Dear Friends,
I’m certainly hoping brother Michael had a good birthday party yesterday. I was bummed I couldn’t make it. We went to see our friends on the coast and took some time to commune with the Atlantic Ocean. I have some thoughts about that percolating, so expect a longer diatribe soon.
Today is going to be a random news dump.
They caught the dude who robbed my dad. I’m relieved about that. I hated the idea of some guy with a gun knowing where he and my stepmom live. From what Dad told me, the guy is going away for a long time. Robbing Dad was not his first rodeo, apparently. His assailant is 22 years old. Now he’ll spend the rest of his twenties behind bars. Luckily (sarcasm), the state of Arizona does not really believe in rehabilitation so if he ever gets out, odds are good he’ll just be angrier and ready to hurt more people.
Last week was a long week. It took several days for my neck/back issue to figure itself out, so sleep was not fun, nor was sitting at the computer and working to prep for the coming school year. We start classes tomorrow, so you’ll be reading about that soon enough, too.
As the week progressed, though, I got a few walks in and used the time to figure out some direction for a couple of the stories I have shared so far. Making up stuff is hard (he writes in a Michael Cera voice like the one he used a lot in the movie Scott Pilgrim). I’m a bit whiny today so far it seems. Bailey went with me on Friday morning and, for some reason, she was not wanting to walk on my left side as we headed back up route 4 to Doug’s street.
It's not super busy, but it is a steep hill and the cars come over the top of it going pretty fast. I must admit that I’m always a bit nervous walking along the road. I wonder if people are really looking for pedestrians where we are. A few people bike, run, hike, and walk along it, but not many. I would never walk on it after dark unless I had to do so.
Bailey was wanting to walk closer to the road, and it was making me nervous as hell, but we survived (obviously) and I’m guessing she’ll go with me one or two more times before the kids and I come home. I am excited to be home but also sad, too. I will miss Rhondi and Doug and the rest of the family up here. I will miss the hell out of Bailey, too. She snuggles with me every night and it is really comforting. I’m a bit of a snuggle guy when it comes to sleeping, if possible, but due to Rhondi’s back issues, it’s just not comfortable for her. I get the dog, though.
When I get home, one of the cats will probably want to hang out with me. That’s a decent substitute, I suppose. The little dogs are far too neurotic to sleep in bed anymore. They are way better off in their kennel which is their happy place. I’ll get used to falling asleep with the TV on again.
On route 4 there are a few people with Trump signs in their windows. I wonder how they can back the sniveling turd, still, but maybe they want a King. It is weird to me how many people want to willingly give up even the idea of being free. I know it is a bit of a pipe dream anymore, the whole freewill thing, but still. I just don’t get it.
Rhondi and I have been watching Severance, which I think I have mentioned, and it is so good. For a guy like me with some strange ideas for stories rattling around in my head, it is encouraging to see a show like that. We are probably getting close to the end of the first season and the other night, I think it was Thursday, I had weird dreams about it.
I didn’t necessarily dream about the show, but the dreams were like the show. The people were all kind of brainwashed in my dream and I kept wondering why in the hell they were like that. Maybe it was a mix of reading about the January 6 hearings and watching Severance.
I think the kids are ready to be home. They aren’t complaining or anything, but I sense they need to be home. We do ask a lot of teenagers to leave for almost two months, I suppose. I would have been so pissed when I was in high school to leave my friends for this long. Maybe not at Liam’s age. I didn’t have much of a social life after freshman year, but by the following summer, I was pretty busy.
I doubt they will want to come for a full summer again next year which leads to a dilemma. I can’t imagine not wanting to be back up here for as long as possible again, but I’m also reluctant to force another long stay in Maine on them if they don’t want to be here. They love it up here, but they are ready to have a life, too.
No sense worrying about that right now, though.
I’ve spent way too much time in my life worrying about things that might happen. Rhondi has helped me get over a lot of it, but it is still easy for me to do. I think I get that from my Mom’s side of the DNA tree. Champion worriers over there for sure. In her prime, I would have put Granny up against the other top worriers in the world and I’m guessing she would have made a great showing. Mom is pretty decent at it, too. She comes by it honestly, I suppose. I’m sure she would be worrying her head off right now if she knew I was on an island in the Atlantic Ocean.
See you tomorrow.
A shot of Burlington from last weekend. It explains itself, I think. Too bad many of his followers disagree and/or forgot that he was a good person.
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