Saturday, July 31, 2021

on asses & avalon

 we went to the avalon side of catalina, the family plus a relative by blood. mama included this person out of loyalty to her own mother, our dear grandma, may she rest in peace. this person, who did 14 years for disgusting predations, recently had been uninvited from a few other family trips... mama felt bad. she invited him. i was shocked but had to realize mama is most  important, so i shut up about it. except here.

mama is eternally loyal & dutiful to family -- she & dad are the loving, forgiving, reliable  backbone of our family, as james's sister is theirs. mama is far better a person than i ever will be. i try to forgive this individual, but it is tough because i remember what he did & now he carries on like nothing happened, plus he "humble brags" incessantly about himself & his supposed accomplishments (he doesn't mention his crimes, obviously, but talks about prison as if he had been away on holiday or at university all that time).  don't know if he was oblivious or trying to provoke us, but i felt myself wanting to punch him. yeah, our lovely, kind, do-gooding family was there, plus this annoying ass who would not shut up about how wonderful he is -- when someone who did what he did in all decency should keep his trap shut for the rest of his days.

as we boarded the ship to go back home, he continued to impart vast knowledge, this time about avalon fish, and it almost was the last straw for him when james between gritted teeth finally suggested that a certain know-it-all might get his ass tossed in the ocean if he didn't shut up; dad calmly stepped between, the retired jr high teacher in him instinctively doing so.

anyways, on the trip i got to have some, though not enough, moments with my parents; with sister, niece, & bro-in-law; & with james. the shangri-la of avalon is memorably gorgeous, a picturesque cove of turquoise ocean beneath wide blue sky, its beautiful signature tiles visible everywhere. the shops are nothing interesting to me, nor is sun-baking, nor is drinking, but still we had some fun experiences. james, my niece & i went kayaking away from the madding crowd in deep, vast, luscious waters; maddy & i shared a kayak, & my niece up front was so confident, my fears were allayed. james rented a single & would come blasting by us, circling us, making sure we were safe, arms popping with muscle, singing shanties, grinning like a monty python nut. 

another cool experience was jogging up to the catalina chimes, then around the back side of avalon up & down sweeping hills, viewing great expanses of grass-filled peoplelessness winding into areas of pretty houses, returning finally to the village. when sis, niece, mom, dad & i went on a city bus tour next day, it turns out i had done the first half of the bus tour backward, so i was happy to tell mom & dad & see their pride that i had tackled such steep terrain. that run definitely is stored away in my memory files; at this moment i still have images & feel the peaceful excitement of coming around that next curve & discovering a new site & experience.

anyways, here are some pictures. as for the overall trip, i am grateful to have gone, but as for the company, to quote uncle henry (r.i.p.), sometimes peanuts, sometimes shells.

james took this one for his sister, who loves succulents 

my friend dan m sells giant versions of this tiny wall garden

no makeup on either of us

first part of the hill - approaching the catalina chimes
dad, mama, & maddy walking the flats


statue of leroy the cat, the town feline owned by all & no one
 
small statue outside where we bought each other rings; it reminded us of penny, our sweet dog girl

heading around the curve on my wonderful jog adventure

maddy confidently led the rowing team

the waves were large in spots, & the water sparkled

maddy & my feet; below, strong & silly man




above, brave titanic musicians; here, view from jog

walking back from the art deco casino

the route i jogged









Saturday, July 17, 2021

if you tell me that you love me, i'd feel so proud, if you let me hold you, honey, i'd holler out loud

 johnny horton wrote a few vilely racist songs but also some great ones like the one listed above. i don't know how someone can be of such extremes, but people usually are a mixed bag. some bags, like say jimmy carter's, are filled mostly with goodness. other bags (why mention them here & ruin everything?) contain hardly anything worthy at all. anyways, we started our show last night with that song, just the two of us, james singing so wonderfully. but starting off the show was our friend comedian rio hillman, a tall drink of water with friendly, boyish face belying greying beard. he did a startling number of poop jokes! it was good-natured fun. the whole family came to see the show at sue's, just a mile or two from home...

 james just called from the basement :D ... 

anyways, we had a fun show tho we were shaking the dust off. fun for me was that mom & dad requested some of my old band songs so i sang a bunch of stuff like "green door" & "riot in cell block #9," which i haven't done for years. i had practiced some little richard, but we will do that next time. yeah, we were a bit rough but there were great moments, & my hubby is the best always.

"i didn't know you sang like THAT!" i heard. i told dad this morn that both his daughters have secret weapons. my little sister (pictured in middle with her friend, the very cool cat whitlock) looks like a nerdy little librarian, but she is a kick-ass black belt who can take a grown man to his knees in a chokehold (and recently has). i have a soft voice & have been thought to be maybe musically wimpy due to how i speak & comport myself, but tho i no longer have my pinup looks, i continue to be told i play ferociously & sing like "a snarling cat." i don't intend it that way; it is what comes out when i play; it feels natural & it is what i do. when i get to play what i must, instead of trying to play what others want (as happened in the past at times in other bands), all self-consciousness goes out the window & i feel like ME.

after the show, as we caravanned with rio for late-night fast food, i told james we should name our band the stompers. he said that might be a good one for us... 
after getting burgers, rio came & stayed at our place. "good night," i called, listening to james yacking away about dolemite & moms mabley & george carlin & rio laughing his head off... when i got up this morn, rio'd already split, but i guess they were up into the early hours having a time.

anyways, i am heading to agua dulce in a bit to view another travel trailer, one with a bathroom. i hope it works out, but if not, that is a beautiful area & i look foward to the drive!

on another satisfying note, we've saved thousands of dollars since i took dad's advice & have gutted & now am fixing our bathroom. the thought scared me, doing it on my own, then dad said it might be interesting to look inside the house walls (it was like a horror movie), so i did & am now so glad.

anyways, life is good with my dear man. thank you to all the nice people who came to see us last night, such as lovely becky v, karen & dave, the whitlocks, & our wonderful family. good wishes to you who read this.

Saturday, July 03, 2021

owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

i love most all living creatures except some homo sapiens... i love reading e.o. wilson, and i know in part he became an entomologist because of them, that he was inspired by & had particular love of them,... but i hate and despise ants!!! spent 2.5 hrs yesterday ridding the kitchen of little biters (tho now our kitchen is very clean - always a plus, always a plus). today i put up the giant tarp over the giant driveway frame & felt a bite in my croc. just one fire ant had got me, & i'm now in excruciating pain, shaking & sweating. when i was little i was swarmed by ants so badly that dad had to throw me in a nearby creek to get them off & i was sick afterward. so i know ants are highly intelligent, but i hate & despise them. fire ant pain is about the worst there is for me.
i was stupid to get bitten bc i have perfectly good work boots, so once i dressed the bite, i belatedly stuck them on & got back to work. but when i pulled them off a few mins ago, my foot had swollen into the boot & once released, it began to burn & throb worse than before.
i must be allergic for one little ant bite to hurt this badly, but i've gone through this before & know i don't need the hospital. so now it's ibuprofen & rest for me... i hope i don't have to go to bed over this. :(
another day wasted. argh!!!!
i have learned another valuable lesson that i knew & didn't abide, but will now without fail - when working outside, always wear boots.
at left is a flyer. it will be fun. i won't be in pain then i hope, unless i do something else stupid, which is probable.
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ok, i just found this interesting graphic which makes me realize i have no idea what type of ant stung me, but it's been about an hr and it still is burning like crazy. :( time to get out the raid. if you are reading this, WATCH FOR INSECTS!!!