city boy becomes a farm dog

well, i just got back from burley where we were watching the boat races from chris' garden atop "snob knob" and bbqing and enjoying the first truly hot day so far. it was in the 90s and tomorrow is supposed to get up over 100... and i suspect i will get roped into doing yard work in such ridiculous weather. besides returning from the races, i have also just been reunited with my favorite four-legged friend who was staying with some folks out in the country while i was away. i would have gotten him this morning, but he was over in elko, nevada on some errand. he was having quite the vacation from what i hear: poking around the chickens, frolicking with horses, chasing wild rabbits, and of course flirting with the other dog.

Kites and Beaches

i was at golden gardens last night, sitting there watching the sail boats and the waves and the olympics, and the sun sinking down into them... and this guy came up and started flying his kite. it was one of those fancy trick kites, and he was pretty good. and then after a while a young guy came up to this older, kite-flying man and started talking to him about it. and so he started explaining how it's done, and showing off all his best tricks and his skill. i very much enjoyed watching the older man teaching the younger one how to fly a kite like that. very much, until he flew, like daedalus, a little too close. but instead of melting, his kite got bit by a wave and swallowed by the sound. a little while later the poor kite emerged, dangling with sea-weed, and a little worse for wear. and they were at it again.

oh shin

ouch. why might my shins be sore one would ask? i had a scuffle with a grocery cart and i clearly lost. today was the bbq/garden party which was quite nice... i ate too much. getting ready for the event i had to make an emergency run to the store for pineapple and some other odds and ends. not so many things that i couldn't carry, but at check out they gave me a cart even though i didn't have one upon entering the checkout line. ok, i thought, this will be easier than juggling everything. sure, why not? i drove my cart out to the car and started unloading. but apparently for some reason the parking lot in the flattest town you can imagine is deceivingly slanted and my cart rolled away without me. it wasn't going very fast, and it was actually heading straight for the cart return. amused, i watched for a second, then realized that it was veering for a parked truck. so i ran, no sprinted, after it. in flip flops. and flung myself at it at the last second smashing both shins into it somehow and landing and skidding on my butt. and then we crashed into the truck anyway. hopefully it was already dinged there... i still don't understand how it could pick up speed like that. that shopping cart was joy-riding i say. confounded cargo-bearing contraption...

and by the way... sorry, no good nephew-related stories to share. they ended up not being able to come. such a let down, i know. but look on the bright side, i didn't have to grow a mustache.

My Cat Twinkletoes

i found this recently ... and i have no idea what grade i wrote it in, but it's kind of funny.

My cat Twink is a mixed cat in color. He has a pink nose with a black spot. Most of him is covered with long black fur. He has white paws and some white on his face and chest also.

He acts strangely sometimes. He rolls in dirt, chases his tail and always wants in when he is out, and out when he is in.

Besides all his weirdness and cuteness he is a good cat. He doesn't try to get food from the kitchen counter or the dining room table. He doesn't get in the way or under your feet. He doesn't get on people's laps unless they invite him up.

A great thing about him is that he is hardly any work at all. All we have to do to take care of him is to fill his self feeding food dish when it runs out, take him to the vet, and occasionally give him medicine, clip his nails and clean out his sandbox. We don't even give him water. He drinks the cool water from the toilet.

I suppose there is one more great thing about him. We can take him to Ketchum when we need to. He just sits on his cat-napper the whole way.

namesake

movies rarely make me cry, but the right one at the right time can have that effect. nicki came out to ketchum this weekend to visit me and another friend of hers. we rented namesake, which i had never heard of. it was a movie that i would normally like and then forget. it was a rich visually, which i appreciate. i liked the characters, you have to feel for them. but something about their story hit home with me right now. certain parallels, as you often find in others' lives or narratives. i had a hard time fighting the lip quiver. i cried, and though the plot meandered and might even leave you wondering where the climax might be, it resonated. there's not much you can do when something resonates with you. usually its just a small piece you see somewhere else that makes you think, 'i know that exactly, and i thought it was just me.' and for a second you're stunned and comforted and unsettled. the old becomes fresh as if it were new, just for a moment.

mystery solved

there has been a strange odor coming from somewhere in or around the bathroom for some time. it isn't really bad, but definitely not good, and most disturbing is that i can't explain it. i clean, and clean, and each time the bathroom is sparkling and practically glowing with cleanliness, i think 'good, it should smell that way.' but then i walk by, and it's still there. is it me?

well, today i finally figured it out. there is a laundry chute right outside the bathroom. and downstairs at the bottom of the chute there is an open bag of cat food which permeates the air up and out of the chute with a greasy cat food aroma. not the most appetizing, and probably from now on the smell of cat food will make me think of bathrooms.