Kirby: Mother Goose has teeth and she's mean - Salt Lake Tribune

Kirby: Mother Goose has teeth and she's mean - Salt Lake Tribune

I read the Salt Lake City Tribune online regularly. One of its not-too-well known charms is the Humor and Religion guy: Robert Kirby. This column made me laugh out loud as did the previous one on "object lessons." He is a Mormon- he used to call himself the oxyMormon. The Mormons aren't safe with him loose but many love him- he is quoted from the First Presidency from time to time. My gift to you: Robert Kirby.

Is It Sunday?

It doesn't feel like Sunday. I find it interesting that so many years after retirement, Friday afternoon still feels good and Saturday is delicious. Sunday usually feels like Sunday but today doesn't. The dogs got me up early and it stuck. I was reflecting in the little-bit too-cool morning in the Lindy how cool the summer has been-really very nice since the storms stopped. But it decided to be summer before the day was over-plenty hot.

I ditched the dogs for a quick trip to Radio Shack for some plug adapters for stereo stuff. My big contribution to the wedding was a fat check for liquor but the music which was not even my main job is turnng pricey. I will follow through on my plan to DJ some dances at the Park in Florida. Rich and Val have been calling with some frequency about stuff-the wedding has taken on a life of its own. Val wants me to preside over the "Sand Ceremony." All immediate members of the family will pour their individual color of sand into a common vase, symbolizing their individuality while they become a part of the new family unit.

Kids called: Matt is on his way to see his surgeon in Eugene, then driving to Bend to to meet up with Cheryl and her California family for a little reunion. He is able to drive and has full range of motion but his knee is not cleared for load bearing or physical therapy yet. He sounded frustrated- it is being a long haul.

Jason called: They are home for a few days after a Tony Robbins Seminar in San Francisco and a four day conference in Las Vegas. Lori's eldest brother and kids drove over from White Deer so she played with them while Jason did his Las Vegas meetings. Her nephew Blake has been taking care of the Deerfield house and animals during this month of travel. They are ready to be home for awhile but committed to the wedding. So I will be excited to see them. Made my reservations today. I really did contemplate driving over each day primarily because on the 4th the fireworks scare Buster. With the Casper boom motel room prices, it would make the trips cost-effective too but I might miss out on some stolen moment with my kiddoes. So there you have it.

Honey is being totally Pyr-safely on the back porch barking constantly at shadows. I do see a little bit of her mother coming out though.

Still Alive!

I have been practically living in the Lindy-the recording studio. Today my CD-ROM player disappeared from the computer-heart attack time because the entire iTunes, CD collection is on that machine and no sounds were coming out of it-wedding a week away. I did a system restore-wouldn't take. I used Norton Backup- I checked here and there. HP has a live online chat help desk and my correspondent: handle "Sinclair" real name Apu or some such by the very few context clues he gave off, turned out to be a gem- loads of suggestions. The only hard part was his extreme politeness-saying goodbye took forever. I put off doing the work because "take a screwdriver..."seemed dangerous to me. But I did it and I am back in business. Hooray.

Honey is such a wench. Buster is kind and gentle and not piggy at all. (a little slow perhaps?) I gave them each a small pig's ear chew this afternoon. Honey immediately checked out Buster's, then went to stash hers and came back for his. I thwarted that. Next I knew she had a huge pig's ear. She had gone into the house and helped herself. Top of the fridge is apparently the only safe place. So I got a big ear for Buster because he was "What gives here?" He politely always awaits permission but the wait was just long enough to allow Miss Piggy to snatch his new one. At first she was a little flummoxed about what to do with two and Buster wanting his back. She put both in her mouth and hightailed it for her stash. I put Buster in the house with a fresh one and closed the door. Gave Honey some worm medicine. She was scooting this morning. I want to stay on top of this as we three share a bed. Wouldn't be seemly for me to be scooting on the lawn at the wedding reception.

Another nation heard from: Frankie B. a Native American-kind of socially inept but very bright in some other ways caught sight of me at Wal-Mart yesterday. "Hey what do you think of Harlan." (my neighbor) I said nothing. "He's an a____le, isn't he?" Well, what could I say? As Frank owns quite a chunk of land Harlan likes to lease for his cows, I was a little surprised. Harlan is usually very personable when he wants something or thinks he can get over on you.

Checked out the contest winner's blog. He Googled the quotation! Knowing where to find information if you don't know it is a valuable skill too. I'd buy him a beer for nothing.

We Have A Winner!

The quotation in yesterday's post was from "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" by James Thurber. The Master Debater from Casper, Wyoming was the winner and he said he would take "an Amber Bach at the Beacon" in Casper, as the promised "beverage of choice," prize. Aside from the fact that is kind of like taking a fine French perfume to sniff by the pig-pen, I wondered about the spelling of Bach/Bock. I know about Bock beer but newfangled things slip past me all the time so I Googled "Amber Bach" and here she is:

Amber has her own website: http://www.amber-lynn-bach.com/

I will only be providing an Amber Bock Beer (immediately above).

"Pocket-a pocket-a-pocket- a..."

If you know the "pocket-a-pocket-a-pocket-a" quotation email me and I will buy a beverage when we next meet.

I had the long lens on when the sprayer came again- don't know why there was a re-do but fun to watch nonetheless.

I had a wonderful surprise today. When I fired up the laptop today I discovered I had Broadband Speeds. Oh frabjous day! Calloo Callay! I had called Verizon about 10 days ago to inquire if we were to get it out here since it was in both Lander and Riverton. I don't know if the enquiry did something or if it was in the works but I have a great signal and it blazes. I will coast awhile to test reliability but I may say bye, bye," to the satellite connection if this holds up. I called Verizon to say thanks.

The speed was helpful as I downloaded some more music- I am awaiting two Billboard collections then I am calling a screeching halt to this project. 2122 songs on the darn thing and no end in sight. I had some things to clean up on the iPod- some untitled songs and it felt good to accomplish that. We had thunder and about six drops of rain but the thunder had Buster thinking he would just move into the Lindy RV and stay there. I watered my grapevine while I was down there- it was grateful.

My friend and fellow blogger from Casper and his son and I have been having a spirited e-mail exchange about oil, oil prices, environment and politics. It really is stimulating but nobody seems to be budging. I am watching for signs that the sense of humor is waning. Not worth losing a nice friend over. Our mental exercise will still boil down to one measly vote each and whatever we can do to conserve.

Made a meatloaf tonight and the hounds thought I was just brilliant. Honey just headed out the door with a 12 volt adapter-just about her favorite things and I have an endless supply that all belong to some unique piece of equipment. I'd better rescue it.

Comedian George Carlin dead at 71

AFP: Comedian George Carlin dead at 71

Most people read that headline as it lays. For some reason I read it as Comedian George Carlin DEAD AT 71! Just six short years from that age myself, makes the age leap off the screen. When your age-peers start dropping off it is a bit of a reality shock. I found Carlin amusing, original, brilliant, sometimes. He certainly focused attention on words and how sloppy we are with them and how emotionally charged they can be. I will miss him poking holes in the big and little hypocrisies of life in the U.S. of A. You can click on the AFP link for the story if you haven't read it already.

Otherwise , today (Monday ) was very similar to yesterday. My screen door look like a dryer's lint filter so filled with cottonwood spore it is. Looks like snow upon the ground. Very pretty but sneeze-making.

Life in the West

Friday and Saturday I was running a little on the low side sugar-wise. This didn't become really obvious until I had a good protein shot at the Golden Corral Saturday night. Everything lifted. It really is kind of insidious. I realized that the post complaining about my neighbor was kind of out of character- normally the "F-word" would have seasoned the pale prose. So stick it in where it is appropriate. But running on empty did not stop life from going on. I tried committing my first vinyl LP to iPod. Of course the advertising blurb makes it sound like you put the record on the magic turntable and it ends up in the iPod. Nay, there is the downloading of an mp3 converter from a third party, the editing, the labeling, the saving and loading. But I got one of my favorite and rarest records done. Maybe the next one will seem easier. Meanwhile, if Noah floats another Ark, I have enough music on my iPod to keep the animals shucking and jiving for the duration of the cruise providing it does not exceed 40 days and nights. (Pick me, pick me!)

Llamas and horses.

Honey tries to sneak up on the horses. The horses could care less.

The "Spite House" is still empty after four years. These neighbors got into a big fuss with their cousins in which the (barely) Native American cousins told the Frenchman he didn't belong here in the process of choking him. It set a Civil Rights precedent: Native Americans depriving a legal alien of civil rights, and ended up with a tidy sum being awarded to the Frenchman and his much older Native American wife. The Frenchman bought pre-cut logs for this very nice home. ("Thanks for the new house, bigots.") He was going to build it himself with some contracting. Some contracting turned into a full time craftsman for months. Still no lights shining in this abode. There are eight houses/farms in about a mile along this road. For 25 years I was the only one who spoke to them all. But I succumbed. Not quite the Hatfields and McCoys but there is something contemptible about everybody if you are inclined to dwell on it. Easier to live without them and their little agendas than live with them. Material for the novel if I get around to it before my contemptible life ends.

Tasha Tudor, Children’s Book Illustrator, Dies at 92 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com

How I do love the quaint, the original, the sturdy enough soul to express itself in spite of all distractions (click the link to go read more):

Tasha Tudor, Children’s Book Illustrator, Dies at 92 - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com

I have read about this woman several times and really was touched-I am not sure how or why, but I was.

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I set up my recording studio in the Lindy RV. My orders from Amazon started to come today-the mailbox wouldn't close. I transferred multiple CD's to my older laptop because that is where my iTunes program and registration is. After early playing Buster settled in the other dinette seat, Honey came and went and I toiled until the RV became an easy-bake oven. The recordings are a mixed bag. The 1950 collection was pretty good. The PBS Doo-Wop 6 CD set also came and is mostly good. The 90's collection is going back to the store- maybe they are "hits" but not on any planet I was living on. The 80's set is also unopened- more British pop than American and my previous PBS premium was all "British Invasion." The Latin dance ones were kind of lame but so cheap, not worth sending back. The Country Collection is pretty good. Kind of disappointed over all but I made some progress.

After so much sitting it was good to mow and weed-whack weeds for quite awhile. I finally got tired of changing the cutter cords and have just a little to do tomorrow.

The dogs had a ball today- played, explored, chased critters and got chased. Honey is a mouser. Suits me- no presents please. She seems to have an affinity for any awful offal she can find. The youngest llama seems to have an affinity for the tribe's horses. I think she thinks they are related because they have long necks that go up like hers. Of course she is basically a camel but a girl can dream. She chased Honey. I think they are about to start playing but I may be wrong.

The television has remained off for a couple of weeks I think. I do not seem to crave it. The only face to face human interaction I have had in quite awhile is with Harlan and he never fails to piss me off. Give a farmer a Cadillac and he starts to think he is genius. He can't quite get it through his head that I am the lord of this manor for thirty some years now. I may be the carbuncle on anal retentive acres but that is my prerogative. Besides, I have pictures of his latest resculpturing of the Little Wind River. That is a federal offense. Biding my time...

I'm a Tigger waiting to Bounce on You

Honey-bear found a semi-hiding spot\attack post. She knocks me out when she isn't annoying. Cuteness is the plan for babies that makes for putting up with them until they are half-way civilized. I have three right tennis shoes and three demolished left tennis shoes. I left Buster to babysit and went to town early today. I had been reading that one of my depository banks was struggling and I wanted to get some money out of there. Left a fully insurable amount because they have a strong presence in Florida which is probably why they are struggling. It is bad in Florida. People are losing their homes and jobs right and left. Scary days on the economic front. But I'm not worried- people always vote for the Republicans because they are good for business. (snark, snark) Unencumbered, I went to Wal-Mart to scope out sound systems for the DJ/wedding thing. The man who travels and sets up the sound system displays was putting new stock out and taking old ones down. I cut a pretty good deal on a display model. Works with iPods, too.

Came home and actually made it to the bed for my nap. I have to sleep in the middle to keep the dogs separate because somehow a wrestling match will otherwise break out. We had a good long snuggle. Pleasant dusk on the deck and I caught a glimpse of my friendly coyote. He has moved further down the 80 acres to avoid the neighbor's dogs. I am sure it is the same one- the cows didn't miss a munch as he passed through them. Matt called and that made vespers even nicer.

Miriam Sample of Billings died. She was 88 (86 in the picture). She and her husband donated over 400 works of art to Wyoming and Montana Museums over the past 20 years, and cash to other charitable organizations totaling more than $5 million. She requested no services.

I offer this as an antidote to the "All-Russert, All the time" coverage of a mediocre journalist. When the politicians line up to praise you, you have failed as a journalist. When Drew Pearson died they were dancing in their offices because the old bastard did his job-speaking truth to power.

Buzz

Things were buzzing in the air. The neighbors had the spray plane come for the annual weevil killing spree. It is fun to watch the plane as it dives and climbs, swoops and banks. On a completely different scale, with the enjoyable warmth comes the bugs. A mosquito was buzzing me at morning coffee and one was enjoying Honey's nose. With West Nile cases climbing in the county every year, I have declared war and got out the hose end sprayer and with Cutter killer/repellent in it, I doused the places we frequent the most. It seems to be effective but other measures must accompany this- inside at dusk and personal repellent.

Kristi's horse was added to the pasture. I saw her up close and personal at the branding and I don't think I have seen a prettier one in a long time. A beautiful color and her lineage is great: she comes from the Franks ranch and was being ridden by a 4 year old ( a four year old Franks kid-which means an accomplished rider). I whistled at her and she posed for me. Another beautiful part of my scenery.

My sons dutifully called the O.F. on Father's Day. Nice chats with both. Matt is getting around pretty well and pretty carefully and they were going to help some friends look at motorcycles. Jason and Lori went to her dad's side reunion in Texas a week ago and brought her dad and Annette back to Florida for a visit. They got the Lori treatment: Air boat ride in the Everglades and got scared by the gators, some good dining out, boat ride on the Intracoastal, a trip up to Okeechobee. Guess they had a great time- Mack's first visit to the kids.

The wedding music is a little up in the air. Had Alicia forward an email to Curtis who thought his responsibility was to bring his hard drive with all the music (he checks out CD's from the Denver Public Library and puts it on his computer- isn't that clever? No mention of speakers or computer or anything else so we have some research to do.

I was giving Honey a leash lesson down by the corral and Thayne came rolling in on his 4-wheeler. Honey took off suddenly and the leash went with her. The girl is strong when motivated. She sat like a good girl and we got to know Thayne and she accepted some treats from him and let him pet her. All good socialization.

Blah Therapy: iPod and Retail

We finally had a decent, warm day. Re-opened some pneumonia holes to let the heat escape and fresh air in. Branding, sorting etc. was still going on. I discovered yesterday that Honey needs more socializing than she has been getting. She was giving the neighbor's kids a wide berth. So I leashed her today and at least Camey was able to pet her though Honey was was fighting the process all the way. More to do. Where to do it?

I got the brainstorm that my iPod could provide music for Rich and Val's wedding so I broke it out and was checking and listening-very enjoyable. The music had me bouncing in my chair as I typed on the computer. Getting practice at dancing while sitting- I'll be the best one at The Home. I realized that were some gaps in the collection as far as a general or dance audience might perceive it so I went to Amazon. There are some dirt-cheap "used and new" collections but even at that they added right up. Later in the day I called cuz Susie to find out if there was a plan for wedding music- turned out there was! Oh, well. I'll slap them on the iPod anyway and use them at John Prince Park this winter. I love my iPod. It has an amazing collection of music as it is. It will be totally awesome with the new additions. DJ Time!

Salon, online magazine, has some good reflections on Father's Day. I loved Garrison Keillor's comment that it arouses all the passion of Arbor Day or National Pickle Week. That much? I don't think so.

Got the Blahs

Not the blues, the blahs. I could not wake up today-let the dogs out, propped the door open so they could find me and dozed multiple times. Missed the big branding down at the corral- shucky darn. Daryne did bring Tye and McAye up to see me. Tye, with the help of a consulting psychiatrist from NYC is really making progress. At age six he is finally sleeping through the night with an eight pound blanket (where can I find one of those?) and his speech has recognizable words. Very hopeful. McAye on the other hand is no bigger than a minute and scary sharp: "Slow down Tye, so we can understand." We had a nice visit. Tye pushed my lawn mower down to the corral twice. He has always been pushing things- part of the syndrome, the shrink says- let him do it. His parents are much relieved to have this much understanding.

It is late in life to have people still disappointing me. A close friend started up on wondering if we would have a N------ in the Whitehouse. I would not let her go on. His Harvard Degree after coming from hard times, to her no degree is somehow trumped by skin color? Some days I think three electoral votes for Wyoming is too many. The problem with this kind of thinking is that nobody is safe: Blind prejudice about skin color can morph to ethnicity, to religion, to gender, to sexual preference, to economic standing, to blue eyes or brown eyes. And I find these attitudes almost too much to get over. I try but sometimes I find that a few words that cross a civilized boundary just ruins everything: they weren't who you thought they were. I will keep t-r-y-i-n-g but writing people off seems to get easier by the year.

The hinge on my mainstay cell phone got cracked on one side. I called about a replacement and they want $150. Superglue seems to be working in the face of that! I have other phones and ways to work around whatever happens but this too is blah making. No more carrying the phone in the pants pocket. I actually have a new deep discount earned on one but I am waiting for the new round of fancy shmancy phones to come out. Everytime Apple puts out a new phone the competitors go nuts. And you know, there are major drawbacks to every single one of them. I have wanted to keep a tri-mode phone (old and new tech) because I hit a lot of rural areas in my travels but the old technology is supposed to go away in early 2009. We will see. Superglue is cheap and we are about 7 months away from the deadline.

It's an ill wind that blows nobody good

Yesterday's winds were about as ill as they come. So I washed bedding and put it on the line- Oh my, is there anything nicer than sun dried, wind-blown bedding? I was glad to have taken my photo jaunt the day before because staying in yesterday was the smart thing to do.

Rich recounted his daughter Alicia's travails: She was feeling very ill so went to Denver University student health which sent her to Adventist Hospital where they diagnosed appendicitis, informed her they were the best facility for laparoscopic, minimal incision appendectomies. It was essentially out-patient; sent her home. She continued to feel lousy and had difficulty breathing so she went back. They put her in for overnight, pumped her full of antibiotics, treating her for pneumonia. The whole episode, they finally conceded was likely pneumonia. The removed appendix was enlarged but not inflamed. But they were very nice to her and since one hardly has a cause of action for an unnecessary removal of an unnecessary body part, it will stay where it is. I am just grateful their specialty wasn't breast reductions.

I am wading (slogging?) through Garry Wills, What the Gospels Meant. I can't shake an impulse to the spiritual. But I can't, either, turn off the logic circuits at the church door. I have spent a lot of time with Elaine Pagels and the Gnostic Gospels and even downloaded them (and read them) from a site in Scandinavia. (It has taken 50 years to get them out because they are explosive) I have read the King James Bible (hint-don't start at the front- the Begats will begetcha- sleepy), The Mormon Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, most of the great Jewish tome of Maimonides, Eckanckar, the Siddhartha, Hegel, Leibniz, Tillich, Bertrand Russell, L Ron Hubbard, and many others. Perhaps the light will come on but I am increasingly of the opinion there are some well-intentioned, sincere, bullshit artists out there- about 5,000 years of them. (But don't worry, I had a"Conversion Experience" in Tucson when I was being romanced by Moral Rearmament in the 60's-before it became "Up With People" and they tried to save the world by singing, dancing and buying it a Coke.) My life makes me laugh sometimes but it has certainly been interesting-still is.

Miss Honey is growing like a weed- she is lanky- about the height of a 5 year old standing on her hinders. She is also very smart, and holds grudges. They went out about 5:30 and I zonked until 8:30 with them outside. She gave me the cold shoulder all day. She also helped herself to one of the toys Lori sent and since I take harmful things from her frequently, she hid the bunny. I finally found it and gave it to her so it was OK. She devils poor Buster and I am refereeing now. Poor old guy deserves a nap occasionally.

Went to town today and spent a ton- had gifts to buy and the Father's Day Sale at Radio Shack was calling. They had a turntable (records-remember those?) about $50 cheaper than any that I have found. It digitizes your old LP's puts them in your computer, and you can load your iPod or put them on a CD. It will do 45's and 78's as well. If I start yesterday, I may finish when I am 90 years old. I have over 3000 books and hundreds of records- what a lovely fire they will make.

Looking Around in My Backyard

Finally, I broke free of dog-sitting and domesticity, saddled up the VW and headed out to see the sights in my own backyard. I ranged about 25 miles from my door. I was rewarded with some great flowers, lush prairies, full streams and a beautiful afternoon. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This picture of an alpine meadow was taken in Sinks Canyon State Park. It will be worth your while to click it to enlarge it. The lupine are in full bloom.

The Popo Agie (Poposia) river is not in flood anymore but it is pretty full.

This lake is hidden from most- about a mile from my house and the grassland and majestic Wind Rivers looked great to me. Clicken to embiggen.

Lupine in full bloom They don't last too long so they are a treat to behold.

While up in Sinks Canyon, I used the Smartphone- Motorola Q to do a Windows Livesearch for Pizza. (You can type or speak the name) There is a great homegrown pizza place in Lander and I can never remember the name. From the Web, the name (Tony's) and the number came up I pushed a button and my garlic chicken pizza was waiting for me when I drove through town. I introduced the dogs to a new taste treat. They weren't too mad at being left home but I am being stalked by Buster. I will have to be sneaky to do it again very soon.

Dear Lori sent a gift package for the doggies. Toys for Honey- which she loves, and treats for Buster. A nice surprise and it made their day. Mine too.

More Wyoming Scenery at the link:

Great Sights in My Own Backyard

Traditional Sunday

I had planned for and executed a Traditional Sunday as passed down from the Mason side, through my folks and seldom celebrated anymore. I had a nice little pork loin roast, sweet and sauerkraut, baked potatoes, cinnamon applesauce about 2:30 in the afternoon. My granny or my mom would have also produced dessert. I had a small Hershey bar with almonds. My stock went up with the hounds-pork loin made their ears prick up. Honey was singing for her supper. Sated, we sat outside for awhile and about 3:30 I went in to start a Tony Hillerman novel that came from Amazon. I awoke about 6:00 p.m. with the dogs at my feet. That part was traditional too- dozing men. A good mystery does not last long around here. With my nap already taken, I buzzed right through it, finally falling in bed about 2:00 a.m.

Animal Babies

The baby llamas are wide-eyed-seeing their first horses today and getting as curious about Honey as she is about them.

Honey decided to chase them as they moved on.

The mama llama turned the table on her and she scooted for her yard. That particular llama can be plumb ornery. I've seen her take on a cow and win. She was just funning Honey-her ears were not even back. When they do go back (often) give her a wide berth.

Worked on my projects- covered some more woodpecker holes with screen. The Grackles are mighty upset. Messed with the TV antenna tower, tightened up my swamp cooler covers and managed to squeeze some time in just enjoying the day after it warmed up.

Loaded up the dogs and and went to town for some groceries and hardware supplies. Honey got her leash lesson in Veteran's Park in town. She was great but still didn't load in the van without a lift. All part of her socialization and making a ride in the car a good thing. She has a pretty good time after she settles down. I was feeling sorry for her this afternoon-Buster is starting to set limits on play time because she is insatiable and she managed to get "No'd" from me about 15 times today. Poor little girl. So we had a little lovey tonight- she was ready to just be petted. She got some decent treats today though. We shared popcorn chicken with Guy and Janet's dogs. On the way home from town I saw a pretty good fire was burning up on their place so I tooled on up there to make sure things were all right. Nice to see them. They are busy bees. (There was a fire in the ditch- they didn't set it but they didn't seem too concerned. It is still pretty wet around here.)

Made my pledge to PBS and my 6 CD set of "Doo-Wop" music is on its way. We didn't call it Doo-Wop but it was our music. I'll slap it all on the iPod. There will probably be something I want more in the days to come-Oh, Well.

Out Came the Sun and Dried the....

After watching little rivers form in the pasture last night, I was happy to settle for a cool grey day today. I got a few things done- did pretty well in the face of vertigo which had me stumbling or doing never-before-seen ballet steps as I tried to keep from meeting the ground suddenly. I think just a little inner ear infection that should go away pretty quickly. I made a swamp cooler cover. (I expect credit for this rain- putting the swamp cooler in early brought it on I know) out of some (brand new) foam insulation sheets I had recovered from the dump. Really took my dizzy life in my own hands and did some ladder work screening over places on the cabin where Grackles had been nesting. The screen was a freebie from Ace Hardware where the clerk gave me used after I asked him to cut me off about a foot of screen.

Mowed some more with my weed-whacking lawn mower. I am still uncertain if the road widening is going to take my trees so I am turning the yard into a forest There are a lot of young trees so I mow around them. Not very pretty but barring a 12 foot concrete fence by the highway, I need the trees for privacy and safety.

Delores called celebrating "school's out," for her. It took me by surprise because the weather just does not seem June 6. She is sticking around this summer. That will be nice.

Pledge Drive for Wyoming PBS. I will bide my time and get a "premium" I might enjoy for my pledge of $XXX. And now, to bed.

ANOTHER rainy day

Spent the afternoon yesterday buttoning up the open summer ventilation holes-again. Honey is growing and has developed a real bark-not a puppy bark anymore. She is also growing up. Tuesday we had a great leash lesson, Wednesday was jumping and biting the leash. No lesson today-too wet. We are going to try for two good days in a row.

The New Yorker double fiction issue came and I was anxious to read E. Annie Proulx's short story "Tits Up in a Ditch." Her recent fiction is all Wyoming-but has progressed from Novia Scotia (The Shipping News) Louisiana (Accordion Dreams) Texas (That Old Ace in the Hole) to Wyoming (Brokeback Mountain and several others) She may have to move after "Tits Up." She nails it: the barrennness of rural life in every way- intellectually, emotionally, attitudinally and the complete complacency: "Wyoming is just fine the way it is," enduring resistance to even putting a stoplight at a dangerous intersection, loveless marriages, broken down cowboys, long suffering women, dead children, the Iraq invasion. I was throughly depressed and filled with admiration for what she had written.

Strangely, it was just what I needed to read: reinforcing to my reclusiveness- and my being a sparing participant in an environment that must be sipped-or it will overcome you. Why do I stay? Because it is no different anywhere else in America-the scenery is different- the distractions from barrenness more prevalent. This is an honest place to be a hermit. You are half-way there at the get-go.

Killer Squirrels

How on earth squirrels found their way across the prairie to my natural habitat garden, I don't know. Two of them had a ferocious battle. They were hot. They can use the tree canopy to cover about an acre. I am evaluating whether they are welcome or not. It seems I have fewer desirable birds than in the past. The Grackles will give them what-for if their nests are threatened. I am not crazy about the Grackles either. My concept/goal is of an Ashram-peacefulness reigns. Then the bullies move in. Kind of like Jackson Hole.

The dogs were mellow today. They played so hard yesterday they needed a rest, I think. It worked out well for me. I got a lot done with my little buddies just kind of hanging around. I set some fence posts and fixed fence, whacked weeds, did some laundry, pruned some shrubs, mowed part of the lawn and otherwise made myself useful to myself. Filled the stock tank for the Feglers and fed a flake of hay to the cows in the nursery-the llamas were hunting water and the cows were begging.

Honey's leash training was not the best- she got the leash in her mouth and got behind me and kept jumping on my butt. But she really enjoyed the session. She is not averse to having it on and that counts for something. (I guess) All the Pyr literature says keep it positive- don't lose patience. And she does seem to "get it" when I calm her down mildly. She is digging a hole clear to China. I tried that when I was a kid. She already has surpassed my poor effort. Buster is a saint with her. I appreciate him so much. If he weren't a good babysitter, I would be starkers.

Cool, (actually chilly) mornings and evenings but beautiful days. No human voices today and that opens up a peaceful place for me.

Ahhh...

Got my trashes hauled yesterday. Feels good. There was a generous pickup load that Thomas hauled off for me. Looks ever so much better and the temptation for less pampered critters than mine is removed. There seems to be a plethora of wild dogs (and cats) this year. The rez has been a dumping ground forever. There is one white dog with black face and curly tail that makes it to the yard but is gone like a shot at the sight of man or Buster. I watched a huge dog brown- with a docked tail-perhaps a mastiff, with my binoculars as it ate something where the cows had been grazing yesterday. It seemed to be accompanied by some chummy magpies- there was definitely a relationship there. It disappeared into a copse of Buffalo berry bushes.

Fits of sleep still fall on me. I was complaining to my (much younger) brother last night and he said "At least you don't fall asleep in the line to the bank drive-up window." Which apparently happened to him yesterday. He was behind a lady who was taking quite awhile and the next thing he knew he was quite alone in the drive-up-the cars to his right were gone too. He had no idea how long he had been out. The bank tactfully said nothing. Guess I don't feel so badly, now.
There is no doubt in my mind that the sleep has some benefits-legs are less swollen, appetite is less, frame of mind is good, perhaps the gut is shrinking.

Miss Honey was brilliant with the leash today. Short lesson and lots of praise because she seems to have the initial concept down. But we will reinforce daily so she performs well at Rich and Val's wedding.

The chores seem to be getting done around here. Getting some things caught up. I have lost Thomas for the summer- he is going to Fort Collins to find work near his birth dad. I tipped him well, telling him to stash some in his truck in case he needs to make a break for home. His mom and siblings are having a little difficulty with the break and I told him to be sure and call often- all Verizon, so no airtime is involved. Having the big trash load gone should allow me to keep things "Van size" in additional trips to the dump.

Had a good long gab with Lori. Those kids are very busy and have a lot of travel in the next month-they will come to the wedding. Juneau and the bird have become friends. If the kids sleep in and the bird starts complaining, he goes to keep it company.

We are having some beautiful days. Nice to be alive in Wyoming at this time.