Puddle Jumper

We were just a few blocks from the video store where new episodes of Dora & Diego had become available. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young were working their way through "Woodstock", when I turned to ask Bee if she wanted to go for a walk in the rain. Her head was slumped all the way to the side and she was snoring. I turned around and headed for the Glendale Freeway and the baseball fields of Scholl Canyon. 

By the time we made it up there, REM's "Green" was playing and the Bee was still sound asleep. I let the dog out and we pondered the post rain beauty in what until recently had been bone dry hillsides. Low white clouds of mist hovered about the tinderbox hills of brush and the higher mountains were completely hidden. All around the rain was working its magic as creosote, sage and eucalyptus gave thanks with their combined aromas. The ball fields were flooded.

And then Bee was awake. It usually takes her a while to come around, but not this day. Her eyes got big about the puddles, puddles as far as her big eyes could see. "Getta me down, daddy, getta me down!" Translation: "Get me out of this car seat right now you big boob!" She hit the parking lot running with the dog. Puddles over asphalt, and grass, and the red clay brick dust of the baseball diamonds all have a different quality that must be experienced feet first to be fully understood. It's safe to say that Bee knows all of them very well by now. It started raining again,  but she was not deterred and ran away from me as fast as she could finally covering all three fields. One can become soaking wet by falling into a swimming pool during an engagement party, say, but it is nothing compared to the wet that you get from walking in the pouring rain with a toddler in love with puddle jumping. Who knew?

Guest Blogger Sparky

Radio Free Bedroom

It's happening again. It's been about seven years since we last heard it emanating from the ceiling light fixture in the bedroom. Back then it was a rap station, and we were held hostage to the constant thump thump thumping. Now it seems to be some sort of Japanese game show station. No music, just lots of people screaming and squealing in Japanese. I'm not sure why our bedroom light fixture is sometimes a radio transmitter, but it is very annoying. And it's not like we can pick the station. It started again last night. During the day you can still hear it, but not as well. At night, it comes in very clearly. And like I said, it's been seven years since it last occurred. 

Back then, Sparky even call the FCC to complain about it to no avail. And once, Sparky tried to take the fixture apart to bring an end to the madness. He thought the power was off, but as he touched the pliers to the fixture they flew across the room as he was blown off the chair. I saw him hit the ground with a thud and grunt. I was shocked, but not as shocked at he was. The pliers were melted where they had made contact with the light fixture.  Sparky had black powder burns on his fingers from the pliers and his hair was standing on end. Whew. 

I can't remember what finally happened to that radio station, but the problem went away on its own, and we spent a blissful seven radio-free years in our bedroom. But now its back, and we must find a way to stop it before it drives us crazy. In the meantime we may sleep in the backyard. 

Christmas Cheer

Since we are going up to the PNW for Christmas, The Misers are not doing any major holiday decorations this year. But Bee is beyond excited about the holidays, therefore we had to do something for our little one. And so the other day I hung up a single strand of lights over the credenza. Voila! Instant Christmas Cheer.

Little Buddha

I swear Bee is such a compassionate little girl, she is like a little Buddha. The other day she ran some errands with Sparky, which is not exactly her favorite thing to do. Sparky was trying to load some groceries into the car, and evidently lost his temper for some reason - I don't know the details, but something set him off. Bee saw his distress and said to him, "It's okay, Daddy. No be mad. Be happy, Daddy, be happy." And she leaned over in her car seat and patted him gently on the arm, "No be mad, Daddy." Sparky laughed and agreed to be happy. Such is the power of Bee.

Miserland

It's been awhile since I've posted a blog, and my sorry, lame ass excuse is that I've been too busy. Which seems kind of strange to say since I don't have a full time job or anything, just a full time life, I guess you could say. I'm making most of my Christmas presents this year, and so I've been knitting like crazy. Also, since it gets dark so early these days the Misers have been hibernating. We spend a lot of evenings having an early dinner, then sitting around in the living room all cozy together. Here is a typical night at The Misers: I'm knitting, Bee is doing a puzzle or looking at one of her books, Glenn and Lila are curled up asleep, and Sparky is singing and playing guitar for us. I know it sounds really smarmy, but it's free and what else should we be doing? Then after Bee has had her bath and is in bed, Sparky and I usually watch an episode of The Sopranos (we're on Season Five now.) We've gotten pretty good at living on next to nothing. I've wholeheartedly embraced the whole foods thing - it's cheaper to make most everything from scratch, and it's healthier then eating a bunch of processed junk. We never go out to eat anymore, which I don't even really miss.

I sometimes think that we should make a board game out of our lives called "Miserland" which would be a combination of Life, Monopoly, and Candyland. All of the game pieces would be little hobos, and the board itself would look like the song "The Big Rock Candy Mountain" come to life. You could land on squares that would say things like "Property taxes due: lose five turns" or "Get into fight with health insurance provider. Go back to beginning and start all over again" or maybe "Car needs new tires. Cross your fingers and hope for the best. Go back fifty spaces". The person with the least amount of money at the end would be the winner. Now there's a game that I could easily win! 

But despite it all the Misers have been having fun, and are getting ready for Christmas and The Train Ride. We have splurged BIG TIME and are taking the train up to Seattle to spend the holidays with my family. We have a sleeper car on the Coast Starlight, and I cannot wait. It is one of the most beautiful routes that Amtrak takes, and it's Bees first time ever on the train. We are a train riding folk, and are eagerly awaiting this upcoming adventure, especially because it is the most Un-Miserly thing we have done all year long. Which would make us complete losers at the game of "Miserland."