Cuteness and Happiness

Last night, my wife and I were watching "So You Think You Can Dance". The only real reason I can think of is that neither of us can dance, so we want to watch other people making a fool of themselves. While it was on, La Nina's eyes got real big and she jumped down in front of the TV and started trying to dance with the people auditioning on the show. It was one of the cutest things I think she has ever done. She was moving her arms, and kicking her feet up, and spinning around right with them. A couple of times I think she showed more promise than the contestants.

While I was doing dishes, I could hear a bird singing in the tree in our back yard. It sounded nice drifting through the window. My wife came over and said, "It's nice to hear a happy little bird in out tree." Now growing up in the country, I know that animals rarely do anything unless it helps to accomplish one of three things: Eat, Sleep, or Mate. Animals will hunt or forage for food, they will not sleep unless they feel safe, and they will try to procreate. That's it. The bird didn't need food, as we had a feeder full of it right there, and it didn't sound sleepy. That leaves one thing. I made mention of this to her, and she laughed, said I was projecting my own randiness on to the bird and went back to watch TV.

Maybe she was right, After all, I had just had dinner and wasn't feeling tired.

Later,

Deej

Stories part I

I once had the assignment in a speech class to give a speech that would be an entertaining after dinner speech. I thought long and hard about what to talk about and while discussing the assignment with a friend from word she told me to tell some stories from when I was growing up. She said they always made her laugh, and thought it would be a fun way to give the speech. I Thought about it and agreed.

Growing up in a rural environment can be boring in a lot of ways, but there are ways of getting into trouble that just don't happen in the city. The following are some true examples of them.

Ambush!

A cousin of mine was visiting for a week the summer I was 14. We did all the usual stuff, like horseback riding, fishing, and wrestling around with each other. One day while we were going for a walk, we came to the hay pen of one of the local ranchers. We decided to play a game we invented on the spot and called it "Ambush". To give a description of the hay pen, it was about 150 feet long, and 300 feet long. Picture a football field and you'll have a good idea. The hay in the pen was stacks of alfalfa that resemble giant loaves of bread, 8 feet tall. We would start at opposite ends, and the first one to tackle the other won.

We had played several games and were about even. The last game, I decided to climb up on top of the hay and try to sneak up on him from above. I was doing great, lightly leaping from stack to stack, and making almost no noise. Suddenly I saw him right below me, he had no idea I was there. I set my feet, and made a beautiful diving grab at him. Victory was mine!!!

Now, I didn't realize he knew exactly where I was, and was setting me up. At the last minute he jumped aside and I land face first. I found out 2 things in that instant. 1) Landing face first hurts like hell. And 2) a cow had been standing in that same spot not long before. Yep, I landed face first in a pile of manure, pasture patties, fertilizer, or whatever you want to call it. It was in my nose, my mouth, my eyes, ears and just about everywhere else it could be. I had to go take a dip in the creek just to get somewhat clean before going home.

I guess he won.

___ ___ ___

Fighter planes and horses don't mix.

The area where I grew up was sometimes used as a training area for the Air Force Academy to practice flying under radar. The jets would cruise at about 50 to 100 feet off the ground. They would go so fast that when you heard them, you had to look way out in front of the sound to see them. If they flew directly over you, they would be there almost before you had any warning.

Now, when I was 16, I bought a 2 year old quarter horse filly at a farm auction. I bought her for $90. What a steal!!! They forgot to tell me she had been in pasture her whole life and had never been handled by a human. It was a mini rodeo just to get her into the trailer to get her home. I started working with her each day, at first just being in the corral with her, letting her get used to me. I always did this for a week with any horse I broke. Not that I have broke that many, but I believe in a more gentle approach. I think if a horse trust you, you can get more out of them.

I spent about an hour a day with her, and, after a month, we were making good progress. She would nicer softly when I came out to the corral waiting for her bite of apple that I always took with me. She was well behaved on a halter, and was getting used to a saddle. A couple more weeks, and I was able to sit on her without much stress on her part. A few time in the corral she bucked a little, but not much. She was coming along nicely.

Another month went by, and I decide it was time to take her out of the pen for a little longer ride. We headed across road and out through he field. She was doing great. We weaved in and out of the sagebrush for about a half of a mile, and I stopped for a moment to give her little rest. It was her first ride of this distance and I didn't want to wear her out.

As we turned to head back to the house, one of those fighter planes that I mentioned before zoomed over head. If you have ever seen a startled cat splay all four legs out before running off, I'm thinking that's about how this horse looked. She jumped, and then started to buck with everything she had. I was so startled that I did not have time to get set, and promptly was thrown.

I have mentioned before that there was an abundance of three things where I grew up: sagebrush, rattlesnakes, and....Cactus. I landed flat on my back, with my left hand landing in a pile of cactus. OUCH!!!!!! I get up to find my horse has high-tailed it back to the barn. So here I am, A half mile away from home, no horse, with a hundred cactus needles sticking out of my hand. Life is good.

After the 10 minute walk home, I found the filly standing next to her pen with her head down. She seemed to actually be sorry. I tied her to the fence, went inside and started tweezing the spines out of my hand. My Dad came home, while I was doing this, I told him what happened, He asked if I was okay, then went out to un-saddled the horse and put her away. As soon as he got out the front door. I heard him roar with laughter. At least he didn't laugh in my face.

I think I was still finding cactus in my hand a month later.

___ ___ ___

Hope you enjoyed a little of my pain. More stories to come later.

Deej

I will never know what I missed

Have you ever wondered what you would have become if you had been raised in a different environment? I think about that once in a while. I thought about it last night when I was putting La Nina to bed. Her childhood is going to be much different than mine was.

I grew up in a VERY rural area. Our nearest neighbor lived over a mile away. I did not eat at a McDonald's until I was 16 and one was put in a town 50 miles away. I learned to play by myself and use my imagination. I was always much more at ease in the mountains by myself than in even the small town where I went to school. I was more comfortable with horses than people. I have learned to adjust, but it took years.

At one point, my Dad was offered a position as a tuck point supervisor on the Empire State building in NYC. (To the best of my understanding, that is where the outer layer of mortar is removed from between the stonework and replace with fresh mortar. It is a process that I understand is almost continual on a lot of buildings.) He decided he did not want his children growing up in that environment, so he took a job with the Division of Wildlife instead. How different of a person would I be today if I had grown up there instead of where I did? I will never know the answer to that question.

My daughter will most likely grow up knowing city life better than country life. Although we live in a somewhat rural area, it is part of an ever expanding metro area. Although she has a lot of imagination for an almost 3 year old, she will never have to develope it like I did. She will most likely play with real friends everyday, not the imagined ones that I did.

It will be fun watching her grow up and seeing what she will become. Maybe she will give me a clue to what I would have become under different circumstances.

ciao,

Deej

Craziness

What a week!!!!!

As good as last week was, this one was nuts. I have meant to post all week, but time just slipped by. If it wasn't problems at work, it was arguments with the wife.

I had to suspend Knucklehead today at work for being absent too much. So now he will be off 3 days without pay. The part that saddens me, is I sincerely like the guy. Other than the fact that he is 6'5" and 260 lbs, he reminds me a lot of me at that age. He is only 22, and still in party mode in life. One big difference, though, is I always went to work. I may have been hung over, I may not have gotten much sleep, but I went to work. He keeps telling me how much he needs his job, and how much he needs money, but he has missed 30 % of his scheduled work time this year. Granted, a big portion was vacation or bereavement, but he has missed over 80 hours of unexcused time. I don't think I ever missed that much in any 4 year stretch.

Then to top it off, we got word that a union may be targeting our facility. I don't have anything against unions for the most part, except that they really are no longer necessary. Everything that unions were founded to help in the workplace is now policed by various government agencies. Overtime, safety, discrimination, and benefits are all in place. I have supervised union shops before, and found them more of a hindrance than a help. Oh well, we will fight that battle when we get there.

My wife had PMS this week. Boy, did she have PMS. I couldn't do any thing right. And everything was my fault. A problem at her job, my fault because I am not wealthy enough that she doesn't have to work. Her mom giving "advice" on our landscaping, my fault for some reason. My daughter threw up the other night because, while I was at work, my wife let her eat half a container of cottage cheese, my fault. Are you beginning to see a pattern here? The thing that gets me is that there is plenty of stuff for her to mad at me about without her attributing all of this other stuff to me. She didn't get upset when I spent too much money at lunch with a coworker the other day, she didn't get upset when I forgot to pick up milk on the way home the other night, she didn't even get mad when I left my dirty clothes on the floor. Everything else that was OUT of my control, she blames me for. I love her dearly, but for one week out of the month, she is hard to take.

Oh well, hopefully next week will be better.

Deej