ok, why were birds chirping at 11 o'clock last night? now, i'm not against birds or have ornithophobia or anything like that, but when the sun is down and the moon is up, shouldn't the little guys be in their nest sleeping?

the kid is a . . . L7

heading out to work the concession stand at the fair. north country kitchen. stop by and say hi.

the calender may say august, but the weather says fall. the last two days have been rain and in the high 50s / low 60s. i figured since i really couldn't do any yardwork yesterday, i cleaned out my garage so i could get it set up and ready before fall really comes (t minus 30 days and counting). fall cleanup has begun.

leaves are already changing. our wisteria on the front of the pergola started turning to a crisp autumn yellow and i thought it was because it wasn't getting watered enough, but it's the weather and not my watering schedule. how can this be? summer just barely got here and now it is leaving us, just like that. no goodbyes or warm hugs. nothing, nada, zilch.

true, they are promising us warmer weather. and by "they", i'm referring to those that get paid when they get every weather report wrong, but we keep listening to them for some glimmer of hope. mid 70s by the middle of the week (ok, that would be tomorrow). if we could have mid 70s for our winter; that thought alone brings a tear to my hazel eye. . .

things you wanted to know about the praying mantis, but were afraid to ask.

sweet alaskan asparagus tips.  rocketman rocks...

when george costanza wanted to name his child 7, that was good tv. this is something completely different.

the day before today (which would be yesterday), kristin lent me one of her longboards. how it came to pass was i began telling her that b (my eldest) wanted to learn how to ride a longboard like her daddy. i found a sector 9 bamboo series that is pretty sweet, but i want her to learn before spending the money.

after work, i went home and told b to get her shoes on.

"why daddy?"
"you'll see."

we go outside and i pop the trunk. pull out the board and show it to her. "we're just borrowing this board right now, ok."

i've been known to teach how to snowboard and wakeboard, but those were older guys that i could ask questions. one main question is: goofy or regular. a goofy footed person rides with their right foot forward, whereas a regular is left foot forward. there are two ways to determine this. 1. you can ask. 2. well, keep reading.

not knowing if b was goofy or regular didn't matter until now, so i had her stand in front of me and while i was talking to her, i gave a slight push, not hard, but enough for her to lose her balance. soon, she was standing with her left foot in front of her right and viola, she is regular, like me.

i went through the basics of the board. how to push and stand. how to turn and how to stop. i took a couple passes on the board with her watching and showing her the proper techniques. now, it was her turn. i held the rear wheels with my foot while placing her on the board. "balance is key," i tell her and have her just stand. then position her left foot on the board and show her how to push with her right. i remove my foot and take the maiden voyage. i hold on to her, keeping her balanced properly. the board is wobbly under her little feet, but soon she is learning how to push without me holding on. she rides up and down the street with me in tow. right behind her whenever she falls or loses balance.

rin calls us in for dinner after we were at it for a while.

"can we come back out after dinner, daddy?"
"yesh."

after dinner, all the kids came out and it became more hectic, but b and i kept the learning process going. i went and got my board and rode back and forth with her. she was amazing. she was learning how to walk the board and ride the nose. it was awesome surfing the pavement with my daughter...

lunch today was great. our video and computer tech who is also my friend that i've known now for over 10 years made us hotwings. deepfried and sauced. so good. they were served on the patio and the temperature was around 75°f. mountain dew and garlic bread. chips and guacamole. talking and laughter. smiles and full bellies.

i was dared to eat some mad dog 357 with a scoville rating of 357,000. everyone was telling me just to have a pin prick of it. just a drop went on my tongue and hit the back of my throat. it wasn't as hot as i thought it would be, but i knew if i poured it generously like i do with my other sauces, i would be crying my eyes out.

the wasps decided to take a stroll and eat some of our food and drink some of our sodas. one wasp wanted to get his fill of my dew but he wasn't daring enough to go down the entire length of my straw.

what a great lunch...

my favorite shot of the HOPE series that i photographed last friday night.

dream
(drēm)
n.
a series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occurring involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep.

last night, while i laid in bed, i dreamt a dream. in this dream, i was 6 years old laying in my bed dreaming. in that dream, my sister and i were fighting (what's new?). she wanted to get into the bathroom that i was occupying. but i wasn't "using" the facilities as they are supposed to be used. i was shredding papers, but instead of using a shredder, i was using scissors. i was cutting up cubes of paper, then re-cutting and making more cubes.

that's all i remember. . .

how true, how true

august first. summer is half over already, and it just begun. wow! we are more than half way through this year of 2007 as well. i'm going to start using bad language here now. snow! aaahhhhhh. start preparing for the cold weather. air conditioners are still running on high, but the thought of subzero temperatures is looming...