Cool Cucumber

Recently I’ve been frustrated when I run, partly because I run with Royal and can’t move my arms naturally when I’m holding a leash. At the end of a run I tend to feel a little lopsided and my lower back is sore from running awkwardly with only one arm swinging. Yes, I’ll bet it was quite the sight to see. However, I found a solution: the belt leash!

Royal does a good job of not tugging me along, and while I have to take the end of it sometimes in my hand (particularly when we cross paths with humans or other canines), he’s been very nice about staying close. I say hooray for belt leashes and for running without looking like a fool!

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Rob, Mark, and I hiked at The Crags this past Saturday- a nice mild hike with Royal. It was so much fun taking my dog on his first “real hike”. He had the time of his life, as did we. Here’s a photo of us trying to get him to go in the creek water. He seemed terrified of the moving water, so we found this nice tranquil spot where the cold water had pooled. Here we are throwing dog treats into the deep and then trying to get him to go get them. Hmm, it didn’t really work so well, as he would only go far enough to get his feet wet!

Here, Rob and I rest while posing with the dog. Photo credit goes to Mark, boy-genius behind a camera.

Here’s Mark with Royal on the drive home. Everyone was exhausted and hungry, but sadly, Royal missed out on the little bar-b-que joint we hit on the return trip. Do you see the sadness in his big brown eyes?

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I don’t really get into most TV, with the exception of LOST, but my newest indulgence is So You Think You Can Dance. I don’t like American Idol (poor singing… bleh), but THIS competition is fun! I love all the different styles of dance that they have the contestants learn, as well as all of their personal stories. A must-see!

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I had the distinct pleasure last week of supervising a boy at camp who couldn’t go outside due to life-threatening pollen allergies. So I sat with him each day while he ate. The first day, however, I witnessed something that made the back of my throat do a million front flips.

He took out of his lunch cooler a plastic bag with a strange-looking cylinder inside- a pale translucent item that was bleeding all over inside the bag. You can see where this one is going- yes- a peeled, whole cucumber. I remember the odor so precisely.

So this kid takes it out and just crunches into it like an apple, chewing madly and then biting it again. Cucumber juice rolls down his chin and collects in little droplets, and I see all of the sad vegetable as it is being chewed because his mouth is WIDE OPEN and preparing to take another bite.

This was a child who didn’t really take personal space into consideration, so as I was turning my head, trying not to watch the slaughter of the innocent cucumber, he put his face inches from mine and asked, “What are we doing for a craft today?” in his awful, awful, cucumber breath.

This boy brought in a cucumber every single day of camp and ate the whole entire nasty thing in front of me!

Isn’t it just great that the most adamant gourd-hater in the world got to supervise this little cucumber aficionado?

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Today I had the entire day to myself… well, sort of, except for a few fun things in the afternoon. Other than that the day was mine, all gloriously mine. Well, I spent most of it messing with this whole new WordPress thing. Very complicated for a former Blogspot gal. Amazingly, I think this blog is finally presentable and I can begin tweaking it now that it’s got the basics. Rob is great for help on WordPress- he spent over an hour tonight giving me a phone tutorial!

I was talking with two friends today and it was mentioned, probably by accident, that one of our mutual friends is having a party Saturday. Which I wasn’t invited to. I was very aware of my body’s response when I realized that I was not invited; I felt a very literal clenching in my stomach, which lasted for about an hour. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. While I’m not sure of the reason, I am very aware of the feeling that I’ll be missing something. There’s going to be fun and jokes and experiences that I will be left out of if I’m not there. And that’s a very silly reason for being sad.

But I see married couples all around me, and since I’m going to be part of a married couple in less than 2 months, I wonder if we should be out with different friends every evening. I know that’s not me or US; I need quiet and introspection and tinkering at home more than I need to be out. But I catch myself comparing me to my friends sometimes, wondering if I should have more acquaintances and friends. I make myself crazy picking at me like that.

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I just downloaded the new Dixie Chicks album. Instantly I feel myself transported back to the days of college in Springfield, Missouri… college.

Let me preface this entry by saying that I have a fond spot in my heart for country music, particularly clever lyrics and vocals. Somehow through the friends I made in college, I grew a craving for unique country. Granted, Dixie Chicks is more of a rock-country, but I also love Diamond Rio. Patty Loveless. Now, THAT’s country.

I’m writing this as I listen to “The Long Way Around” for the first time. I feel an indescribable joy in hearing it- there’s such familiarity and newness at the same time. It’s music like this that makes me feel as if we’re driving around P’Ville with straw hats on, Hadler at the wheel (a maniac driving on all those turns) and the windows all the way down. Excellent lined up harmonies, soaring fiddle, brisk strum. Makes me remember Branson too, and the hills around it. Satisfaction. There was a sense of freedom as we piled into a car and just drove….

This is why I like country music.

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Fresh from our Dallas trip and after a strenuous first day of Camp Invention, I settled in at home to complete some long-overdue laundry. But in my stupor, I seem to have put the wrong things in the wrong places, and I’m stumped for a solution. Here’s photo evidence:

I googled “put detergent in the fabric softener spot” and “how to get detergent out of fabric softener place”, but I’ve not found anything useful. Do you think I’m the first one to do this?

I could use a turkey baster to get the detergent out, but the problem is that I don’t HAVE a turkey baster. But I hate wasting good Tide Cold Water by simply letting the machine run its course without any clothing. If I put clothes in the washing machine now, it’ll release the detergent during the rinse cycle and then the soap won’t be washed out completely. Right…?

I can’t figure out what to do. Help me, please!

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