A Cold Winter Night's Dream

This is a tale of oddities, dualities and other things that happen out of the ordinary.
I was waiting for my ole friend who was up from the city. to call me until Sat around noon when I realized it probably wasn't going to happen and that I had something to do that I have put off all summer. Yes folks, it is still Summer here in Red Hill with winter like temperatures at night
So me and Burro decided to go get wood in the highlands. With a trailer that didn't have any running lights, turn signals ect. Well we cut, and we loaded and cut and ect ect. Burro once again found the elusive Elk leg bone so was quite comfortable to just lay a little out of site as that is where he in most comfortable gnawing on a bone. I was getting tired and more than hungry when the saw quite literally took command of the cutting of the large tall pine I was working on and back kicked which normally would have been no problem as saws these days are set up with a safety feature that cuts back the throttle and stops the chain were it to get loose of said woodsman. But mine had broke so I removed it. Anyway I was on a steep hill and the saw took command but me being experienced held tight the saw so it would not split my head down the middle or cut a femur artery. I flew backwards and in the process of midair flight threw the saw away from me. Burro, sensing danger once again came racing to my side which was totally prone by then in the sage and he laid down by my side and had his lips curled back and a low growl was being emitted to whatever it was that had thrust his so called master to the ground. Naturally I could not move for a short time as I got whatever wind I have knocked out of me and there we were. Burro ready for the attack and me motionless. It only a few moments before I recovered enough to let Burro know it was OK, but he refused to move still in the attack mode, so I grabbed his collar and asked him to help pull me up which he did. When he saw me on two feet and nothing in the vicinity to harm me except for a chain saw that was still running at high idle he relaxed. I realized at that point I was totally famished so I went looking for the little cooler which housed some sandwiches, and other nourishments only to find I had left them behind. It is getting near dark now and I also realized I had not brought a flashlight. Fumbling around thru the camper shell I found a can of mushroom soup that probably was leftover from Burning Man in 2004. Well what the hell, it's canned and probably good so I fixed it up with water and boiled it and mushroom soup was never so good. The stars came out along with the probable 20 temp and in the mummy bag I dove with Burro lying along side we both stayed relatively warm. Until I had to get up and relieve myself. Then it being so dark and me so zoned, I just kinda thru the mummy bag along with a tarp over me and shivered myself to sleep.
The next morning bright and early way before the sun thought about coming over the mountain I built a good campfire and thoroughly unthawed myself before any thoughts of getting more wood. That time did come thou and then I refueled the saw and filled up the cutting oil, went over by the fire when I noticed my leg seems soaked which it was with cutting oil as I had forgot to put on the oil cap on the saw and it had ran almost a quart down my pant leg and into my boot. Well, not to be deterred, I put the rest of the oil that I had which could be measured in a pint bottle with room to spare in the saw, drank a cup of hot lemon tea (not my usual lattee) and proceeded to get the saw running which it would not. After about 20 pulls on the rope, Burro and I decided to break camp and pull the wood trailer home with our pathetic load and tails between our legs.
After getting home, showering and eating a decent meal of leftover turkey from Tuesday, I then went into the relax mode when I hear Susie hollering that their is someone at the door for me. Well, having seen Linda last year I was pretty certain that the person at the door was not her no matter how hard her life had been. It was her father in law who had a large
package of LUMPIA and a Bottle of PEANUT SAUCE. Waiting till Susie went to do a little shopping I fried 2 of the vegetable Lumpias and soaked them in Peanut Sauce. I do not remember Lumpia ever being so good and the Peanut Sauce was tasty enough do almost drink alone.
So Linda and Friends, that is the story. Now I am stuck with yet another addiction. Lumpia and Peanut Sauce. What is a man to do?
Thank you Linda. And my friends in cyberland and you Lou that put up with my stories.
A great week to you all.
Mudflap McLumpia

Aren't they just darling?

First of all before I go any farther, I owe Corbie a great big thanks for posting pictures for me as I have the computer genius of an eggplant. Thank you Corbie.

This last puppy (the one on the bottom of the bed taking the menacing steps toward the cameraman) is a Mr. Ted E. Bear. I GUESS we will keep him. He is 9" tall and over 14" long not counting the tail. His fur is almost an inch thick already. None of the pups look like their mom at all.To tell the truth, it is still up in the air as to who and how many we will keep. Turned out these are special pups with thier mom's temperment and are continually happily wagging thier tails. There will be about 4 more pictures as there are two missing in action. My guess is they are somewhere under the bed. Lizzy is totally pooped out. It will be 4 weeks tomorrow that we helped her with her brood and she still won't fess up as to the messing around she had done. There are Sharpie
faced pups, cocker faced and one who is totally marbled, so many shades of brown he almost looks purple. A friend of mine said the first one that is so Sharpied looks just like me. He is supposed to be my pal.
Mudflap McBack

Story People
Here's the Story of the Day:

I like women a lot, he said, but only after I've known them awhile & they know they can laugh at me out loud.

The Anguish of a Lost Winter

The seasons are getting much shorter. We were 66 degrees Fahrenheit today. Normally Ely is one of the cold spots in the nation. To be sure. But it being Summer once again I guess this isn't an unusual temperature at all. Maybe a tad cool for summer now that I think more clearly about it. You would say shit Mudflap you are just experiencing Spring or another one of your bipolar or high glucose shifts. Not so I say, there are no buds on the trees and all of their leaves have fallen off and raked into a pile with the apples which hopefully will produce compost soon. This thou throws me and my totally unthought out theory right thru the window, which is open letting the flies in. Flies in? In middle November? An abhorrence of nature I tell you.
Most of you probably will be clueless to this, but I have watched with considerable interest the SLC Weather Station and found you are in the midst of an inversion. Unless you live in Park City where the skies are clear and you can see not only your breath but the stars. I remember inversions. They make fog freeze on everything and people irritable. They live in cities by lakes and choke anyone with any kind of breathing or respitory problems by plugging the lungs and it's fine membranes with all the contaminates spewed out by the factories, mining refineries and automobiles that should have been put out of service a couple of decades ago but with a 40.00 payoff at the Texeco on 7200 So. State were left to sputter generous amounts of smoke, carbon, lead, sulphur and hydracarbons at a rate only exceeded by our local Old Engine Number 93 that runs totally on coal and doesn't have to pass any tests in fact the more smoke that comes out of the stack the more the passengers like it but I see once again I am straying away from my letter to an uninformed world about the Summer to Winter to Summer Dance that is happening right before my eyes. Oh where are the snows of yesteryear? My snowshoes have been sent in for repairs and realignment for my Christmas present from the other half who could have more appropriately spent the money on something I could actually use here like two gross of dust masks for the upcoming winds that will surly blow from North to South once the alkaline soil turns hard and to microscopic dust sharp enough to sandblast a windshield in minutes flat.
Now there must have been a reason my fingers started walking across the keyboard. What could it have been? And even more frightening, where is the rest of that 64 ounce Dark Chocolate Hershey Bar and my Latte anyway?

MFMF

What, When, Who or How

Yes, things have gotten much stranger here in Red Hill. I mean besides a man having to give up 9/10 of his bed space once again.
Susie went up to the house where I had followed the beautiful boxer that was in the run to ask them if it was purebred. Well, yes but it is FEMALE. Now that leaves me in a total columdrum. Lizzy was always in the run except for a few times she made good an escape and went to the neighbors who would treat her with stew and bones for her effort of sliding under the fence and tearing off hide in the process. So....
it just beats the crap out of me. There is a couple of pups that look like they could have Sharpie in them, a couple that have Burros Sheep Dog markings, two beautiful tan pups half white that look in every sense boxer and two more mixes. Now I asked MY Human doctor and she said it would be almost an impossibility that Burro had a few sperms still swimming after the neuter but not impossible. Where the rest came from is a total mystery. I am quite sensitive to energy and three of the pups have emit strong energy when placed against my face. They are growing like weeds that have been treated with nitrogen. Serious. I am supposed to wait 5 more weeks till I can give them away and by that time they will have totally overun my bedroom and spilled out into the kitchen. Where Burro sleeps as he doesn't understand these new arrivals and gets as far as he can from them. Next store neighbor girl offered to take them all to our "Superstore" and betted me she could give them away within two hours on a Saturday. Yes they are that beautiful. But........................ Maybe I want to keep one. And maybe Susie wants to keep one. That would mean we would have to drive the highways and feed the dogs road kill. O what to do? I should have never started to play with them. Jeff warned me............................Bloggers hear me out, this could happen to you. Listen to your kids when it comes to your dog having pups. "DONT"
Wishing all a fantastic week.
Mudflap Mkmired

Woman Protecting Herself From Snow and Rain, Right.

They say this is a woman protecting herself from snow and sleet in Germany. I believe it is actually E.T. heading home.

From an Interview With Paulo Choelho

I do believe in Life After Death but I don't don't think it's that important. What is important is to understand that we are living this life after death now.
SO WE HAVE TO GET RID OF THE NOTION OF TIME?
We have to try to get rid of the notion of time. And when you have an intense contact of love with nature or another human being, like a spark then you under
stand that there is no time and everything is eternal
IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS IDEA PROBABLY HELPED YOU OVERCOME YOUR FEAR OF NOT EXISTING, WHICH YOU DESCRIBE IN THE INTRODUCTION OF THE "ALCHEMIST"
Yes of course there was this fear of death. And one day when I made a pilgrimage Santiago de Compostella I had to go thru an excerise and had to face my own death.
Since then, I realize that death is not the end of life, but it is also my best friend. She is always sitting at my side even when I am talking to you, looking to the mountains here with snow.
YOUR DEATH IS ALWAYS SITTING AT YOUR SIDE?
By my side sitting in the chair in front of me. I see death as a beautiful woman.
WHAT IS SHE SAYING?
She is saying, "I am going to kiss you." But she says, "Ok, not now--but pay attention and get the best of every moment because I am going to take you." And I say "OK, thank you for giving me the most important advice in my life--to live your moment fully.

Oh, I don't know what happened. I found myself jumping from one topic to another without any lead ins. And now I find myself like a fellowess blogger, ya Lindesy, you know who I am talking about. See, I gave it away. Writing to myself. Perhaps it is the sudden Summer to Winter and not a long lasting dissabilatating malfunction. Oh the horror.
MFMF

Yes it's true, we went from Winter to Summer and now are going from Summer
to Winter. We used to alway have the beauty and observance of the four seasons. Well, not anymore. Yesterday it rained, snowed and sleet fell in buckets. Literally. The pudderhounds food dish which is a turkey roasting pan
had over an inch of water in it. Now I don't know how the weathermen decide there was only a precipation of .011 moisture yesterday. Maybe they use an upside down eye dropper minus the bulb to collect a certain amount of drops in a given time. I can see I wasted most of my working years as a mechanic and vet technician. I could have been in a coushy work site peering out the window making forcasts by the aches and pains in my body and measuring barametric pressure and wind speed. Yes Red Hill is indeed in the clutches of winters grip. Corby is right. The times they are a changing.
Which of course brings to mind........................................
For the most part I do not hate and see love and count blessings evey chance I get. Hate does not normally raise it's ugly head. One of those bad times would have been a post that I put up and almost immediatly took down. Apparently not quick enough to escape the eyes of I believe Corbie. It was something I thought I had got past. Seemingly not.
Living on Cold Mountain
Mudflap McMittens

Embracing Unpredictability

Way too good to miss. Mudflap

Today's DailyOM brought to you by:




October 29, 2008Embracing UnpredictabilityWhen Life Throws You A Curve Ball
In life, we are always setting goals for ourselves and working to make them happen. This gives us focus and ensures that we use our time and energy efficiently and effectively. It also provides us with a sense of purpose and direction. We know where we are going and what we want to do. But quite often, due to forces outside our control, things do not go as we had planned—the flat tire on the way to the wedding, the unforeseen flu virus—and we have to adjust to a postponement or create a whole new set of circumstances. Even positive turns of fortune — an unexpected influx of cash or falling in love — require us to be flexible and to reconsider our plans and priorities, sometimes in the blink of an eye. This is what happens when life throws you a curve ball.The ability to accept what is happening and let go of your original expectations is key when dealing with these unexpected turns of fate. We have a tendency to get stuck in our heads, clinging to an idea of how we think life should go, and we can have a hard time accepting anything that doesn’t comply with that idea. The fact is that life is unpredictable. The trip you thought was for business — and when the deal fell through, you got depressed — actually landed you at the airport two days earlier than planned so you could meet the love of your life. Your car breaks down, and you are late for an appointment. While it’s true that you never arrive at that important meeting, you end up spending a few relaxing hours with people you would never have met otherwise.In order to keep us awake to opportunity and to teach us equanimity, the universe throws us the occasional curve ball. Remember that curve balls are not only life’s way of keeping us awake, which is a gift in and of itself; they are also often life’s way of bringing us wonderful surprises. Next time a curve ball comes your way, take a deep breath, say thank you, and open your mind to a new opportunity.
What do you think?Discuss this article and share your opinion
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Spare Leg

Sensing danger, Burro, the only one thinking I was having trouble coming out of the badlands, carried down the spare leg as an emergency fix.

Does this sleek, high speed unit look penetrable?

Yes friends, this sleek, two owner is at the bottom of most of my concerns as of
late. It is she that amazingly sprouted teats and a very large abdomen almost
overnite. Yes Lizzy pictured above is the ONE. The one the doc's records said was spay and that oooze that appeared on occasion was no doubt just caused by
some little fragment of female innards that triggered a hormonal excretion. The one that I took to the doc 3 days before giving birth with the doc explaining to me that just possibly this is a false pregnancy. Well doc hormone these 8 pups I have all squeeling like little hungry pigs on the bed. They just make the cutest
sounds. I let Susie take both Burro and Liz on a hike tonite and seemed like the
front door had not yet caught wind closing when the pups began with thier hungry little sounds. Not much I could do other than promise them a milkshake when thier mom comes back from an overdue outing. It has been over week since she has done anything physical. (Other than give birth) That may not seem like much to you but our dogs are very spoiled and usually get at least a small walk every nite. They have come to expect this of us.
A very good friend of mine suggested that I should hook Lizzy up to a Cow.
Now, let me tell you, that isn't such a bad suggestion. Been four days and they
have doubled in size. I'm sure that wouldn't have anything to do with all they drink. Lizzy hardly every gets a break. She has learned to sleep while they eat.
Opps there is a commotion in the house, it's Lizzy and Burro crashing thru. Somehow, Burro knows not to get up on the bed. Mental Telephathy? Dog talk?
Susie kind of got lost up at Ward tonite by taking a differnt route. She asked Lizzy to find the trail. She did. This is twice so I guess she knows.
Now she is on the bed with eight nipples in eight hungry little mouths. And sleeping.
Pics will follow.
Like I've always said, It's just too good man.
Mudflap McPuppies

The Most Amazing Thing Happened Last Night

Yes, Lizzy who was supposed to be spay and who I had taken to the "Doc"
a week ago with his prognosis that it was probably just a false pregnancy, although her tummy was almost dragging the ground, gave birth to 9 of the cutest, most darling puppies you ever did see. All various colors and color mixes.
Even a couple of pups that have Burro coloring who was neutered 2 years ago.
The Bible says, miracles will start to happen.......................
Mudflap McPups

Good Grief

As I was calmly raking my apples into a nice pyramid shaped
stack a thought hit me out of the blue. If I was Two and a Half
times as old as the before mentioned in the held in high esteem
Corbie, I would have to be older than dirt. Heart rate excellerating
and blood pressuer climbing I did some quick head math and realalized
this is not quite the case, close thou,
me being 59. I have read that age is just a bunch of numbers
someone figured out sometime before I was born but they do have
some merit as around 60 hair starts turning gray here and there
and on close inspection looking, there is not quite as much of it left.
So now after letting my heart rate come down below 200, undoing myself
from a meditation position, I will calmly and collectivly go back to my task.

Love, Light and Om
Mudflap.

High Impressions and Even Higher Hopes

Good day fellow and blogger buddies.
Corbie has lit a spark in me that even Lizzy's breath
at night has not been able to blow out. Yes, I am talking
lists. If you knew me at all you would know a person that abhors
lists. Even a shopping list can throw me into convulsions if it happens
at the wrong minute in time and space. Damn them all I say and from
this will emerge a newer and better Mudflap. Maybe. I am going to attenpt
the making of a best song list. Knowing I could not possibly narrow it down
to ten and figuring that I am almost 2 and a half times older than Corbie
therefore have most likely have 2 and 1/2 as many songs playing in my head
sometimes many at once time, I will give myself a break and narrow it down
to say 20 or 25. That should be fair enough. Should I ever do this with movies
I probably could take it down to 15 as I havn't viewed that many movies in the
last 10 to 15 years.
Now I am doing this although there is a blog going almost constantly thru my
mind of something most of you would find hard to believe but you would have
to believe it because it comes from Muflap Serious. To tell you much about it
would give it away possibly but know that it involves a paratrooper and more
money than I have ever seen in my life. So should I forget after the Music List
don't be afraid to bring it to my attention, in fact don't be afraid to bring
anything to my attention even thou I am father of Penny Lane.
Now I must go out and rake my fallen apples into a pile and see if they
will turn to compost by next spring.
To all a fantastic weekend.
Love Light Spirit and Om to all
Mudflap McFly

Well as usual, a post I had written a much more detailed
post and off it went off into the ether.
Corbie, I beileve there is still room for you get in on the on
the offers and my veritable good luck. I havn't counted
stuffed envelopes that cover the kitchen table but just by
judging I would say there are 12 to 14 or so. Yes I do seem to
have the amazing ability to look at investments and know
within seconds as to thier go or no go. Problem being, I have
not enough working capitol as to jump on board. Perhaps
all this time I should have been using a finders fee.system. Anyway
yes, I think you are still in the game.

Lindsey, your problem of eating grass has already been thoroughly
looked at and actually put into use by Susie and I. There is the
Crock Pot, beans and dandilions which barely made us gag and then the boiled
grass(long) and quickly sautted in non saturated oil mixed with a few
mushrooms we were lucky enough to stumble upon on one of our walks.
This combination we shared with our neighbors to get another opinion.
Funny though, they didn't stick around even for the extracted grass juice
from the blender. Maybe it was just so good they overfilled themselves.
So, not to worry, just send the money and soon you will be wearing
diamonds and farting thru silk. Hell, you could even join the 55,000 foot
club with your husband. I see this all coming together in a matter of weeks
if I jump on it right now. If you need more reciepies I will send them to you
via the Stamp Mail System.

PS Corbie, I don't see any beach front property in Arizona at this particular
moment but then I have been so busy with all these offers coming in and the
getting back to them that I have hardly had time to sleep. Trust me. They say
when you are on a good luck streak it is like a ball rolling down hill. Sooner
or later it will reach the bottom. I know this to be true from playing 21 in my
younger days. I was way up there then Lady Luck left. I had the sense to get
out and still buy a Road off Road Honda Cash so I know what I am talking
about.

Love, light, utter trust and OM
Mr Mudflap McFly

The Seven Foot Dog Run Jump or Bust

News alert. When we got Lizzy, that wasn't her name when we got her it was something
lame like Precious or some such thing, she had been owned by a girl in an apartment or small house that had never walked her, let alone let her run. I think I told you the tale.
She also was spayed, dewormed, claws neatly trimmed and taken to the Pet Hair Shop on a regular basis for a bath. Well, looking at Liz last night I detected her back bone seemed to be sticking out. Kinda weird I thought as they are still on a better diet than us. Then looking at her bottom it seemed huge. I called Susie in and said, don't you think Lizzy has gotten huge of the abdomen? Why yes, she has and look how big her tits are. This one gives milk. Impossible I think cause she is spayed. But I did have her down the vets to get an update on the rabies shot and told him then that although he spayed her sometimes she had a discharge and seemed to attract other male dogs. Not to worry he sez, sometimes there is just a little piece of this or that in there that will cause a hormonal change and thus put out love juice. OK. About 2 months ago I came home to see that we now had three dogs. Getting Susie, I told her all excitedly that we now had three dogs, someone must have dropped off there dog and put it in our run. Nice dog, beautiful tan tall boxer mix.
Well I go in the run and he is nice and all but seems to want to get out which I let him and follow him up the street to the first house below our old school court. Back home I start thinking, hmmm you have a wood pile here, I wonder if he climbed the pile and made a daring jump into the run which he had. Now, I am quite sure that Lizzy is knocked up tighter than a tin drum. She is eating like Crazy About Harry and can't get enough water. Last night she woke me up to ask me to get her pickles and ice cream.
So, It will be off to the vet this week to find out indeed if Lizzy just got fat all of a sudden or if I am going to have grand kids.
I had asked the vet, well what if she does get pregnant. Are you going to give away the pups for us. He hesitantly said, well we would have to really check the records and see if I did indeed do the spay.pissing backwards I could see. Say, you wouldn't be wanting first pick on a fine litter of what is to be some really good dogs would you?
Love, Light, Oms and Small Puppies
Royboy

My Uncanny Good Luck

Greetings and Salutations of the day.
I have written a couple of you about my unbelievable good luck in the recent month.
Yes dear friends, hear me out. I have won without, with any stretching of the truth, well over
10,000,000 dollars sterling just in the last month. It is all being held for me by differnt institutions that believe it or don't do not want my bank acct number or SS.
All they want is a certified check made out to them for various amounts for their holding and insuring my winnings. Usually it is between 240.00 and 500.00 American.
What a deal.
Now before all of you go how can this be? I will tell you. I just seem to be drawing the winning numbers in Lotteries benched out of the US proper.
Now anyone wishing to cash in on my good luck I would be williing to take only twice the amount that is required for me to collect. Fair enough don't you think. I mean, nothing is entirely free.

On another note, I have found out what is wrong with some of my e mails. My mind and eyes work faster than my fingers so sometimes I see the completion of a sentence that is not really there. I must admit thou, there are times when the reverse happens and my fingers outrun my mind. This is a rare occurance. I apologize for any misspellings, lost sentences, or paragraphs. Perhaps this is why I was never accepted for the Naval Adacamy, Yale University and the list goes on and on. I have never given up hope thou and daily trudge out to the postbox with high hopes.

Realizing now, I don't need such honors to paste on my wall with my good luck spree, my daily inspections of the mail box comes later and later. In fact, yesterday when I was supposed to let the neighbors dogs in as they are on vacation, the checkout never happened and the dogs, one of which is 3/4 serious, tried to jump thru the winodw and totally ripped out the screen. Now do you all think I should own up to this or make up a story about the dogs took off on a run and I got tired of waiting for them to return and went to bed, or should I tell the truth. You input plus your cash will be greatly appreciated
Sincerly
McFlap McWaiting

Possibly, there is no escape

It has been brought to my attention that there was an angry blog with unacceptable language put up on my blog in A Dog's Tail. It doesn't seem to be there any longer. If this indeed did happen it is very possible that my link has been infilterated by the Penguins who I believed I
left in North SLC while working at C&C. They will stop at nothing and in a later blog I will try to alert an uninformed world of thier evil ways. The second possibility to such a hateful blog is that my own right and left brain hemispheres
for a very short period of time seperated and were working without the help of one another as in A Skanner Darkly. I would hate to think that this happened. At any rate, I would like to state my SINCERE APOLOGIES, serious, to anyone that was exposed to such filth. I will do my very best to get to the bottom of this.
Tenderly with Love Peace and OM
Mudflap Mcvestor

Rahja

Looks like I have to clarify or in my case eat crow about Rahja.
He is indeed a rare cat. He is a Balenese Lynx Point, not a
run of the mill Seal Point Siamese. Susie brought me up to date.
He is a totally smart cat. When he wants out he will jump at the
door knob cause he knows that is what opens it. Of course he is
unable to turn it. When he wants in he hurls himself at the screen
door to alert us. He is so cute, Susie was gone a couple of weeks and
when she returned he has been sleeping with her and will pet her
face just like she does his when he wants affection. Yes, all in all I
suppose he was worth the Ford Escort.
Now let me make clear he does have his negatives. One is that he sheds
his way long fur everwhere you might imagine. Even after brushing
everyday the fur miraculously appears in mass quanity.
For you Tristan, we have a cat that could be twin to yours. Her name is
Tashina. Looks identical. Seal Point Siamese. With a strange disposition.
Blessings to all

Mudflap McWonder

Rahja, probably one of the most expensive cats in the world

Rahja is our, well I should be honest here, Susie's, most expensive friend.
Rahja came into our lives one day while Susie was driving down State Street and all
of a sudden this thought came into her mind "I must go to the Animal Shelter right now"
She had previously had no such thoughts it just came like out of the blue. Or did it?
Arriving at the Shelter Susie asked to see the cats they had for adoption. One of the vet there told her that they had this Awesome male Siamese that was just the perfect cat. She said "OK" let me see him. He proceeded to bring out the male but the voice in her mind was still calling and this perfect kitten didn't seem to want to be with Susie, it preferred the tech. So looking down the line
she comes upon this scraggly looking undernourished, marble blue eyed long hair Siamese that was only about as long as a burrito but had a tail that was nearly twice that length. "This is him " she excitedly exclaimed and proceeded to take him into a room and play with him. Oh the joy. Problem being we were not allowed more than one cat at the complex we were living. And we already had Starina for whom which I was almost evicted, not to mention "Little Bill" which is an entirely differnt story. With Susie, if she has her mind made up details do not exist. She went to her councilor and her medical doctor both of whom promised to fax the manager at Stonehedge notes that an animal in this case a loving cat would be very good for her depression and might benefit her CFS/ME. It was all she could think about. Day after day she went there waiting for the notes to be faxed and the manager to make up her mind. The shelter has a limit and Susie literally begged them to hold it for her as the process was in motion. She went there every day to see and interact with Rahja.
One day coming back home from the Shelter she was in her mind holding and cuddling said cat when a truck in front of her stopped and Susie didn't. Yup almost totaled out our little green almosts new Ford Escort, air bags deployed and the front end was totally demolished. It was one of those cases where it was sixes on fixing it but the insurance decided to have it repaired and pay for it minus the 500 deductible. Car was never the same and finally the automatic transmission went out to the tune of 2700.00 American. All tole that scrawny thing with the foot long tail cost over 7000.00 if you look at it with the right kind of eyes. Rahja thou became one of the family. He still is Susie's cat and one of the most beautiful you have ever seen. If I ever figure out how to post pictures, you will see all of our little friends. In my wildest dreams I never imagined a kitten could be so expensive.
Mudflap Mcstonished

A Dog's Tail

We got Lizzy from a rescue center to actually bring Burro out of a depression he went into after loosing his best friend Java Jones. I learned that animals can actually mourn and cry as Burro would no longer go into his doghouse even if it was raining and when we would bring him into the house which was every night tears would roll down from his cute little eyes. It took Lizzy several days of constantly trying to play with Burro before he started to perk up and I moved the dog house to a different part of the run and he and Lizzy became sleep mates.
Lizzy is part Lab, Rott and ?? After she got Burro back into motion we decided it was time to start walking them as we had always walked Burro and Java. Well we quickly found out that Lizzy had never known the pleasure of walking let alone running as Burro saw a jack rabbit and took off in pursuit. Lizzy figuring that she should also chase said rabbit took off and immediately floundered and got her legs all tangled up and crashed and burned. Over and over. The next day she started to get the hang of running but could only go a very short distance before just flopping over on her side, tongue hanging out and panting. It didn't take long thou and she was starting to build up muscle, endurance and speed. Within a month or so she could literally run circles around Burro and then blast off in one direction Burro would chase her and she could turn on a dime and race back past him until he would finally just give up in trying to catch her. We take them for walks often at night and Lizzy will run point back and forth across the trail, never slowing down and Burro is the guard dog walking right in front of us. Except when Susie takes them at night every once in a while it is like they communicate. Lizzy will take the guard position and Burro will run happily in search of a rabbit or a bone. He can find a bone on almost any walk. Sometimes they are giant elk bones and he looks so silly carrying a 3 foot leg bone.
Awhile back Susie was walking them at Ward Mountain and she lost sight of both of them.
Then the ground began to tremble she said and running right across the trail were two very large elk with two very excited dogs on their heels. No fear. Another time a coyote raced across the trail with Lizzy in pursuit. Good thing for her that it didn't feel like eating dog that day.
I am writing this in part for Penny who I read on one of Corbie's blogs maybe was afraid of getting another dog because she might not be able to love it as much as Beautiful, Sweet, Nala who was a wonder dog. Penny is right you know, there are times in most everyone's life that they get a dog that they become at one with. Java was like that with me. I told Susie that there was no way I would love Lizzy as much as Java and I admit I don't. But that is not the point. Animals love us 100% unconditionally. Most often they will give thier lives for us if need be. I have come to love Lizzy like crazy but still.............there is that one. Haven't we all at times had friends, lovers, parents, sisters or brothers that we loved more than another? That does not stop us from having more friends if we loose one or if we don't. It does not matter. We should look at our pets the same way. I know I will never have another Java but I can sure enjoy Burro and Lizzy and even if I do get another Catahoula Hound I won't look at it like I did The Jones. I think everyone need a dog. I think life without one is on many levels a lonely life.
Just a thought
Mudflap McPaw

Story People

This is just so you can get a look at two sides of The Story People

Here's the Story of the Day:
Watching Ants
I would like to think more about baseball & small engines & the best weedkiller known to man, but I always end up watching the ants on my back porch, thinking we're not so different after all.

Story People

I know most of you are aware of Story People. For those who are not, this could just possibly swing you over.

Here's the Story of the Day:
Dark Way
I'm not sure if the world's all that serious, she said, or if it just has a really dark way of having a good time.

THE DAILY OM

I Will Have To Take This Down Soon Before The Brain Police Discover I Have Innocently
Shared Something that Everyone Alive Should Read. This Comes From "The Daily OM"

September 5, 2008
The Kaleidoscope of Life
Living Together Differently
We tend to gravitate toward people who are the most like us, at least in the ways that make us feel comfortable. But life has its way of bringing us into contact with people who challenge us with their differences. It may be an obvious difference reflected in their outward appearance or an invisible but powerful philosophical stance, but even in our closest circle of friends and family, there are those that confront us with their different ways of experiencing and expressing life. We can choose to resist , but we can also choose to learn from them and appreciate that they too have a place in the kaleidoscope of life.

As much as we may say that we want peace and quiet and a life without struggle, the truth is that human beings are, at this time, thriving in a world of dualities and challenges. It is how we choose to approach these hurdles that determine if we sail over them, confirming our agility, or trip and end up face down in the dust. And each of us absolutely will and must stumble, and then get up, brush the dust off and carry on. This is how we learn and grow, developing depth of character and shades of understanding. In a world of dualities, we have trouble defining ourselves without something opposite, and can’t discover who we are. Without challenge, there is nothing to do and nothing to discover. That leaves us either in a state of non-being or the state of pure spirit, but as humans, we are spiritual beings experiencing the physical world in all of its startling contrast and beauty.

No matter how spiritual we are, our lives will have challenges. We will always run into people that are different that we are, but the true challenge may be in finding ways to be at peace with this process. Rather than give in to the fight or flight response that comes from our animal nature, we can find new ways to evolve together into higher more beautiful expressions of ourselves, realizing, embracing and celebrating the beauty of diversity and the strength it offers for the future.

On my last blog, I mistakingly ommitted my son

Jeff as a runner. Indeed he was, he could run from base to base and slide in with
the very best of em.
Jeff was also known to run up the stairwell from the basement white as a ghost as if the Grim Reaper was in pursuit. Fact is Jeff would be running from his older sister
Melanie who would be right on his tail frapping various parts of his body with her
bony knuckles. He always thought he could hit the door and then the gate and make
his getaway which rarely happened unless Melanie deemed it to be.
Perhaps this is where Penny got some of her outlandish strength, endurance and speed
in witnessing just what could happen using such powers to the male species.
Well one day it all culminated and Jeff bet Mel that he could beat her in a footrace of all races
around the block. Blocks in Ely are somewhat shorter than in perhaps say SLC.
Neighborhood kids gathered round on that fateful day plus of course Penny and I. Jeff and Mel, both in top form shoulder to shoulder on the sidewalk, the gun goes off and away they run
screaming and laughing down the block and out of site. Well a few minutes later here comes Mel down
the last leg of the race which was our home, hardly drawing any excess breath. Jeff was nowhere to be found and remained so for several hours not wanting to be razzed by
Spanky and Our Gang.
I'm sorry Jeff, but you didn't really believe this skeleton could remain in the closet forever. Now did you? It's been literally begging to get out.

Love, Light, Oms and Stinky Fleet Feet
The Dad

The Other Mangy Moose Plural

Was just thinking and I use the term loosely, Penny isn't the only one in the
family to have a head on with the Moose. We were walking one of the high Unita
trails around a beautiful and calm lake when Susie said quietly, ''look a moose
at water's edge" Wow, here I am not 50 feet from the gargantuan moose when a
strange but familiar feeling comes over me. I began to feel At One With The Moose.
Susie sez lets get out of here which she did leaving nothing but dug in footprints.
I on the other hand armed with the 35MM Olympic felt more and more that a connection
had indeed been made as the moose just watched me as I slowly advance on it with love in it's eyes. I mean
lets face it, I'm not entirely stupid when it comes to wild life even if you are
connected, a person could get badly hurt just by the animal love nudging you.
Which it didn't. It just faced me as I became more and more in tune. Closer I got
to the point where I could just about reach out and pet the one of nature's most wonderful creatures.
Just then moose raised it's cute head and then started thrashing the
water with its hooves and throwing its head around, bellowing, a noise I never want
to hear that close to me again. I made a run for it. Penny and Mel are not the only
runners in the family and when you combine that fact with utter fear you have something akin to meeting up with Big Foot. With the monster in pursuit, The only thing
that saved me was my sense of self preservation racing amongst the very thickest
trees the hillside had to offer. Try as they will a moose cannot get you if you are on the other side of a two hundred year old pine tree. Unless it has a large rack.....and your luck has been on the decline.
The thousand pound crazed creature finally gave up and lumbered back down toward the lake. It was at this point that it occurred to me that
thou I was "At one with the moose, the moose was possibly not at one with me"
Lesson learned! Sometime I must tell you the story of another moose gone mad
at a popular ski and hiking resort and all the people with their children fleeing, picnic baskets flying into the lake, running madly for the visitors lodge as the Bull Moose came thru the water at an unfathomable speed, lurching itself onto the boardwalks down the walk ways throwing it's horn around while we just sat few boardwalks down, me almost pissing myself with laughter. You know, I think I did.
Just tell you.
It's all too good.
Mudflap McMoose

Metric

Metric had quite an unusual start on Planet Earth. He had wandered into a farm when the temperatures were starting to dip past the freezing level. Some teenagers who lived at the farm were able to corner and capture him and put him in a big box with thier own kittens that they had to give away or be taken to the local pound which isn't a very nice place and the life span there is approximately one week. They were giving them away at our local grocery store and Susie came home with these two kittens one already
plumping out and a starving black and white white wild kitten no bigger than a large mouse. Once gaining entrance to our house he looked for the lowest place with a roof which happened to be my dresser and there he stayed. Until I talked
him out. From there on, Metric belonged to me. I would take him with me everywhere in my coat pocket and he was starting to show signs that he just might make it. You know, some canned food, some milk ect. But be aware, anything left on any surface that he could make it to, ended in his starving stomach. Totally wild, must have been the only survivor from a wild cat family or perhaps went looking for food and got lost. Who can tell. Metric thrived in my coat pocket and we became as one, well at least as much as a cat and a person could possibly be. He wouldn't let Susie get anywhere near him and if anybody came over he was gone. Good example of this was when Susie's son Eric came over for a few days on the Christmas Holliday. Never once did Metric show himself and actually Eric thought we were pulling his strings. This could be a leftover thought from when we came back from Burning Man, yes I shared a few days adventure with Eric who became somewhat freaked out on the night trip home as I was dodging floresent objects and pink bunnies. The kind of stuff one normally sees after spending 35 days at The Burning Man. When we got home, I forgot Eric was locked in the camper and went on in the house and fell into a deep and dreamy sleep. Eric had to dissassemble the door to get out but I see I am getting off track. Of all our cats we left Metric with his front claws as I never knew for sure that he wouldn't go wild again and being wild it is good to have claws. Anyway Metric liked to sun himself on the large garbage can or if there were boxes on the can of course these became his roost. Now I am using roost not in the normal sense as I know that roost pertains to chickens and the such. Well, one day Metric is no longer with us. We hate to think the worse but both knew deep down that he had been in a box I had on the Garbage Can and had been dumped into the Garbage Collection Truck and smushed. And he was my favorite cat. We looked for him in vain even going as far as the garbage site and dimly hoping that by some chance......... Then one day, swear to God, Fathers Day, this was at least two months after his dissapearance I walk out to get the mail and I see this thing that I believe to be an airborne skunk cause it was flying thru the air between posts on the railing on the porch and four paws and claws stuck firmly into my pants and leg. Yup Metric had beat all odds. He somehow avoided being totally smashed cause that is what they do with the trash with powerful hydrolic cylinders that keep smashing and smashing till they finally can get no more into the truck then dump the thousands of pounds of trash over a dump site. Don't ask me how or how he found his way home after so long , about 6 miles or so and intact to boot. Well he was quite a bit worse for wear but didn't take long to get back to speed, heal up from numerous fights he had been in and give a final growth spurt as if in defiance of the trash system. To this day he is My Cat but will let Susie get around him. This came about from her feeding all our cats, five at the time before we gave one to Eric, canned food. And to think that it happened on Fathers Day. You tell me there is not a God that looks after animals too. He will no longer have anything to do with the garbage can as you might imagine. Other than run like hell when the truck makes it's stop at the house.

Ely to Heber Fourty Brick Bag or Bust

First thing out of the bag I would like to thank my youngest, Penny Lane for laboring over this thing which is still a mystery to me and getting me set up in Cyberspace. Whenever I attempt anything more than writing/forwarding a letter it is usually thrown somewhere into the Ether, never to be found again. So Thank You Penny Lane and also Corbie who got this blog thing going and this time maybe it was her that was shouting the obscenities behind Penny. I also thought I noticed some of Melanie in the writing but this could be a figment of my imagination.

Jenny, I will start right now by saying you have a Mom's Apple Pie Outlook thou at times slightly twisted and a candidate for a Citizen Kane Award. I will also add as a small token of love, you are one of the best people alive at parking a vehicle due to the hundreds of hours you and Penny spent while staying with Susie and I and her letting you two use her car to drive the forty feet involved to practice parallel parking the old stick shift Mustang ll.

My story/life will come in no particular order as my mind no longer works that way. It is a series of events that come in random order with no guidance from my right now psyche. I will for the most part avoid my Ken Kesley (type in and hit search) as most of you are too young to know war stories but some of them are just to damn funny, crazy or unbelievable not to tell. Most names will be changed to protect the guilty. When I do write about them I cannot stay into that region of that particular event slash time for the sake of my sanity as I am not only writing about them but reliving them and not being in a place that leaves me comfortable at any rate with a churning gut feeling. That being said.

It was a long drive over to Heber that evening me and the Jones eating or smoking whatever few drugs I had left and imagining, I had fed my most powerful monster, Cocaine. I hit the small lazy town high in the Unitas late at nite and perhaps from the drugs or just because my friend had moved there only a few months before and I had always found his farmhouse from site posts in my mind in the daylight. Driving straight to where I thought Jed lived only to find myself utterly turned around and hopelessly lost. What to do? Cruise every street in Heber until I recognized his dwelling. Sadly, I was not the only one cruising that night as I came to a four way stop and met up with some trouble makers in an older vehicle who decided to pursue me. This continued until they passed me and then tried to block the road. Four of them there were and all looking to be like they were well beef and milk fed and totally liquored up. Yes I got close enough to them to see their blood shot eyes and the look to do me bodily harm. I hit reverse in my fairly fast Mustang and spun it around and the chase began with me only trying to get away from them to the highway and not knowing at all which way the highway was. We definitely would have killed anyone else out that nite at the speeds we were going and the total lack of adhering to any traffic control signs or lights. I finally hit the highway and started down towards the canyons hoping they would back off. But no. Damn going way too fast quite a ways in front of them I went over a small hill and half way down hit the parking brake, cut the lights and spun around in a circle waiting in the middle of the road. Yea, I know this sounds like a scene out of Tarantino's Death Proof but not. Over the hill they come, giving them and me quite a bit of room, on go my lights. I thought I could smell their fear and saw nothing but smoke from their tires and a wild attempt at missing me by a hard right turn which took them into a dry pasture and what looked like a small tornado had touched down. I could see their headlights flipping around and knew they were rolling over and over. I backed up and shined my lights over at where they had stopped and gave a sigh of relief as I saw four people stumbling around. Whew,nobody dead. I turned back toward Heber, parked on a side street an awaited dawn so I could find Jeds place hoping the police were not on a back street hid away. Went to Jeds beat on his door for what seem like hours and finally sleepy eyed Jed comes to the door. I'm rattling off my account and he suggests I put my car in his garage, wait a few hours and get some sleep.

Sleep for me never came as I was more wound up than a seven day clock. When Jed finally gets up we take care of business and I am down the road, this time heading toward Park City still in fear of being identified. I hit the freeway blow thru SLC and get gas at Toolee and I am heading down the road, to safety, to home. It's all good. OK. No more war stories for awhile for my own health and so as not to bring you to Boredom's Brink

Life and Times

Royboy

Pine Springs

Hi all,
Hope you all are enjoying your young lives
Thought I would tell you about a recent trip to Pine Springs located neat the top of Ward Mountain.
We took two vehicles and parked one at the bottom of Ward just in case we had trouble
and had to walk out. This was done of course because of the one trip we had to walk all the
way to the highway to find the truck and motorcycle trailer. The bike had failed us at Crystal Mountain so we had two choices. Tip the bike over and torch it thereby possibly attracting attention by someone or walking out. I preferred the first option but it was still light at the moment and there was the forest to worry about.
Anyways we left the Sidekick at the base of the mountain and took the Jeep up. We being myself, Susie, Burro and Lizzy. Beautiful trip up, one of the clearest days I have seen in a long, long while and you could see like three different mountain ranges. The road has become very rough from erosion and the dogs were constantly being thrown against the rear lift up door. Nearing the springs, I hear Susie shout "stop" I do only to see the rear door up and Lizzy rolling head over heels back down the mountain. She got her legs and came charging after us which left me thinking, no broken bones. I lifted her into the Jeep and checked her out and only a few little cuts. Off we go to Pine Springs. We got there and I honestly don't know if I have seen any place more beautiful.
The springs drops down three different places and has been lined with timber. There is also rotten wood going over the springs. I was gingerly walking over the rotted out wood and Burro came charging full blast only to hit a place where the wood was missing. I watched him fall down about 20 feet and into a pond and disappear. I shouted to Susie, I think we lost Burro. She was trying to find rope so she could follow him into the hole (yea right) when all at once up popped Burro. Amazingly as I walked around the springs with Burro watching and swimming following me, I came to a place where the timber jutted out just a bit. I thought I might be able to go down with rope but somehow Burro jettisoned from the water to a little timber and hit it with his back legs and one more time and he was safe. He ran around like some kind of crazed beast for a few minutes running out the testosterone and then he was fine.
I know about the testosterone from another time where he went over a water fall..
Anyways, after the excitement we just enjoyed the trees, water and view had a lunch
we had packed, (no, I didn't have to kill any animals to eat) and headed home. The trip home was quite exciting also as we seen maybe 15 Elk, one of them being almost completely black, then a large herd of deer. It was, using a phrase too often used, Totally Awesome.
It's just all too beautiful
Mudflap

We've done it again!

For any of you that keep up with Corbie and I, you know we delight in setting up and/or hacking into peoples blogs and blogging our hearts out. Our latest victim? My father! Really, this is us giving back to society though. Once you all get some insight into all the joy that is Roy, your lives will be forever changed. Just hold on tight, Roy can be a little kooky (now you know where we get it from) and sometimes a conspiracy theorist (well most times, let's be honest) but most of all he is funny, calculating, kind, crafty, original, paranoid, generous, free and a fabulous writer. Well, carry on my wayward father - I hope the world is ready for the dichotomous thoughts that float through your head!
As a side note, I just want to mention that any member of the CIA would be pleased as punch to recruit my dad on their next top secret mission. He emailed me his preferred password for this blog - shit! He is good. I guess that's where a sordid past gets you huh daddy?
Om, Peace, Pigtails and Bananrama,
Penny & Corbie