Desire

All this time of silence, of settling into routine with a husband redeployed from Iraq, and tonight one thought came shining through my thoughts. I desire a deep sense of community which has eluded me for ages. That brassy robust thought shown clear as day in the dark quiet of the bedroom, and teased me out of bed; calling me to the computer. To the soundtrack of warbling cat snores I realized this: I am forever a small town girl.

I am the one who thrives on goes to the grocery store for a moment and it taking an hour due to running into five acquaintances. I wants to know the latest on what's happening with so-and-so, and I am most definitely the girl who finds comfort in the small world that all this creates. I thrive by it because I am good at it. I am good with roots and yet I still feel like this season's new spiders; that I am lost in the wind trying to find a sturdy place to make my own.

So I am back to blogging. Hopefully, for more than just a few odd posts. How do you get to a point where you fit in and find a comfortable place amongst your peers? I don't know, but hang on because I'm hell bent on renewing my mission figure it out.

Cat Fight

I recently discovered that a poop based dreadlock had formed on my long hair cat Una's rear end fluff. I found my shears, grabbed the cat and manipulated her into a position where I could cut out the matting. Una took offense and before long we were in an all out brawl. Tuffs of cat hair flew as I tried to hold onto her wriggling body enduring slap after slap from her indignant paws. All the hissing, biting, shouting and tail grabbing caused such a ruccus that when we finally broke apart (I had the fecal dread in hand) the other two pets were sitting side by side staring. The dog looked alarmed and the other cat was just plain smug.

I thought I had won the fight until I started to get ready for bed. Walking into the bathroom I became overwhelmed by the smell of cat urine. Una had exacted her revenge all over my laundry. She may have just won this round, but I'll win the war. I have the power to bathe her after all!

Coal

Growing up I lived on the other side of raised railroad tracks from a beach. The tracks dated back to the late 19th century and due to that there have been lumps of coal surfacing as the sands shift up and down the shore.

Today while I was walking along the beach I found a chunk of coal and laughed as I brushed the surface smooth. Standing in the breeze I thought back to when I was a child and found it strange (not for the first time) that from a young age I was entirely conscious of impending doom. Memories unfolded of finding and stuffing my pockets with lumps of coal. I'd take them home and put them in a bucket I kept in our playhouse just in case society fell and I needed a way to keep warm.

I found a second lump not that much further up the strand. Smiling I dropped the lump I held near the other one. Even if I still had that bucket of coal it wouldn't have been enough for more than one fire and lets be honest, when you live in a forest, who burns coal?

Lack of Conversation

Earlier today I spent a good deal of time walking up and down the seasonal rows at the local Target. Valentine pink and red plastic wrappers full of cheap candy piled high on each shelf and yet I couldn't find a single box of Neco conversation hearts. There were imitation versions by the family fun size bag, but not a box of the simple classic. My heart broke!

Tomorrow I'll try a grocery store to see if my quest can't be met. After all, what would Valentines day be without the powdery sweet "Be Mine".

Rewards for Good Citizenship

Suffice it to say, the county auditor has failed me. They have yet to send out our license tabs, which were renewed in more than enough time for me to receive them before my others legitimacy ran out. When I looked into it that last week of December I discovered that not only did they not update our tabs, although they took the money out of our account, they also are "renewing" our plates so this couldn't just be taken care of over the counter at a licensing office! Now I have to go down the the county auditors office and find out why. What a convoluted mess. Thanks for the Christmas gift Pierce County! I look forward to wasting my time chasing down business you should have already had in order. What a nice reward for being a good citizen. Tsk!

Yarnia

Yarnia. What a lovely mythical land. A land where yarn lives in abundance and a place where cats wouldn't dare tread. I dream of this lovely world, especially since I live in a world where cats hunt and destroy errant balls of yarn.

What becomes of the hunted balls? I've just strung them up on the Christmas tree. The two cats sat there underneath the glistening evergreen with eyes large and tails flicking. Watching and waiting will be the new game. Lets hope I win!

Light Saber Symphony

For years my mother has been a part of a local Symphony. Tonight was the first of this season's three performances and I went with my father and a friend to enjoy the music. Because the selection was from favorite movie soundtracks it came as no surprise that Star Wars was included. What was a surprise was the percussion section battling it out with light sabers in the middle of the piece.

After I had managed to suppress my laughter I began trying to regain composure when I loudly snorted. Goodbye dignity. Dad is a bit deaf now so he didn't hear, but my friend quickly inhailed with laughter and started choking horribly. She had been enjoying a life savor so between my tears of embarrassed laughter I was trying to see if her gasping breath was due to the hard candy or saliva in the wind pipe. It was the latter, and thank God because the guy in the seat next to her was about to maul her into a Heimlich.

I'm chalking this one up to a story that will be told again and again. One that will further define my little niche.