Good Medicine

Bandit, 5 Months, Bonito River Falls

Bandit

Planning is normally an exercise I conduct with little effort. For many years, it was an essential aspect of my career and since then, of my life. Being humble, however, has not been! Thus, I find it healthy, humbling and cathartic to be reminded upon occasion of the fallacies of planning and more generally, the idiocy associated with believing I can "control" all the events in our lives. Sometimes, life just evolves and you must adapt. I chose to do so with a smile on my face as each crazy day rolled into the next. Enter, stage right, the month of July, which laid out like a map during the planning phase and exploded like a Molotov cocktail upon execution.    Apparently, humbling for me, is good medicine!

Gavin, or Gelda?

Bec & Dave doing Hitchcock

For starters, my Sister and her sweet Husband (right) were just crazy enough to offer to help me drive nearly 2000 miles to Tennessee to purchase a smooth collie.

The three amigos hit Memphis hard for 24 hours, Beale Street, BB King Cafe, Graceland and cocktails at the Peabody Hotel after a rather entertaining and alarming trip through Arkansas. Let's just say, our most memorable stop included a gas station selling wooden bats (marketed as "tire kickers"), gizzards and tobacco. The crowd drinking Natural Light in the parking lot looked a bit eager for company, (and dental work) so we moved ON! We picked up Bandit (Neil on his papers) after looking for a collie for nearly a year. I must say, I would have driven much further. He is calm, loving and totally, 100% house trained! He is obsessed with panties and socks so we named him Bandit. WindKist Collies near Nashville did a fabulous job of prepping him. (Thanks Nancy!)  Most recently, he escaped with all of our clothes while we were in the hot tub. We sent the nude kid up the acreage to retrieve our essentials. :) Bandit will be hitting the trails in August so expect a Walmart Greeting!

Mom, checking her pants after entering her surprise Party.

My crazy family arrived for a long weekend and we enjoyed every second we could with them. We laughed, we held a birthday party for my Mom (scaring the hell out of her with the orange masks pictured above) and dressing her in a crown and robe as Queen for the evening. Typical Warren holiday, killing rodents, eating homemade food, 42 dominoes and plenty of margaritas. I hated to see them leave but am so grateful to have had them!

The remainder of the month, while Eric and Gavin were in Canada, I spent spoiling myself with long trail runs, old movies, plenty of time with friends and zero housework! I think half of Lincoln County bought or made me dinner!  Expect a long blog and plenty of pictures dedicated to their annual Father-Son journey.

In Gratitude,
Ness