Friday Critter Blogging

We have a new Kittlin in the house!!

Not sure what name he's going to end up with. Right now MickeyD's leaning towards "Tiger" but Mr. Stang & I keep calling him "Kittlin", and that's kind of sticking. Miracle of Miracles, he seems to actually LIKE having our little Tasmanian Devil torture him. In fact when he first wakes up in the morning he hears MickeyD's blissful murmerings in his sleep and can't resist the urge to pounce on his playmate and wake him up, ruining any chance of a quiet sleep in.

Cat Basterd.

Cute, but maybe not too bright.

He was born into a household with FOUR boys and a Rottweiler, so isn't phased in the least by our one little tyrant.

Cleo Cat ( soon to arrive at the ripe old age of 15) is more than happy to pass on the role of Crash Test Dummy to a younger, more energetic generation. Besides, the Kittlin still has all of his teeth which makes self-defense easier. It also helps Mr. Stang and I to know that this kitten can somewhat look after himself. He, at least protests loudly when he's being handled too rough. Silent Saint Cleo never would.

But she's still willing to stand in when MickeD wants to test the installation of his carseat. She's probably disappointed here that we are NOT, in fact taking her for a drive. I've never seen a cat who so loved to drive in cars. Since our last move she's had to content herself with occassional shoulder/stroller rides to the neighborhood park.

Heat Wave

Current Temp = 106 deg. F. May break the hottest all time EVER temp recorded of 107. Thanks to the A/C, new energy efficient windows and all of our shade trees... the house is staying a cool 72.

Yakkity Yak! (Don't talk back...)

Just got back from a fantabullous little family reunion in the Twilight capital of the world, Forks, WA. I don't know which was more entertaining, the cougars at the Olympic Game Farm or the "cougars" swagged head to toe in Twilight paraphenelia, stalking the soft spoken, adorable, Jacobean young tribal man working behind the counter of the local produce store. Sad as it was to see so many captive animals begging for handouts from cars like so many freeway offramp panhandlers, I did like the yaks.

We, OTOH were there for a little famliy reunion since my bro, SIL and nephew were in town for the summer. My Mom and stepdad rented a great cabin and were generous enough to let MickeyD and I crash on the couch for 3 of their 7 nights. Only fair since Mr. Stang was missing out on the always entertaining, drunkenly dysfunctional family campfire drama in order to petsit their canine tribe.

We didn't make it down to the beaches at La Push but MickeyD and I hit Ruby Beach on the way back out of town instead for the ritual gathering of rocks and dipping of feet in the Pacific. That's one of the coolest things about Washington beaches - the further north you go, the more rocky and pebbly the beaches are instead of the smooth, vast sand expanses of Oregon and SW. Washington. I could spend hours rockhounding. Came away with a couple nice handfulls of agate.

The fireweed was in full bloom. Weather was gorgeous for the Olympic Peninsula - about 75/80. We saw 8 deer while driving around Lake Crescent - including two little babies. One evening we were blessed with an entire herd of wild Roosevelt elk passing through the meadow behind the cabins, coming up from the Calawah River. I was too slow to get them on camera but did get a little blurry video. Here's one we took of the same kind of elk at the game park.

She Who Watches

In case you were wondering, the new image in my profile is of an ancient petroglyph found throughout the Columbia River Basin. Her name is "Tsagaglalal", or "She Who Watches". From the Columbia River Gorge Interpretive Center:

Tsagaglalal is located on a cliff overlooking the Columbia River at Columbia Hills State Park (formerly known as Horse Thief State Park) in Washington. It is one of the best examples of the aboriginal art in the United States. There are several versions of this legend, but the one told to the Museum by the Wishram people is as follows:

A woman was chief of all who lived this region. That was a long time before Coyote came up the river and changed things, and the people were not yet real people. After a time Coyote, in his travels came to this place and asked the inhabitants if they were living well or ill. They sent him to their chief who lived up in the rocks, where she could look down on the village and know what was going on.

Coyote climbed up to the house on the rocks and asked, "What kind of living do you give these people? Do you treat them well or are you one of those evil women?"

"I am teaching them to live well and build good houses," she said. When she expressed her desire to be able to do this forever, he said, "Soon the world will change and women will no longer be chiefs."

Being the trickster that he was, Coyote changed her into a rock with the command, "You shall stay here and watch over the people and the river forever."

People know that "Tsagaglalal" sees all things for whenever they are looking at her, those large eyes are watching them."

How they grow!

First time the cousins met each other, Nov. 2006. MickeyD not yet 2, on the left, CousinA on the right - almost 1.

This summer - second meeting. MickeyD on the left - 4 yrs old, A on the right, 3.

See What I miss?

Blogger now lets you pre-schedule posts??? Love it! - I can post a ton when the mood strikes and dole 'em out like bread crumbs :)

And yes, expect to see a lot of new posts in the coming days - I need to shove old content off the front page.

Columbia River Gorge Hotel

I know the economy is killing so many landmark businesses, but this was very sad to hear: Bank buys Columbia River Gorge Hotel at foreclosure auction.

I don't know how many times I've driven by this beautiful historic property and wished I'd had enough money to stay a night. If I only had $4 Mill I'd have snapped it up in a heartbeat. Maybe the McMenamin brothers will buy it.

If I were to win the lottery tomorow though, I think I'd buy one of these: Columbia Cliff Villas.

***Update: 8/11/09 - The bank who now owns the hotel has hired a local management company until they can find a suitable buyer. It could re-open as early as September!!

What I've been up to in the last 3 years. The Monkey turned 4 whole years old in March. This was his first bike bought for his 2nd birthday. Last week to celebrate 3 months with no training wheels we bought him a bigger one.

Tap.... Tap.... Tap... Is this thing still on?

Three years..... Wow there is a hiatus for you. That makes 160 or so Fridays since I last posted anything here. Longer still since it was anything of substance. Why? Well, when I found myself going days, then weeks, then months with nothing burning to say I thought it was about time to hang the blog up for awhile. Manufactured outrage is never entertaining. When things would get shitty and depressing (normally a trigger for me to take up the diary again) it seemed waaay to shitty and depressing to inflict on the internets (and too personal). When they'd get better I'd just try to enjoy life offline.

So why now when an amazing election, world and personal events haven't tempted me? The muse of the mommybloggers, Heather B. Armstrong of Dooce just made #26 on Forbes' "Most Influential Women in the Media" list this week. As she was huge inspiration for me to start this blog, I couldn't let the milestone pass without mentioning it. I'm shocked, amazed and thrilled for her beyond measure.

I quit blogging because I felt I was trying to be all things and not doing any of them well: Politics, personal, social commentary. Thank you Dooce for reminding me that my primary purpose with this blog was always just to get my voice heard. If that voice is as scatterbrained, irrational and eclectic as I am so be it. I'm not going to care so much how others may take it so long as I accomplish what I want - a digital "recording" of the myriad thoughts, joys, aggrevations, obsessions and annoyances that go through my brain on any given day.

Available to the masses at the click of a Google.

We'll see how it goes. Will work on updating links etc. as I go along.