ponds; visiting Eric's new digs in Derby with more friends than I can count! Sometimes I wish I had the ability to teleport all my friends and family to Oregon... I miss you guys.