The Saga of the Table

Over 20 years ago, when we bought our house in Onion Creek, we found a large burl log in our ancient barn. We dragged it with us when we moved, years later. Years passed. One year, someone was slicing wood for demonstrations at the county fair, and Michael asked them to slice it for us. They did, no charge. Sometime later, Michael knew someone that was interested in making us a table, of our own design. The pieces were moved to their house. They languished there for 2 years, unworked. This woman apparently was quite the flake. It nearly took a lawsuit to get them back, but we did, $100 gone, wasted. Now we dragged slices with us when we moved again. I thought our idea for the burl would never materialize. Last summer, Brother-in-law Bob was working on our new house and he saw them, sadly neglected in the garage. He said he had a neighbor that worked with wood and who needed the work/money. I sent them to Deer Park with him. Michael never noticed them missing. Lee, the artisan, met the pieces and wanted the project. I went to meet with him and laid out my idea for a table with him. He had big plans, but again we were trying to succeed with someone with few resources. Was he up to the task? Waited several months, hoping the burl would finally be finished into a table.

It became a Christmas present for Michael. I blew my secret twice! First, I secretly went to Deer Park to meet Lee and slipped later about something Vicki said to me. Curious, how had I seen her? Michael asked. I suck at lying to him. Fortunately, he wisely knows when to drop a line of questioning.

Then the dragon. When I met with Lee, he showed med a dragon he is creating from a log. I was quite impressed. Couldn’t figure out who would want such a thing. Some weeks later, driving to work, it hit me. Dani has a house we call the castle. They even have a dragon weather vane! I told her and she was excited to look at it with an eye toward buying it for Shawn’s Christmas present. He’s hard to buy for. Second security breach: I finished talking to Dani on the phone and said outloud, Dani is excited about the dragon! What dragon, my ENTIRE family says. I suck again! Genny is relentless, I want to see the dragon, what dragon, why, when….

Dani goes with me to get the finished table right before Christmas. She and Kylee like the dragon and think Shawn will too. She strikes a deal with Lee for the still unfinished dragon. Hopefully, this will work out for them also!

Michael had to find a series of letters for clues then assemble them to find out when his present (the table) is hidden. I made it hard, since he always makes hard puzzles for me to solve. It says: "I'm only a doctor, Jim". Look in the van. He solved it after working hard on it!

Top Reasons I Love/Hate Yellowstone National Park

Love:

Stopping where other people have already spotted wildlife for me

The ground is alive like nowhere else

Cool even in the midst of summer

Many of the sites are ADA compliant!

My favorite: paint pots bubbling away

Hate:

Crappy, overpriced food and housing

Stupid people stopping in the middle of traffic lane, holding up dozens of cars, to watch a goose.

Too many people

Idiots that get out of their cars to get close to the buffalo

Even more idiots that bring their small children out of their cars to get close to the buffalo


Best comment overheard: ‘When do they start Old Faithful in the morning?’

Best book to read while in the park: Death in Yellowstone (includes many examples of idiots, as above)

I Dunno

The death of Michael Jackson has brought a flurry of attention to his art. I am conflicted by the rush of adoration. He has a long life of denial and abuse. Did he ever accept that he was an African American? Was he gay? A pedophile? Unstable? Van Gogh hurt himself, not innocent children in his pain. Whose children are those that he was raising? How are they? Have you seen the video of him twitching one baby wildly on his knee? I don't buy music from people that I don't respect, even if I like the tunes (Britney Spears, for one). Don't expect me to run out and buy Thriller just because he died and now I remember my lost youth. Those children are the ones I am worried about. His legacy will continue in them, the good and the bad.

Staycation

Wow-- we are a kid free zone for 2 whole days this week. It feels so wonderful to concentrate on each other instead of the realities of life. We even declared official Naked Day yesterday. Too cold, perhaps, but who cares? Today is Half-Naked Day. What will tomorrow be? Oh yeah, G comes home and it's back to reality. Until next week; then 2 more days! I will have to rename those days on our behalf. I'm already working on Strip Roulette. Could be interesting.

The Long Night

Boy we have been trapped in our own personal hell. The boy has been in an awful way for so long it's hard to remember how life used to be. We finally had him tested and it appears he's been on the wrong med. for him. Can cause manic episodes. Well DUH! The professionals were slow to act. I mean, they didn't go at home to my house and live what we have been living. I can go on and on about this miserable process. I just hope that it will start to turn around. We have found a camp in Wyoming for ADHD kids. It costs a fortune but it lasts a month (no locks and alarms for a whole month!!) It even has a school element and study skills in addition to the outdoorsy stuff. All my fingers and toes are crossed, hoping this will help him (and us) survive his teens.

Serenade of the Fast Food

Can you hear it? It calls to me sweetly as I drive home from work every day, tired and hungry. Hard to resist the siren call.

We will feed you fast. It smells good.

In this small town, there is no way to avoid them. They all line up, coming and going out of town. Such an attractive song. Like the sirens of ancient Greece, only dressed up in tacky signs.

Woe is me.

Count? What counts?

Who would have thought that the blog counter could break. Or that it would matter to me. Who visits? Who knows? I guess I should be writing just for me anyway. Hey there, it's me. Shhhh, someone might notice you.