Just for Kara

Guilt is the emotion or belief that someone has done something wrong. From a legal perspective, it can also refer to the condition of having done something legally wrong, regardless of how one feels about it.

I feel guilty for not posting in the last 15 days. And my daughter just made me feel guiltier. So, what's worse, feeling guilty or developing hives from all the stress at work? I think I'd take the guilt or maybe I should say I've already gone with the guilt because work has been so bad, I've had no time for this.

Tomorrow night is the big birthday celebration (yahoo-Rock and Roll Cafe with juicy burgers and oily fries) and the next night we will have a Pete & Tracy visit, the next night Vivian, the next night the finale for the Portland Festival Symphony and the last night my niece and fam, then it's back to work all over again.

I think the better quote for me right now is...I've got my country's 500th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to blame for it, I'm swamped! Not only that, I need to go wrap, I'm off to the Fire Swamp.

I'll be back when I'm back.

Prove You Wrong

OK, you think only the most dangerous things are the most fun. Let's see if I can come up with a few that prove you wrong.

Hmm, 5-6 of us cousins jumping on Grandma's feather bed out in the cabin comes to mind, no we could have fallen off and bumped our heads so that doesn't work (even though no one did as I recall).




How about playing catch; no that won't work since I missed once and the ball cut a huge gash in my eyebrow when it hit my glasses.


I know, climbing Grammie's tree in her front yard. It had the most perfect branch just within reach to make climbing a must. Our favorite thing was to hang from it upside down by our knees. It was very smooth because we climbed up there so much. Oh, you probably won't let me have that one either, something about kids falling out of trees or some such nonsense.



There was the time we floated in inner tubes on the Wilson River with our friends. Probably not a good example though since my girlfriend got caught in the current and my dad had to swim after her to save her.


There was riding horses with my girlfriends but that won't work either since I never really knew what I was doing and more than once they ran away with me, cornered and kicked other horses, tried to rub me off on a tree, tried to buck me off, tried to bite me...what was it I liked so much about horses? I still do for that matter.

I still think there are some fun things you can do that aren't dangerous like reading a good book, roller skating, playing piano, riding bikes, going for walks/hikes and of course, playing with baby boy. So yes, you're right, but not entirely.

Ferris Wheels & Black Cherry Soda

Sometimes in the summertime things happen that remind me of the summertimes of my youth. So what better way to capture some of those little reminders than here for my future enjoyment.
The Tillamook County Fair - my sister and I would stand out at the end of our driveway and watch every day from late July on until we finally saw the ferris wheel go up and then we knew the fair was open for business.


Our neighbors made homemade root beer all the time and the bottles were tipped up on shelves in their garage. It tasted really sweet (very much like Thomas Kemper) and good and every once in awhile, one of the bottles would simply explode. That was what all of us kids looked forward to most... the mess.


My mom and the neighbor mom would take all four of us kids to our favorite beach haunts, usuall Oceanside for this, to pluck starfish off the rocks, take them home and dry them out. They were really hard to pry off the rocks and of course now you would be shot if you did it. Then we would take them home and lay them out in the yard to harden (die) and boy did they stink.

This was a later summer memory when I spent the entire summer picking berries; every kind of berry you can imagine. That's how I bought my first stereo (summer of 1965), which lasted all the way through college. We would wrap our Shasta pop (black cherry was my favorite) in foil, freeze it, then by the time you had your lunch in the fields, it would still be cool and delish. This would be the only good memory I have of berry picking.

Do you see the dogs up on top of the hay in this truck, when I was little, that would have been me and my sister and cousins. Those hay trucks sway back and forth so far, it's a miracle we didn't all fall off on our heads, especially driving through the extremely bumpy fields. We screamed and giggled like banshees. Now that was fun.

That's today's trip down memory lane. Now I can revisit the lane anytime I want. Au revoir.

Summer?

Since when is it less than 70 degrees and raining in August? Where is our summertime? Have I been transported to northern Alaska in the middle of the night behind my back? What in Hades is going on? One or two 90 degree days doth not a summer maketh. If I were a school kid I'd really be upset, I'd swear I was robbed and ask for a refund. No concert in the park tonight. The one positive side to this stinky weather is that I don't mind going to work.

Baby boy was here for a few hours today but he was a little fuss budgety since his bottom teeth are giving him fits. So many natural phenomenon in our bodies create such havoc, why is that? You've got your teething thing, you've got pregnancy & childbirth, you've got menopause, in fact - most anything to do with hormones is trouble, including a young man's voice changing and let's not forget wisdom teeth. Life is just awfully hard.



Time for me to leave my diarying to head for my piano. You know what they say, practice makes perfect...maybe with some people but NOT for me. I can always improve though so sayonara.

Hodge Podge, Heavy on the Podge

Gosh, it's been over a month since I posted. I think I was in some kind of a severe time vacuum that simply sucked a month out of my life. So, I am committed to picking up from here rather than where I left off, the no stress approach.

So, what's new? My garden is already beginning to revert to Fallish behavior. There are four more concerts in the park (four different parks actually). With all the wierd weather these days, it's anybody's guess whether or not the weather will cooperate for each one.

I'm heading to Tacoma in order to go to Las Vegas. in a week and a half. It should be lovely and warm there, a great place to visit family, possibly a picnic in the desert? Just kidding, I actually am looking forward to it.


I saw the most recent Harry Potter movie - thumbs up!


I saw the most recent Indie film, "Becoming Jane" - thumbs up, with a little sad thrown in.


I'm wondering if Bush has set a record for saying the most stupid things in one presidential term. No, I don't wonder, I just don't think anyone could possibly beat his record. Our forefathers really missed the boat when they neglected to include stupidity as a valid reason for impeachment. Did you know he just expanded his own job description; he says he is now the Chief Educator. I thank my lucky stars my kids have already graduated. At least they can put a decent sentence together using vocabulary based on its actual definition. I'm hopeful that whoever is saving time capsule memorabilia, skips the last eight years. Otherwise, years in the future they'll be looking back to say, where was everybody, wasn't anybody paying attention? I ask again, where are my compatriots from 1969-1972? We would never have stood for this back then. I think John must be older than he looks.