Odds 'n ends

It's been a busy month, starting with a home project followed by a trip to Canada and then visit by my two sisters who drove up from Iowa to see us.  Of course I have some pictures and comments to go with.

The home project was putting a new shed up to replace our old rusting out one that you can see to the right of the new one in progress.  We had to wait all spring for two nice days in a row to first get the floor built and then attach walls and finally a roof, but it went pretty well and we're both happy with the result.

Erin in late June had taken one of our cats to the vet because of a sinus infection and while she was there someone brought in a kitten they'd seen alongside the highway.  The vet's office didn't have a space for him, so Erin said she'd be able to take care of him.  Erin named him Charlie and he was about six weeks old and so very cute.  I wasn't sure about keeping him but, really, how can anyone resist?

In other pet news, our dog Tucker developed a hot spot on his rear end that he kept bothering, so after a visit to the vet to treat it he got to wear a new collar to keep him from bothering it while it heals.  He was not amused.  He also kept running into our legs with it like a bull in a china shop.  He finally got it off last weekend and is much happier now.

A little over a week ago Erin and I went to Stillwater to hear some music in a park alongside the St. Croix River and while we were enjoying the lovely evening we saw some balloons ascend into the sky from the Wisconsin side of the river.  One descended almost down to the river and Erin had fun taking pictures of them with my camera that I was thoughtful enough to bring with me.

We also saw the gondola that offers rides on the river out taking a couple for a romantic float, and Erin snapped a picture of it as it passed underneath the lift bridge.

Last weekend my sisters came to visit and we had dinner in Stillwater on Friday night.  We were hoping to enjoy some fine dining outdoors along the riverbank, but the weather was cold and windy so we had to settle for dining indoors with a view instead.  Here's Erin on the left and my two sisters, Andrea in the middle and April on the right, at our table.








That's it.  I wish I had some images of our good times at this year's Winnipeg Folk Festival, but I never managed to remember my camera for even one of the five days we were there.  Maybe next year I will.

If I Were a Dog

by Richard Shelton

I would trot down this road sniffing
on one side and then the other
peeing a little here and there
wherever I felt the urge
having a good time what the hell
saving some because it's a long road

but since I'm not a dog
I walk straight down the road
trying to get home before dark

if I were a dog and I had a master
who beat me I would run away
and go hungry and sniff around
until I found a master who loved me
I could tell by his smell and I
would lick his face so he knew

or maybe it would be a woman
I would protect her we could go
everywhere together even down this
dark road and I wouldn't run from side
to side sniffing I would always
be protecting her and I would stop
to pee only once in awhile

sometimes in the afternoon we could
go to the park and she would throw
a stick I would bring it back to her

each time I put the stick at her feet
I would say this is my heart
and she would say I will make it fly
but you must bring it back to me
I would always bring it back to her
and to no other if I were a dog

Do You Love Me?

by Robert Wrigley

She's twelve and she's asking the dog,
who does, but who speaks
in tongues, whose feints and gyrations
are themselves parts of speech.

They're on the back porch
and I don't really mean to be taking this in
but once I've heard I can't stop listening. Again
and again she asks, and the good dog

sits and wiggles, leaps and licks.
Imagine never asking. Imagine why:
so sure you wouldn't dare, or couldn't care
less. I wonder if the dog's guileless brown eyes

can lie, if the perfect canine lack of abstractions
might not be a bit like the picture books
she "read" as a child, before her parents' lips
shaped the daily miracle of speech

and kisses, and the words were not lead
and weighed only air, and did not mean
so meanly. "Do you love me?" she says
and says, until the dog, sensing perhaps

its own awful speechlessness, tries to bolt,
but she holds it by the collar and will not
let go, until, having come closer,
I hear the rest of it. I hear it all.

She's got the dog's furry jowls in her hands,
she's speaking precisely
into its laid-back, quivering ears:
"Say it," she hisses, "say it to me."

On Visiting the Grave of My Stillborn Little Girl

by Elizabeth Gaskell 

 

Sunday July 4th 1836

I made a vow within my soul, O Child,
When thou wert laid beside my weary heart,
With marks of death on every tender part
That, if in time a living infant smiled,
Winning my ear with gentle sounds of love
In sunshine of such joy, I still would save
A green rest for thy memory, O Dove!
And oft times visit thy small, nameless grave.
Thee have I not forgot, my firstborn, though
Whose eyes ne'er opened to my wistful gaze,
Whose sufferings stamped with pain thy little brow;
I think of thee in these far happier days,
And thou, my child, from thy bright heaven see
How well I keep my faithful vow to thee.

May Day snow

Yes, it snowed again starting late last night and falling until five this morning.  We had a total of around eight inches of snow in New Richmond and points south of us had up to fourteen inches of wet, heavy snow.  At three in the morning we lost power, which I knew because the alarm on the computers UPS was going off.  We had power restored at a quarter after six though as a crew fixed a power line just down the street from our house.  I took the dogs out to have a bit of fun while I cleared the snow off my car and took a few photos too.

From the front door of our house at 6:20am, when there was plenty of light thanks to it being May 2nd, hard as that may be to believe given the scene.

I didn't bother shoveling much, except to clear the front steps and walkway for the mail carrier.  It'll all melt soon enough.

The obligatory shot of the deck out back, which I didn't bother to shovel either.

Tucker and Ceilidh out just chillin'.

Out back in a winter wonderland.

A Final Affection

by Paul Zimmer

I love the accomplishments of trees,
How they try to restrain great storms
And pacify the very worms that eat them.
Even their deaths seem to be considered.
I fear for trees, loving them so much.
I am nervous about each scar on bark,
Each leaf that browns. I want to
Lie in their crotches and sigh,
Whisper of sun and rains to come.

Sometimes on summer evenings I step
Out of my house to look at trees
Propping darkness up to the silence.

When I die I want to slant up
Through those trunks so slowly
I will see each rib of bark, each whorl;
Up through the canopy, the subtle veins
And lobes touching me with final affection;
Then to hover above and look down
One last time on the rich upliftings,
The circle that loves the sun and moon,
To see at last what held the darkness up.

What is my D&D character?

It's a fair cop. (Via James Nicoll)

I Am A: Lawful Good Gnome Sorcerer (6th Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-12
Dexterity-14
Constitution-14
Intelligence-15
Wisdom-13
Charisma-13

Alignment:
Lawful Good A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion. However, lawful good can be a dangerous alignment when it restricts freedom and criminalizes self-interest.

Race:
Gnomes are in wide demand as alchemists, inventors, and technicians, though most prefer to remain among their own kind in simple comfort. Gnomes adore animals, gems, and jokes, especially pranks. They love to learn by personal experience, and are always trying new ways to build things. Gnomes stand 3 to 3.5 feet tall and live about 350 to 500 years.

Class:
Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will. Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards, sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell level they can cast.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)