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Friday night was just right. I stopped on the way home from the office and bought an axe… a giant axe. I'm no lumberjack and I'll be the first to admit it, but I did alright making little logs out of big ones. When the neighbors tree cracked in a huge storm this summer and a large (6 or so inches in diameter) branch fell on EL's car, they had a service come and remove the obviously ailing tree. They agreed to give us the wood since we weren't going to have them pay for the damages. I mean, really, it's not their fault. Anyhoo, Sam drove over on the Vespa for beer. Urs and Sandra showed up a little later and then Raymund arrived. In the interim, I had built a roaring blaze in the chiminea and started libations like a professional. We all sat around the warmth as the flames lapped the neck of the hand crafted gift from Mexico. I love that pottery. By the time everyone left and we actually headed for bed, it was late. Raymund bunked in the guest room because of the early start we had the next morning. The damn alarm clock started hammering away at my last nerve around 3:30 aye emm. A short freshening later, we were on the road. I had booked a photo shoot at a private sanctuary of sorts for large cats that either had retired from show business or were no longer wanted by their irresponsible owners. I really wanted to take Urs, but the bookings were done months ago and they only allow 5 people per visit. My shoot was filled up. We arrived in McKinney about seven-ish. Raymund races SECA Autocross at the semi-pro level, so we made good time. Heh. The big cats were amazing. They were no like zoo animals. They were full of life... awesome and powerful. They would run and charge the barrier we were behind. The first cat I saw was "Sugar"... a lioness. She always had the "I want to eat you" look in here eyes. We had to sign all this legal mumbo jumbo and various liability waivers to get in... crazy. The tigers were my favorite... gorgeous. The largest was a male named "Rocky". Rocky was over 600 pounds and the size of a horse. These cats are so fast and so silent that if you were their prey in the jungle, it would be all over before you even knew it started. We stopped at Tom Mangelson's Images of Nature gallery in Plano. That man is inspiring to me... my hat is off to him. Well, if I were wearing a hat, it would be off to him. The drive back was tiresome, but we had good conversation. I just wanted to veg when I got home. I'm trying to research a new stock image management system and ecommerce front end for my business site this morning. After that, it's hanging shit on walls and maybe some bookstore visits. A lot of slow paced nothing for Sunday. Have a great afternoon.