old times

hanging around the only bar open tonight in circle, also the bowling alley. talking to an old old friend from high school, spent most of our conversation talking about other old friends and less-than-friends from high school. what a crazy business. it's funny how people remember things so differently. the things that almost haunt one person never occur to the other at all. fellow i was talking to, he apologized for knocking me down on the ice more than ten years ago. i don't think i'd thought about it in at least nine. had to think a minute to remember it at all. funny. funny blog tonight.

what is sadder?

is there anything sadder than a little red-headed girl
sitting alone on the living room floor
playing a board game by herself
waiting
and wishing someone would play with her?

maybe just watching
seeing how sad it is
but just watching
instead of playing

dad and the chickens

today is a good day, so instead of bitching and moaning i will tell you a story about my dad when he was a little boy:

When my dad was about four years old it was his job to gather the eggs out of the chickenhouse every morning. At this time, among the chickens there lived a very mean rooster. Every day when he went in to collect the eggs, the rooster would chase him and peck at his legs. Finally, in despair, he went to his grandfather and said, "Grandpa, whenever I go in to get the eggs the rooster pecks at my legs. What should I do?" His grandfather told him to find a big stick, and take it with him the next time he went in the chickenhouse. If the rooster came at him, he was to just hit it as hard as he could with the stick. Well, my dad took his grandpa's advice and found a good, stout stick. The next morning when the rooster came rushing at him in the henhouse, he smacked it good and hard with that stick...and killed it stone-dead. That night they ate the rooster for dinner.

signing off from circle,mt where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average
(to plagiarize the prarie home companion)

hootiepic
photo copyright Amanda Breitbach, 2004

just a little guy

just a little guy for today; my blog is brand-new, so i feel the need to use it right away. this morning is nice so far, not warm but sunny and not too cold, which is all you can ask of circle, mt this time of year. circle is on the eastern side of montana, the side nobody who doesn't live there visits on purpose unless they hunt. this is both a shame and a very good thing. it is a shame because those non-visitors really miss out on the landscape and the quirky small towns (both beautiful) and the interesting characters (almost all the people who live here are interesting characters). it is a very good thing because visitors and people who move in from Elsewhere generally ruin places like this. so we'll remain as we are and the rest of the world can continue to not notice. that's all on circle for now. maybe later i'll rant about something but for now all is right with the world.