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I see by my reading list that I’ve only read 10 books this month. That’s a verrrrry low number for me; guess I’ll need to spend less time in front of the TV and more time reading this week to at least bring it up into before the end of the month.
The reason I’ve read so few books this month is because two of them were Greg Iles books, and those things take me for-freakin’-ever to finish. Luckily, they’re usually pretty good.
Currently reading: Dancing in the Dark, by Mary Jane Clark (Poet! Knowit!).
The Footprints of God, by Greg Iles. Not bad, not my favorite of his. Dragged on a bit at the end.
The Colorado Kid, by Stephen King. Pretty good, but the end was a bummer.
Lost in the Forest, by Sue Miller. Pretty good, but a certain part of the book gave me the willies. No pun intended.
Dearly Devoted Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay. I find the idea of Dexter more compelling than the actual execution. I’m not sure I care for the writer’s style, but I don’t doubt that I’ll keep reading the Dexter books as they come out, because I do find myself wanting to know what happens next.
Mortal Fear, by Greg Iles. Very, very good.
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So yes, I took the week off from journaling, and didn’t really get all that much accomplished. I did force myself to do some house cleaning on Wednesday, which included mopping the floors downstairs. I don’t know why I have such a hard time getting the lead out and mopping the floors – I probably, literally, spend more time thinking about how I need to mop the floors than said mopping actually takes to accomplish. I’d like to say that I’m going to start mopping them weekly, but I think we all know me better than that.
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Fred and I have spent some time, over the past two weekends, kayaking. This past Saturday we went to
Point Mallard in Decatur and paddled around for a couple of hours. The weekend before, we went to Decatur and paddled around on the Tennessee river itself. Both times I enjoyed myself a great deal (it helps that I’ve developed callouses on my inner thumbs, so I don’t have to deal with blisters), and I also took the camera with me.
So, for you! Pictures! Lots of ’em!
A crane Great Blue Heron, in flight. (I know nothin’ about birds (OBVIOUSLY) – Fred said it was a crane, so I believed him!)
The same crane Great Blue Heron, before he took off.
You can see the end of my kayak as I sit and wait for the boat to go by, and the wake to reach me. Some of those boats go damn fast, and the resulting wake makes me feel like I’m on the ocean.
A tree growing at the end of a marshy area in the middle of the river. There were a ton of turtles by this little island (I dubbed it “turtle island”), but I was never able to get a picture of any of them.
The marshy area, to the left. Straight ahead, big metal thingies (the scientific term, I believe) that barges are occasionally tied to.
Me, in a kayak. In the middle of the river. I had to get photographic proof, or I think my sister would never have believed it.
Fred’s kayak (the yellow one) and mine (the red one) as we sit side by side and drift for a few minutes.
A neat little cove we “discovered”. Only I couldn’t think of the word “cove”, so I called it a “cul-de-sac.” Heh.
Fred’s creeped out by stuff growing in the water.
A hawk’s nest up in an electrical tower. One hawk, taking off. The other, sitting in the nest giving me the hairy eyeball. As I drew closer, the one in the nest took off and circled above me. I think Fred was afraid I was going to get my ass kicked by a hawk.
I thought this was pretty cool-looking.
You can see all the kayaking pictures – and there are a ton more than the ones above –
here.
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Speaking of kayaks, anyone in the area interested in buying an inflatable kayak?
If anyone’s interested, we’re selling an
Advanced Elements AdvancedFrame inflatable kayak, plus a double-action pump and a paddle.
Basically, it’s everything you need to kayak except a life jacket.
The kayak’s been used 4 or 5 times (we’ve only had it about 2 months), and is in excellent shape. We bought another kayak and no longer have a need for this one.
Paid $460 for all three items, will sell for $275.
If you’re interested or have questions, shoot
Fred an email.
* * *
“Robyn,” you are asking, “What the hell? Why did Fred buy yet another kayak and why is he selling his inflatable kayak, when he appeared to love it so?”
The story is thusly: After he bought his new vehicle, we started talking about going kayaking together, and since he only had the one inflatable kayak, we had to use the old, plastic kayak for me. So he had to get a roof rack. And then we decided that having to inflate the inflatable kayak every time we went kayaking was turning out to be a pain in the butt, so he bought a new plastic kayak, and the roof rack thingies so that both kayaks could go on top of the rack. Which left us with an extra kayak we’ll probably never use, and voila! Time to sell it.
* * *
The spud went to Prom on Saturday. She was going to go with a friend, but between the time she decided to go to the Prom with her friend and the day of the Prom, she found herself a boyfriend, and ended up going with him. Here she is, all gussied up and ready to go:
She decided she didn’t want an updo this time around, just to blow-dry her hair and then curl it, only that didn’t work out so well and I ended up kind of blow-drying her hair straight for her. Which is not necessarily a good thing, since I can’t do shit with other peoples’ hair. She ended up looking pretty good, but I think the next time she goes to a big dance, I’ll be insisting on professional styling.
* * *
Brudderly love.
“HEY! YOU! GUYYYYYYYS! Daddy just said it’s S-N-A-X time!!!!”
Crappy picture, but the looks on their faces crack me UP.
All of today’s uploaded pictures are
hither.
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Previously
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry.
2003: No entry.
2002: $65 for that bullshit. Bargain, eh?
2001: Dumbass, take two.
2000: THE MIDDLE OF THE AISLE IS APPARENTLY WHERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO COME TO A DEAD STOP AND STARE, WITH GLAZED EYES, AT THE 145 POUND CANS OF KETCHUP]]>