I looked it up, and to hunker down means to settle in, with an element of defensiveness, such as ignoring public opinion.

Mr. Troutbend was driving here today so we could drive back to Las Vegas on Monday. There were big storms predicted for the Colorado mountains along I-70 yesterday and today, but they didn't materialize. I had about an inch of snow here yesterday, and this afternoon it started snowing again, but still, all the road condition cameras around the state show dry highways, so it's an isolated storm.

So he was going to drive through Wyoming, but that's always a crap shoot because the wind always blows there and if there is any snow at all, it can become a blizzard. There are road closure gates all along I-80 through Wyoming that get a lot of use.

But then the cat got sick out there in Las Vegas. The day before Mr. Tbend was due to leave for Colorado he noticed that Buddy the Showcat couldn't open one of his eyes all the way. The vet said it was an infection maybe caused by an abscessed tooth so Buddy needs to be on liquid antibiotics for 10 days, and then might require an $800 tooth extraction. We don't want to bring him here in the car because it is such a fast turn around trip and he doesn't eat or drink or sleep for the whole 14 hours so it takes him a long time to recover, even if he's healthy. And I didn't want him to be home alone for three or four days this early in his treatment.

But for a couple of hours this afternoon I realized I hadn't heard from Mr. Troutbend all day so he must be on the way here. I rushed around and piled all the things I want to take to Las Vegas in the hallway and thought about all the things I might have done if I had more time here, but none of them was very important and could be handled long distance.

Then, an email finally came and Buddy is still looking really bad - pus is coming out of the sore and he's lost a lot of hair on his face. He doesn't act like he feels poorly, but has trouble eating when the swelling is too much and of course doesn't like having medicine squirted into his mouth.

Now that the journey is off and I'm not on departure alert, so I'm hunkered down watching the snow fall and drinking a Mike's Hard Spiced Apple, a form of malt beverage. I decided this is one flavor that should be warm when imbibed, not refreshingly cold; the flavors come across as artificial and it's too sweet. It's okay, but I don't recommend it, in case you are wondering.

I think the defensive element that makes this hunkering is feeling guilty for not being there when Buddy is sick.

Healthy Bud