October 6, 2011 Haircut Day

Today was haircut day for Jack (the funniest man in the universe) and me in Alma. After our haircuts, Jack and his long suffering wife, Tina, took me out to see their buffalo.

That's right, Jack and some of his buddies, in a drunken stupor, agreed to buy a herd of buffalo. Really, aren't they just like cattle, only different? Each guy asked his wife what she thought, each wife said they thought the idea was stupid. Each guy bought a buffalo.

The buffalo (who are all named) were tranquilized and loaded, with a skid loader, into a trailer then taken to the pasture where I saw them.

I might add that tranquilizing a buffalo takes some doing and even then they only remain calm for a little while so the cowboys have to work fast. The cowboys in question are nearly all weekend cowboys and should have their life insurance premiums paid up.

If you get your binoculars out, you'll be able to see the 10 or so buffalo at the far end of the pasture. Invisible buffalo aside, aren't the colors in this picture beautiful? It was a perfect fall evening.

You can just about see the buffalo here. They are bunched together trying to figure out a way to get through the mud to the pond that's just beyond where they are standing. Hopefully, they'll remember that there is plenty of food and water back up at the barn.

Apparently, in Alma, it is quite a status symbol to say you own a buffalo. I wonder what kind of symbol it is going to be to say you were trampled by a buffalo? Stay tuned, because I am certain we will soon find out.

October 5, 2011 Football Season

Depending on the season, the field across the street is a soccer field, football field, or baseball diamond.

Tonight it was football.

The offensive line combined weighed less than I do. Without my shoes.

One little guy reminded me of Luke. His mom dropped him off and as he was walking towards the group, he just fell over.

One moment upright, the next moment, not.

Between the point of where he fell down and the team was a little dog. He stopped to pet the dog and forgot he was there for football.

The coach called and called and pretty soon he wandered off to the huddle.

I had to laugh.

But I so wanted to go across the street and tell that kid to hang in there because in not too many years he'd be smarter than the other guys and well on his way to getting a degree in Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering.

October 4, 2011 My Favorite Pastime

I love to read. Love. It.

Thanks to Miss Gunkle, my first grade teacher, who gave me a solid foundation (Run, Dick, run. See Dick run after Jane who is too smart and pretty to settle for Dick and his bad haircut.), Mrs. Dunn, my second grade teacher who gave prizes for reading the most books, and Mrs. Reed, my third grade teacher, who read to us every day (she cried when Charlotte died, I did too.), a love of books and reading took root deep inside me.

My mom and dad read a lot too. Dad was never without a book. In fact, I was reading to my dad when he died. I arrived in Dodge City on January 19, 2002, without a book. That in and of itself was odd because a book is the first thing I pack whenever I leave home. I realized I didn't have anything to read so I asked Dad if I could use his library card to check out a book. Of course he said yes. That's about the last thing he ever said.

The book I checked out was "I Thought My Father was God" which is a compliation of short essays put together by NPR's National Story Project. I sat by his bed and began to read. Just like all those hours when I was growing up and I'd read aloud to him. Reading in our family was important. Side note: we took 3 daily newspapers and got a 4th on Sunday. Oh yeah, we were readers.

So, my dad left this world listening to me read. That's pretty cool. Very cool.

Anyway, I love to read and when I got a Kindle it enabled me to carry hundreds of books in my purse. Something to read is always at my fingertips.

Which makes my fingertips very, very happy.

October 3, 2011 Fall Colors

I see this tree every evening on my drive home. It makes me smile.

Because fall is here.

Because it's no longer 100 degrees.

Because I am not sweating through my underpants.

I love the colors of fall.

This scenery makes me want to drive the speed limit. Nearly.

I'm not sure I could live in a place that doesn't have seasons. Even when the snow is blowing or the sun is scorching, I love the seasons.

Autumn will be complete when I walk outside and smell someone burning their leaves.

Fall in Kansas.

Like Heaven, except idiots are in charge.

October 2, 2011 Sunday in Paradise

Buddy Barr got a bath today!

Curtis played golf so when he got home, he decided to get a few chores done that have fallen by the wayside due to his crazy work schedule. One of those chores, much to Buddy's chagrin, was a dog bath!

The family came over for fajitas and peach cobbler. Kind of a crazy combination, but I had peaches and make a mean cobbler.

Before my brother left, I got this picture of he and Luke.

I remember the days when my brother used to bounce Luke on his knee. Not so much anymore.

October 1, 2011 Family, Friends, Fire, Frogs

First things first: This post is the first one of the TENTH month of this blog! Who knew I could stick with it this long? Who knew that I would find something to take a picture of every day? Someone found my blog and sent me this message, "I started reading your blog and got sucked in."

Sucked in. Why, thank you. Thank you very much.

Luke and I did indeed go to breakfast at Bob's Diner in Manhattan. It was awesome.

Then we went to the store because we are headed to Kim's house tonight for dinner and I needed to get some bits and pieces to take along.

Next, it was time to get the laundry done. And take a nap. (I love Saturdays.)

Thanks to the wonder that is facebook, an old friend found me and gave me a call this afternoon. He was my former debate partner (I know, hard to believe that I was ever a high school debater, but I was) but he was much more than that. I remember Mike making me laugh more than anyone ever did before or since - with the exception of Jack Turner, who is the funniest human being around. I remember Mike being crazy smart. He still is.

He had a great car, a Mustang convertible. We would ride around in it, with the top down, regardless of the weather. One time we wore football helmets because it was raining or hailing or something. We even rode around with snow falling on us.

One time during a debate, he reached in his briefcase (which was magical, like Mary Poppins' bag) and pulled out a phone receiver. The cord disappeared into the briefcase. (Okay, as I'm writing this, it's not funny or strange or amusing, but I can promise you that it was all these things when it happened.)

I remember I wore a navy blue double knit homemade (thanks, Mom) pants suit with a sailor collar and a red tie and white and black saddle shoes. I. Was. Stylin'.

Mike told me that he picked me to be his partner because I was cute, smart and had a sense of humor, just like him. (Says me, not Mike.)

Mike's voice is exactly the same. His laugh is exactly the same. His sense of humor is completely intact.

CB got home from work and we headed to my sister's for dinner. My brother, my mom, Luke, everyone was there.

After supper, Kim started a fire in her portable fire pit. It was only the second time it's been used. (The first was at my celebration after my breast surgery in 2008.) We sat around it for over an hour, laughing and carrying on. At one point, a frog jumped up on the rim of the fire pit and just sat there. His little feet must have gotten hot because pretty soon he was gone and there was no sizzling in the fire.

Speaking of frogs/toads: no update on the one at my mom's house. She says it's still there. No one else has seen it. We think she's crazy.

Marshmallows were roasted, camp songs were sung, brothers were embarrassed, Mom's obituary was discussed (at her request, I might add).

Here's my suggestion for Mom's obit. We buy a classified ad that reads: Momma's with Jesus, we're sellin' her stuff.

My mom's cheap. She'd like it except she'll be with Jesus.

September 30, 2011 OZ Arrives in My Little Town

Another weekend festival in my little town. This time it's Oztoberfest, celebrating the Wizard of Oz and the fact that someone is loaning all their Wizard of Oz shit, I mean, memorabilia to Wamego and the town built a festival around it.

I'm not much of a festival kind of citizen, but I thought these flags were sort of cool. Green for the Emerald City and yellow because I have no idea why.

There was a bike race, a 5k run, Munchkins signing (selling) autographs, "The Wiz" at the Columbian, a display of Judy Garland's dresses. Pretty big doin's for a little town.

It was a beautiful fall day; one of those perfect days that comes along every now and then. The trees are starting to turn and it won't be long before the landscape will be ablaze with color. Ablaze, I say!

My brother is in town to ride in the bike ride tomorrow. My brother in law, Jay, is in charge of said ride and my brother is a biker from way back.

Now, that's not exactly true. My brother, who is the smartest human being I know, couldn't ride a bike until he was in junior high and I TAUGHT HIM. I remind him of that every chance I get. It's the right thing to do.

Mostly he rides a stationary bike at the gym these days, but occasionally, he gets out in the crisp mountain air of Denver and actually gets some where when he pedals.

Tomorrow he's riding 28 miles.

Tomorrow I'm sleeping in and going to breakfast with Luke.