Part Deux - Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jog

I believe I left off on Saturday...? We drove up through the Lake Champlain Islands. Another beautiful day and lots of scenic vistas. We drove across the bridge into New York and on our way across, Brad calmly pointed out that there was a boat on fire in the midst of a marina off to our left. And so there was. Very massively on fire. It produced a big pillar of black smoke which could be seen for miles. I took pictures. But unfort. as we drove away, Brad asked if I had zoomed in. A sinking realization dawned upon me. I started yelling incoherently. Well, not really incoherently, but...I yelled. Needless to say, I was not zoomed in so they didn't turn out that great. I felt like a First Class Fool. Oh well. This is why Brad usually takes all the pictures. He doesn't forget to zoom in. So we drove back to Burlington and walked around the city exploring some more. We consumed a very late, tasty lunch at Quizno's and then went back to relaxing at the hotel.

This morning, moments before we were going to check out and begin our leisurely drive home, I heard a faint, strange, sireny sort of sound out in the hallway. I stood close to the door, listened attentively and heard a voice on some sort of PA system telling the hotel populace that an emergency had been reported and that we should walk to the nearest exit. I was glad that it wasn't the middle of the night because I am SURE that we would have slept through it...Anyway- we obeyed and hopped over to the Gift Shop next door to the hotel and a few minutes later, it seemed safe to go back. Firefighters were emerging from the hotel and getting back into the truck none the worse for wear. My guess is that there was a hair straightener involved somehow.

So, we're back safe and sound in good old Sullivan.

There is a small, green tomato on my plant! I am still waiting for the promised "bushels of fun."

Vermont Vacation Part Uno

Here we are in gorgeous Vermont...and let me tell you...this has been a wonderful vacation so far. And it's only half over! We hopped in the car Thursday evening, and Brad, being the indomitable chronicler that he is, immediately pulled out his camera and took "The First Picture Of the Vacation: Departure" as we sat in the driveway.

And then he grabbed the map to held it up in front of us to take another picture, and then some stranger - a guest of our landlords, I guess- pulled into our driveway and parked next to us as we were smiling for that picture. I felt raaaather silly.

ANYWAY- we zoomed northwest into a spectacular sunset and made good time to Burlington. We couldn't find our hotel at first because they had CHANGED the name on us. Ah well. We are very impressed with our room - the colors, the furniture...my favorite part are the PILLOWS. I am now convinced that one should not be cheap on pillows. I'm going to go home and buy the most expensive, luxurious pillows EVER MADE. And also - the blankets. They're DOWN. As in- goose feathers.

A little sidenote: Yesterday was Brad's birthday. I got him a watch - a very special watch- one which I have been resisting for years. It's a calculator watch. The ultimate symbol of geekdom. But to show him how much I love him, I have relented and bestowed the privilege of wearing said watch. And I bought him a blogger T-shirt- with the symbol ( the demented looking B of blogspot) on it and everything.

Okay- back to vacation. After breakfasting at good old Dunkin Donuts this morning, we explored Burlington and the surrounding environs by car. The weather was beautiful. I mean- idyllic. Perfect. I wondered if we might stumble across the place where our family vacationed about um...twenty years ago- in Shelburne- right on Lake Champlain. Not that I would have really recognized it...but it was neat to think that we could have driven close to it. We drove back to the middle of Burlington and down to the waterfront. We parked and rented bikes and took off on a ride...that ended up being TWENTY MILES LONG. Yes- you read right. Twenty. 2-0. If it had been up to me, we probably would have gone about one quarter of that. But Brad looked at the map, saw a causeway that went out in the middle of the lake, and decided that we were going to the very end of it, ten miles away. So we did. It was unspeakably beautiful. But, being the flabby noodle that I am, I'm still feeling the effects of it. We had lunch at a little outdoor booth thingy after coming back to the middle of Burlington - including a dessert of Ben & Jerry's- what Vermont vacation would be complete without B & J's?!! And then I had to take a nap and relax for a few hours to recoup!! Yes, I am a wimp. We had dinner at a Chinese place...and now we are lounging around, revelling in the reality that although it feels like Saturday night, it's only Friday night.

It's just SO beautiful here. And not just weatherwise. I have to recommend this place to everyone - even if it is Vermont and anti-Bush bumperstickers on the backs of Volvos are rampant. (Actually- it's not that bad.) The lake- the mountains- the old buildings in downtown Burlington, the farm country in Shelburne- it all feeds a beauty hunger in my spirit.

Living in an Inspirational Poster

Brad and I have recently been house/dog-sitting for Brad's boss who has a lovely little house on Granite Lake. While there we haven't done much stuff with the laptop- thus the recent drought of posts.

Thanks to all who sent support and love our way on Sunday, Andrew's birthday. It was much more difficult than I had anticipated; your prayers, emails, and even a card (! First time I ever received a card for someone else's birthday!) were very much appreciated. . .After church and some visiting, I retreated back to Sally's with Daddy, Mama, Melissa and Laura. We had a very peaceful, enjoyable time on the lake...It was perfect weather - the height of New Hampshire glory. Most of us went out in either the kayak or rowboat at one point or another. As Melissa glided away from us on the kayak, she shouted back," I feel like I'm in an inspirational poster!" And she looked it too; all she needed was a gold frame around her and a caption below her like,"COURAGE" or "DETERMINATION."

Earlier in the weekend, we had Nate and Penny over to our temporary lake abode. Before they arrived, Brad and I had gone out in the rowboat and it was a rather wobbly affair - neither of us having much experience with such things. ( Although, I have to say, to his credit, Brad was well on his way to mastering this skill before too long...) When Nate arrived on the scene, he plopped himself in the rowboat and LITERALLY ZOOMED away with amazing precision and speed. We had a great time communing with Pen and Nate. First, we were driven from the living room by a strong, rank smell - methinks it had something to do with the dog. Dogs are like that. From thence, we exited to the porch...and were driven from there by the bugs...to the guestroom. It was a rather pathetic and hilarious sight - all four of us crowded into the small bedroom, talking, brainstorming etc.

Odd anecdote: The other day I said, " The early bird gets the worm" and I had to EXPLAIN it to some of the girls because they'd never heard of it before! So I came home and told Brad and he was like, "The early bird? Gets the worm?? Whaaaat?!!" So I started to explain it to HIM! I thought, HOW could this man of almost 28 years go through life without hearing this common maxim??!! And then of course, I realized he was pulling my leg.

Checkpoint Charlie - There and Back Again

Warning: Long Boring Post Ahead (by Brad)

Thank goodness for Dramamine. As Claire has mentioned, I recently returned from California on a mission to gather my Grandfather to come live with my folks. When I last flew in March I thought my insides were going to implode. I didn't actually vomit, I just wanted to die. So thanks to the miracle of Dramamine I had flights free of nausea. Although the kid reading The Communist Manifesto next to me made me a little queasy.

When I arrived I found that Hertz was out of the type of car I had reserved, so they bumped me up to a Mercury Grand Marquis, which was a little overkill for my purposes. Nice, though. Comfy. I was glad it had icy AC, too, because it was over 100 every day I was there (I know, Sojourning - I should quit my whining). Since I didn't have much confidence in the larder of an 82 year old bachelor, I made a quick stop at Subway before I finally arrived.

I had 4 days to round up whatever Grandpa wanted to have with him right away, as well as preparing the house to be put up for sale. There was a slightly tense conversation when I found that Grandpa had neglected to write on the calendar the dates I had given him. He thought he still had a couple of weeks left, so I had to carefully inform him that in fact we were leaving a little sooner.

I expected Grandpa to be a little more nostalgic and sad over leaving his home of 50+ years. If he was he didn't let it show very much, other than when he would say how much he was going to miss all the children in the neighborhood (he told me he doesn't care about adults anymore, just kids. Thanks a lot, Gramps!). I think he is just relieved to give up the responsibility of caring for a house. Added to that is having lived alone for nearly 10 years. It is no small miracle for him to have made this decision, though. He has always maintained that he would never move from California.

So my time was taken up with visiting the realtor, taking Grandpa to the doctor, puttering around the house doing things like anchoring the water heater against earthquakes (California code requirement), and people stopping by to bid Grandpa farewell. It was nice to have my cousins Nancy Thomson and Michael Pass come over with their families. I haven't seen them in ages and it was good to catch up with them. I can't wait for them to meet Claire. Dawn and Glen Rickerd stopped by with their two girls for an hour or two. I love talking with Glen. He always has something interesting to say – a walking encyclopedia. Grandpa wondered afterwards if there was anything Glen didn't know. I loved having Glen as my Sunday School teacher when I was a teenager. He introduced me to the nonfiction of C.S. Lewis, the recordings of pianist Glenn Gould (Glen, his 1955 Goldberg Variations lives in my car tape deck), and amateur radio.

Grandpa's neighbors threw him a BBQ Sunday evening, and it was very evident how much he means to them all. They were very sad to have him go, but they seemed to realize how much better off he will be. They were a very nice group of people, and I am very grateful for the way they have been looking after him these recent years.

There is only one neighbor who has been there longer than Grandpa. His name is John Silviera (sp?) and he is rather deaf. He called Grandpa on the phone several times and Grandpa hollered loud enough into the phone that even Mr. S. could have heard him if he had just hung up and stuck his head out the window. Mr. S. got it into his head that he wanted to buy Grandpa's lawn tractor, and it was very amusing to listen to them dicker about the price over the course of several days. One day I heard Grandpa's booming voice in the backyard, “are you trying to JEW ME DOWN?!?” Grandpa drives a hard bargain. He originally paid about $3000 14 years ago, and he wouldn't settle for a penny less than $1500. I felt bad because Mr. S. has a tiny lawn to mow, and the neighbors offered to mow it for him, but he had his heart set on Grandpa's John Deere. If it were up to me I would have just given it to him as a thanks for being a good neighbor for 50 years. Oh well. Maybe I will return some of his money when we go out in a few weeks to clean out the house.

Our flight left at 6 am Tuesday morning, so I told Grandpa that I wanted to leave at 3:45, figuring that he would be ready by about 4. Sure enough, 3:45 came around and he was still working his way through his bowl of cereal. We made it in good time to the airport, and our flights were pretty routine. As we were landing in Manchester a small child behind us softly said “weeee” and Grandpa joined in loudly with his own “weeeeeeeeee!”. Everyone around us was amused, but I was slightly embarrassed. That was probably payback for the time Penny, Robin Phillips and I flew from California and Robin and I mortified Penny by singing the doxology when they served us our meal.

Grandpa is settling in with Mom and Dad, and I am praying he will find it to his liking. It will be an adjustment for all of them, but with God's help all will be well. As much as I was dreading this trip I was amazed at how God clearly had His hand on everything. This morning I read in Psalms, “Oh that men would praise Jehovah for his goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” I would be remiss if I didn't give thanks for His tangible help through the trip.

It was very good to get back to my wife. I am so used to having her around that I felt dismembered the whole time I was out there. In a word: nightmare.

Claire and I are planning to go back out with Penny and Nate around the first week of September to clear out the house and figure out what we need to save. Anybody want to come along and help?

Close Call: Lunchtime DiveBombing

Well, it's been a pretty good, quiet, calm week at work. I'll list a few of the things I did just to make some of you jealous: today I painted, and played games ( Life, Rummy...), and yesterday I watched a Three Stooges and an Abbott and Costello movie. Yes- I got paid to watch movies, play and paint -- and the girls have been well behaved, for the most part. I figure that times like this are compensation for other times when things are horrendously stressful at the Shelter.

My pessimistic nature warns me that this must be the calm before the storm...But next week, several staff - not including me- are taking several girls up to Maine for three days on a special camping trip. So there should be only a few girls left and we should have an easy, fun time of it...KNOCK ON WOOD! And then, next Thursday night, Brad and I leave on our three day vacation to Vermont. Huzzah!!

So-- today, I sat out at the picnic table eating my lunch with the other staff. Suddenly, there was a plop, and a messy deposit of bird excrement landed about half an inch from my plate. I was somewhat startled and a bit horrified. I looked up and "thanked" my now invisible benefactor. The nerve! The creatures are getting a little uppity these days.

It reminded me of the Far Side which presented a bird's eye view of the world, in which the tops of people's heads wore targets...I could just imagine this bird zeroing in on my head, and saying to himself, "Well, if I miss the head, at least I'll have a good chance of getting her lunch plate!" Well- ha hAAAAA- you missed em' both, buddy! *shakes her fist*

...Even MORE Animals. Also: Keith Or Marci?

Brad is back! Hurray! Rejoice with me, all my readers!

Well, you'll never guess what I saw today, so I'll just tell you. Yes- more animals. They can't seem to get enough of me. I was in the office of the classroom and looked out the window to behold two horses- one white, one brown- and a little gray donkey grazing on our front yard. I made some surprised noises and Linda called from the classroom, " Are you okay?" I told everyone in the classroom to come over to the door - slowly. Of course, all the girls' eyes popped and they were all a-twitter over this unusual sight. Shortly after, someone showed up to herd the animals back to their home...I guess the donkey proved to be difficult to manage- of course. He escaped and came back...Gotta uphold that reputation of obstinacy.

For those of you who are up to date on this blog and have read about Marci and The Fawn, the following will no doubt be somewhat amusing. After the horses and donkey had left, I commented to the girls that it was a good thing that Marci hadn't seen the animals...and a resident picked right up and finished my thought for me by saying, "... or she would have put them in her car!" Another coworker, Donna, said that when she heard me gasping and expostulating in the office, the first thing she thought was that the Mother Deer had come for revenge on Marci.

Speaking of Marci, apparently she and her boyfriend, Keith, ( who recently started working at the Shelter part time on third shift) have had a little debate over who is weirder- she or he- and therefore, who is more likely to be blogworthy. ( In other words- who should be written about on THIS blog.) Well, I must say... Marci has a lot going for her in this contest. Firstly, I've known her for almost a year and thus been exposed to her weirdness a lot longer than his. Secondly, you're going to have to dig pretty deep in your repertoire of weirdness, Keith, if you are going to beat out a woman whose longtime roomie is a pig, who owns a disembodied hand, who keeps potentially rabid animals in her car, and who does a killer howling/screeching/crazy monkey imitation. ( I mean- the imitation is killer, not the monkey.) Your outlandish description of your decades long quest to re-locate a bizarre movie about bikers, zombies, cheerleaders, witches, and a demented janitor just doesn't quite make you eligible for the distinction of being
" The Weirder One." But give it some time...This verdict isn't final.

A Happy, Rainy Day

ONE MORE DAY til Brad comes home! I think I can make it...I think I can, I think I can...It has really been okay( but I'll be so happy to have him back). I had dinner twice with my parents and I just finished a lovely day with Sarah...and tomorrow I'm heading back to work. It's just an odd feeling, sometimes, of being adrift...being Bradless. What an awful state.

BUT! On to more pleasant topics. Sarah came up yesterday, bless her dear little heart. After visiting around Fairwood with various folks, we drove home and made dinner- my new favorite: Lori's Couscous-Chicken-Artichoke salad. It was a great success; you KNOW something's good if Sarah likes it. Soon afterwards, we began...THE BEAUTY RITUALS. We gave ourselves pedicures and manicures: HUGE amounts of fun. I had NO idea my nails could be so smooth and shiny. We both got quite hilariously excited about it. I went out today and bought a nail buffer because I think I am going to be addicted to buffing my nails now. And maybe if I concentrate on shining my nails up, I'll be less apt to rip them off to the quick...an absent-minded stress-habit of mine that I've had for as long as I can remember. Stayed up way too late of course...and then when we DID go to bed, I laid awake until almost 2:00 a.m., unable to sleep. Manicures will do that to you. One of the unlisted side effects: May cause insomnia. Or possibly it was the trace amount of Ben & Jerry's "Chubby Hubby" that we consumed...

Anyway- up at 8:00 and off to Saint Gauden's shortly after 9:00. We took quite a scenic route up to Cornish...and thoroughly enjoyed the leisurely self-guided tour. It was extremely muggy and hazy, so we didn't get a good view- or any view at all really- of Mt. Ascutney...and just as we were toting our picnic lunch down the meadow, sweating like proverbial pigs - at least, I was- rumbles of thunder were heard. Sarah, being the smart one, suggested we retreat to a more sheltered spot to partake of our sustenance. I agreed reluctantly...and we hastened back to the porch of the house. Gorgeous porch, gorgeous house, and gorgeous view, even if the sky was threatening. We'd been eating for a few minutes when there was a sudden flash of lightning close at hand and a wickedly loud clatter of thunder RIGHT OVER OUR HEADS...and the rain suddenly GUSHED out of the sky. Heh heh. And the air quickly felt 100% refreshing. But I was glad we weren't in the meadow. ( Later we saw some people who had been trapped in the downpour- they were totally drenched and I just outright laughed at them.) What a jolly memory. It is so fun to take someone you love to a place you love and introduce the two.

The rain subsided a little -- enough for us to gallop back to the car. We drove back to Keene and went shopping for a little while...We found some things to give Sarah's bathroom a makeover. Great fun! It was nice to catch up, do fun things, and just be with each other. And with Sarah, you don't always have to be TALKING all the time- that's the sign of a good friend. Sometimes you just BE.

To sum up, a hugely enjoyable day off.

Next Stop- Monday

So remember how I said the other day that we had a fantastic group of girls? Um...Perhaps I spoke too soon. Well, not really...they were just wickedly high energy today, somewhat negative, and several of them are leaving early next week and so they are...ah...shall we say...less than invested in the program. Lots of cases of the " I don't cares." I was exhausted by LUNCHTIME. I am truly, truly thankful that it is Friday. Huh. Almost Saturday now. Perhaps it shall be Saturday by the time I finish writing this. Sometimes I think that the weekend is kind of like going into hyper space, as seen in Star Wars. Friday night it's like you're setting up the coordinates...and then suddenly the stars come streaming at you and before you know it...BOOM you're suddenly arriving at Monday morning again...way too fast. Okay- yes, this analogy is full of holes. Don't try to think about it too hard. But hey- I'm taking this Monday off! I am taking my vacation in scattered days, one here, two there...rather than a week or so at a time...

I told Matt about my idea of the song " Marci had a little fawn..." to the tune of "Mary had a little lamb" and he took it and ran with it. He and Jody came up with words to several verses...such as "Marci had a little fawn, little fawn, little fawn, Marci had a little fawn, they thought it had rabies...And everywhere that Marci went, Marci went, Marci went, Everywhere that Marci went, the Law was sure to go..." There were more verses including how it "followed" her to "school" one day which was against the rules, and how "They" wanted to "lop its head off"...and how it eventually died...So Matt printed up the song, I made copies and distributed it to the girls and at lunch time, we sprang this unique choral offering upon our dear kitchen manager/cook. It was very well received. At least, she laughed outwardly...

I had dinner with Daddy and Mama tonight. And guess what? I ate part of a BEET. I have avoided these ruddy vegetables with everything in my power for YEARS. Brad has been asking me to cook them for I don't know how long ...and I have a can of them, languishing in the pantry. I just can't bring myself to open it and serve them. Bad memories of a loathsome taste from childhood. My mother tells me they are full of potassium. Ah! So I tried to act grown up and took a tiny piece...and then a bigger piece. To my surprise, I didn't gag. Not that I would rate them up there with cheesecake or muddy buddys but...I have met the beet, and it is edible.

Carwashing- the Pinnacle of YOUR day?

Brad is gone. Wah. I got up at 4:00 this morning and went to the airport with him. I MISS HIM. ALREADY. ( And to think we used to routinely go five days, and sometimes weeks, and months without seeing each other before we were married...! How did we do that?) But it's all for a good cause. He is on a mission to bring Grandpa Charlie Pass out here to live on the East Coast. Huzzah for such an answer to prayer! This is a huge thing...literally YEARS in the making. It is so incredible to see God working this process out.

I was driving home today and heard a commercial on the radio...It was talking about how we have such hectic lives...but one way to relax was to...go to a carwash. WHAT? They said that it might be "the most satisfying thing you do all day." WHAAAAT? Okay, it might be somewhat satisfying to cross it off your list of things to do ...but The Most Satisfying Thing of Your Day? I hope I never reach that nadir where sitting in a carwash gives me fulfillment. Talk about pathetic! Ever heard of the Sabbath?

Last night we saw part of a program on TV called Brat Camp. It's basically a reality thing where troubled teens go to this wilderness therapy/correctional/challenge camp thingy...in the wilds of Oregon. Brad was intrigued. It felt to me like I was going back to work. There were a few differences between Sage Walk and the Antrim Girls' Shelter; for instance, we actually have walls and a roof, whereas they had a glorified tent, and also our facility is not co-ed...but a lot of the issues were the same. Interesting.

Signing off for now.

Rhododendrons and Dromedarys

We have a fantastic group of girls right now at the Shelter. I wish it was always thus.

Went on a field trip today to Rhododendron State Park in Fitzwilliam. I was a little disappointed as the rhododendrons were not blooming as profusely as I expected. However, it did provide a nice little hike before our picnic lunch...In spots, it was like a rhododendron tunnel and seemed positively jungle-like. I was glad I was not claustrophobic.

Lunch is supposed to be an event where you eat, not where you are eaten. But today's picnic lunch proved to be a little of both. The mosquitoes of Fitzwilliam have an unusually fierce bite. It looked like I was getting hives on my legs and ankles...thick, puffy, pink bites. Ergh. I doused myself with bug spray but it was too late.

After that we proceeded to TWINKLE TOWN to hone our mini-golfing technique. This morning, when Matt told the girls we were going to Twinkle Town, the girls - who are unfamiliar with the area- really thought we were going to a real town named Twinkle. Um. No. It was a pretty fun excursion, and gave the girls plenty of opportunity to practice anger management skills as they skyrocketed past par. And then we settled down to...MORE ICECREAM! Hurray! Moosetracks icecream is the best!

Last week when we went to Pack Monadnock for a picnic, we played,
" When I went to California..." You know...the game where you take turns listing things alphabetically. Well, my contribution for "D" was 'dromedary.' It was pretty hilarious listening to the girls try to remember and pronounce that one...It seemed like every girl had a different pronunciation each time they had a turn. Mostly, they settled on "drama-thing." This morning, I was quite impressed at the breakfast table to hear some of them reciting the whole alphabetical list of things from last weeks' game. They still hadn't really gotten the dromedary thing down. Some of the other items listed were, "A- Air-conditioning", "B- Boyfriend"..." G- goo-goo dolls", "H- hot guy..."

Speaking of California, Brad is heading west early tomorrow morning and I am dreading the next five days. It STINKS to not be with him. I am going to miss him so terribly much. We barely survived the last five day separation- when I went to Florida in January- and when I staggered in the door around 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning, January 25th, we swore to each other that we would never put each other through this again...but it must be done. Sigh. ( Well, I don't think we really swore to each other, but it would sound silly to say that we affirmed to each other, " Never again." Doesn't quite have the same desperate ring to it...) So I'm planning all sorts of things to keep me busy and distracted while he's gone. Wish me luck!

Marci's Tale of Woe and Intrigue: The Saga of the Fawn

And I thought I had some close encounters with New Hampshire's fauna recently...This story trumps all. It did not happen to me, but to my co-worker, the famous Marci, who I have written about before on this blog.

The following took place last Friday, as I was gone on my mini-vacation. So I hope I am reporting this story at least semi-accurately. Marci, if you are reading this, feel free to comment and correct me if I'm off on some of the details. (You don't have to have your own blog to leave a comment on mine.)

Marci, the soul of compassion and friend of animals everywhere, ( her apartment, I hear tell, is a veritable menagerie, complete with a huge, domesticated pig, and a disembodied human hand in a jar...not that the hand can really be said to be part of the menagerie...but it is indicative of her intrinsic intrigue...but I digress...) Anyway...where was I? Oh yes, Marci, soul of c, friend of a's everywhere, was on her way to work when she chanced upon a 'listless' and very small fawn.
( Listless was the word Matt used as he recounted the tale to me with great glee.) And being the thoughtful and considerate person that she is, she took pity upon the poor, unfortunate beast...stopped her car...and picked it up. ( No, it was not hitchhiking.) I still don't know all the details. Did she invite it, with tender coaxing and promises of treats? Did she pursue it on foot and tackle it? This part is a mystery. However, she got the fawn into the back of her vehicle and continued on to work. ( This is the difference between Marci and me. I would never have stopped. Can you imagine me stopping to pick up animals I have encountered? The beavers? The turkeys? The bear? Of course not. That would be silly. But even if I saw a fawn, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't stop! I guess I'm just plain ol' heartless.) Anyway- the fawn spent the rest of the day in the car...she did come out and feed it, and I'm sure she left the window cracked or something. But when she called the N.H. wildlife people to see if they would take the young thing back into the wild, they said they wanted to test for rabies...and to do that, you have to kill the animal. UNTHINKABLE! Apparently, the way the N.H. Wildlife people understood the matter, Marci would return it to the wild. However, she tried other facilities, hoping to find someone who could rehabilitate the fawn before returning it to the wild... but no one would take the poor thing. And apparently, someone from one of the places she called RATTED ON HER to the N.H. Wildlife people. So we have had game wardens and the like calling the Shelter, and coming to the Shelter, trying to track Marci down. So far, she has avoided them. She thinks perhaps she will end up in jail. Or lose her job. She was telling us this the other day at lunch and I thought it was so absolutely bizarrely hilarious that I had to make all kinds of jokes and give her a hard time. "What are you in here for?"" Armed robbery, murder, assault...."" What are you in here for?" "Um...fawn-napping..." This is one I have thought of since, " Marci had a little fawn..." ( sung to the tune of "Mary had a little lamb...") I could go all sorts of places with this. But I'll restrain myself.

Oh- and the REST of the story is- the fawn died, and she took it back to the woods. I don't know if she buried it or had a funeral or what. I think there are more dimensions to the story that I have left out...such as the game warden people not knowing that the fawn is dead...and Marci wondering whether she should tell them...and stuff like that. Poor Marci. Eventually, I took in some of the seriousness of the situation and stopped giving her such a hard time. In a way, you just have to know her to appreciate the hilarity and also the pathos of this story. She is one of my most favorite people at the Shelter -- hilariously funny, bold, unabashedly loud, fun to sing with, a great, talented cook, caring and considerate, and someone you can really talk to. She was trying to do such a good deed...and it backfired on her.

I guess the moral of the story is, the next time you see a listless fawn by the side of the road, steel yourself, harden your heart and drive on. If you heed not this warning, there's no telling what may happen next.

Further bulletins as events warrant.

This week's news

Well...it's been a long, full week. Thus, the dearth of posts. Here's an update:

Last weekend, Keith, Liane and Ethan arrived. It was a joyous reunion. I had a great time playing with Ethan; I never thought I could have so much fun running up and down the same hill over and over. " Let's do it again!" It was sweet and surreal to watch him riding around on the same blue and yellow racecar that used to be Andrew's when he was little. Amazing - last time I saw them all it was before Christmas...now Ethan can talk in complete sentences...

Let's see...On the fourth, Linda and I took some girls who had earned their privileges to MacDowell Dam for a delightful field trip. Unfortunately, no life guard being present, I had to tell the girls they couldn't really swim...but happily, they found something else to do- catch minnows...with plastic cups. They took it very seriously for a long time. Weird...but nice.

After work, I drove to Fairwood to join in the festivities of the Family Convention. As I drew near, I remembered that they were having the field day activities that day, and I realized I might stumble upon the running of the Fairwood Mile. Sure enough, as I came to the golf course, I drove by several small fry trudging along, bringing up the rear. This meant that I was shortly to arrive at the finish line and be greeted by a huge crowd. As I drove up the hill, there stood probably seventy five, eighty something people waiting for the runners. So I waved my queenly wave, and they broke into wild cheering...some of them even calling out my name. Wow. What a welcome. It felt for a short moment like I had died and was entering heaven, being greeted by the great cloud of witnesses. The analogy breaks down though; I never imagined I would enter through the Pearly Gates driving a teal 1993 Ford Taurus sedan. Do they even have cars with internal combustion engines in heaven?

Let's see...other highlights of the week were... a field trip to Pack Monadnock. It was pretty foggy so we couldn't see far but we had a good time. The girls can tell some pretty funny stories, such as one whose grandmother puts the makeup on dead people. Got back to the shelter after toodling around Peterborough, and went to staff meeting, where I found out that three girls had tried to steal nasturtium seeds to get high. WHAT? You can get high on nasturtium seeds? I don't know. I guess they wanted to find out. Apparently, they thought it would be like using morning glory seeds to get high. WHAT? You can get high on morning glory seeds? I guess so. I am learning ALL kinds of things I never wanted to know. I was so disappointed and mad at these girls who should have known better. At this point, I was thrilled to be leaving on my two day vacation.

Yes, I took Thursday and Friday off to participate in some of the Family Convention. It was a glorious break. I slept in, went out to lunch with Mama, Liane, and Melissa on Thursday, made dinner with Fritha- taco salad- went to the talent show in the evening...and on Friday, slept in, hung out at Fairwood in the rain bonding with family and friends...blah blah blah. I'm tired all of a sudden, and I'm going to end this rambly post.

Animalia

Okay- so what about when two beavers cross your path? What kind of luck does that bring? Yes, it really happened. Actually, they didn't completely cross my path. One of them- I think it was the female- seemed uncertain about the journey and meandered around, eventually turned, herding the male, and went back whence they came. Hmmm.

I think the news has gotten out in the animal kingdom and beasts are fighting amongst themselves to hurl themselves in the path of my car so they can get famous on my blog. The other day I saw an animal crossing the road far ahead of me. I strained forward...Is it a fox? Is it a muskrat? What new animal can I report about on my blog? Um...it was a cat. And not a wild cat, either. Oh well.

I regret that I have but one blog...but I'm having enough trouble coming up with stuff to write for just this one...

I have been in a distinct malaise. Nothing has tempted me to blog. So, a wild turkey ran in front of me on my way to work...Big deal, last week it was a bear. So, a woman bumped her car door into my passenger side mirror while I was in the car at Hannafords...and she drove away like nothing happened and I was enraged. Story goes nowhere. I took the girls swimming...I took them to Keene State's art gallery amidst a torrential downpour. Big whoop. One of the dogs at work found its' way into one of the girls' bedrooms and made off with an undergarment which it could not be persuaded to part with...I thought it would be too inappropriate to write about it. So I didn't. No really- I didn't! I know it sounds like I just did, but no, I didn't. I plunged the toilet in the girls' bathroom at work, sorted unutterably foul smelling recyclables at work, played badminton at work, ate fantastic Muddy Buddies snacks until I was almost covered with confectioners' sugar... at work... Not riveting! Got paid to watch Willy Wonka with the girls? I don't want to make everyone else jealous. ( I love the Oompa Loompas.) I dreamed I was flying helicopters and assassinating drug lords with poisoned darts...? Nah, nobody wants to read about that. It was Liane's birthday this week...my parent's 35th anniversary...Sorry. I love them tons and tons but I couldn't stir up any energy to write. Maybe 'twas the heat n' humidity that sapped my strength.

But I must bestir myself before any more time goes by. I can't let this blahness get the better of me. I must...uh...conquer it.

If you ever want to see Brad convulsed in loud laughter, contrive to be in a situation where you can talk upside down to him. If he's reclining in a chair, or lazing on a hammock or somesuch thing ( which he never has time to do, but this is purely hypothetical), come up behind him and peer over the top of his head so that you are upside down to him...and then talk...or better yet, make faces. This is a sure-fire way to send him into hysterics. I don't know why. I just did it and he gasped, amidst roars of laughter, "...like being tortured at Gitmo..."

Okay.

Well, that's the best I can come up with right now. Malaise- be gone.