Those Garbage Burning Days

“Hi I’m in Walmart, do you need anything?”

This weekend, I have been taking my calls from my sick nest on the shop couch.


“Cough cough cough cough cough cough cough. Cough. No.” I’m sure I do need something from Walmart, but I couldn’t get past the coughing to name items.





The woods are on fire today. That, or the beautiful weather welcomes burn piles. Whatever it is, it makes me cough more. On the other hand, the sun and no-coat-needed weather is healing. Shotgun rounds echo off in the background in the most casual way and I observe the fog of smoke coming through the sticks.



I sent my husband’s visiting friend to Deception Pass for some Washington. He’d woken up wanting to climb a mountain. Some Verizon Wireless teller advised this mountain climbing could happen in Anacortes. I pulled a satellite view of the bridges and pointed. “Veer left toward Whidbey. Go over this, park here. Trailhead should be riiiiight here across the street.” Delivered him to one of the better Puget Sound daytrips I could think of.

I anticipate I won’t be seeing him for some few hours.

A day earlier in the week took us (myself and best friend since 1988, Ayrn Cromeenes) to the farm-to-market bakery for some peanut soup with rice. We sat out in the Edison sunshine waiting for a fresh batch. Four full cups. And fresh bread. For less than twenty bucks. Which made for a seriously fine lunch in the teacher’s lounge at Edison Elementary School, our alma mater, for Ayrn’s mom, another teacher, and us.




Later we ended up for one reason or another in Marysville waiting in what we called “The Parking Lot of Champions.” The Municipal Court or Clerk or Something of Marysville.






AAAaaaaand about the time we got back to the Valley, My cough really started to take hold. My husband went to Portland with his Nashville friends for the weekend and had a fantastic sunny getaway from sicky. I nested on the couch with a fever and haven’t really moved since.

bird whisperer

Yesterday I participated in hourly comic day. (http://www.hourlycomic.com/hourlycomicday.html) I drew a series of little drawings illustrating the boring events of my boring day.

Had it been today, the comic would have begun with a little bird stirring me from my sleep on the living room couch. I sat up and it whizzed past my head on a kamakaze attempt to leave through the only window in the building. Thump! But lo! Little Bird was not dazed and it flew its tiny body into the bathroom and began trying to leave through the mirrors.



It hardly wanted to pose for a picture and I settled with this one. He dive-bombed from the shower bar and out into the living room screen door where he either got stuck, or gave up. I grabbed a towel and scooped him up before the dogs noticed his existence.



He wiggled a little. I left the towel on the counter to put some kicks on my feet and leash my dog. Dog towing me out the door, I set the towel atop my car and opened it up. The little bird flew up and riiiight back toward the front door. He did not want to leave.