I found a wifi site!!

Sunrise colors the clouds to the north at 615 AM














And then, by 6:30, the sunrise has begun to color the Three Sisters. Note to all my Aussie friends. This is what I think of when you say Three Sisters. The mountain on the left is Mt. Bachelor. Then, moving to the right is Hope, Faith and Charity. Usually snowcapped. This has been a hot dry summer. Just a few glaciers clinging to the shady sides right now.




Last night I struggled awake, alone in a strange bed, sure that John Wayne was in the house. At first, I couldn’t have told you exactly why I was sure of this, but by God, I knew he was around somewhere. Slowly I remembered that I was Mom-sitting, which accounted for the strange bed and the lack of DH, so I sat up in bed, turned on the light, looked at my watch . . 1:30 AM. Wotthehell?

Then I heard a man’s voice. And another man answered him. I couldn’t quite hear the words, but by their tone, I could tell they were arguing. “It’s a couple of yahoos outside on a Saturday night bender,” I reassured myself.

But they didn’t sound like they were outside. I got up and walked to the head of the stairs. The noise came from the rear of the house. Toward the garage. Toward Mom’s room. What if someone broke into the garage and was stealing Brother’s stuff? I tiptoed downstairs and pressed my ear against the garage door. Dead silence. Then suddenly, from Mom’s room, a man said, “What are you gona do about it?”

“I ain’t gonna hit ya. I ain’t gonna hit ya. The hell I aint gonna hit ya!” said John Wayne.

Mom had fallen asleep with her TV on. She loves the America Movie Channel. I went back to bed and slept contentedly. After all, what could happen with John Wayne in the house?

Mom and I are getting along pretty well. I’m doing the cooking because she puts things on the stove and forgets them. She doesn’t really love what I cook because I cook low fat with lots of veggies and nothing fried. Mom is from the school of thought that believes that if it ain’t fried, it ain’t food. But I make sure she has something sweet with every meal – And I do know how to make acceptable desserts – so she doesn’t complain. Also, I laid in a few TV dinners just in case.

Conversation is easy. She can’t remember anything, so we can have the same discussions, word for word, over and over and over again. I’ve thought about making stuff up, but that seems so unethical. And I’d hate it if someone did that to me. Just because I have a mind like a steel sieve, it still doesn’t make me a fit target for japery. Ands when I’ve had enough, I tell her I have to go work on my writing. She can’t climb the stairs, so I retreat to my fortress of solitude and play with the computer. Life is really pretty good.

The Turquoise baby surprise sweater turned out to be quite a surprise! I made a mistake in the directions somewhere, and the thing finished off about one foot high and three feet wide. Oops. So I raveled the thing all the way down and am starting over. I like to knit. And it’s not like I have anything better to do at the moment. I didn't want to throw the thing on the floor and dance on it screaming imprecations, because Mom would never understand. When ladies are upset, either they cry, or they drink. They never stomp on things in fury.Time for a Starbucks run I think.

Nope, not Fourbucks. Infinitely better, a local coffee house called, "Underdog Coffee. Yayyy!!! I'll be making a number of Underdog runs this week.