wow
can you tell I've moved on? no more windows ME. no more being tied to the desktop. no more obstacles or saying oh I'm not compatible. thanks for the early birthday.

technology ooze
seen on north fork: 2 kids on bikes, both with ipods. seen at the pavillion at blue bend swimming hole: a kid with a ringing cell phone. seen at a campsite with an RV: a DTV satellite dish. how long before we have wireless creekside?

a new word
while we getting minnows at the intersection of anthony road and 92, a few jets roared just overhead. strafing: the practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft

camp food
the coleman stove coverted to propane makes cooking a breeze. we had mama's BBQ with corn on the cob and baked beans the first night -- quite a birthday treat. ate it cold for breakfast the next day. then we had lemon-pepper trout and bass, and sweet and sour chicken with rice, also reheated for breakfast.

gunsmoke
never watched it, but it made for good conversation between dumping turns of the over-the-camp tarps during the big storm. it sparked from a story about my commuters having never seen spielberg's 'duel' and the fact that the actor in that (dennis weaver) had been chester goode in the show. good memory to bring back james arness as marshall dillon and amanda as miss kitty. I remember papa saying MDA reminded him of matt dillon. I always thought he meant this matt dillon.

camp with dad
finally made it to greenbrier county for father's day ... in late july. 4 days is just enough time to unwind and purge the urban demons. thursday we set up tarps and tents at blue bend. then we got minnows from north fork and caught a few keepers. friday we fished behind camp wood with leftover minnows on the way back to north fork. then we took the maiden voyage of the antiquated rowboat on the greenbrier river. it did great. we rowed up from the bridge at anthony to the first rapids. then floated, alternately with rowing against the wind, back to below the bridge. dad met the daughter of a former co-worker who he deemed a top mom -- knows worms, casting, respect. saturday we hiked the loop trail and battened down the hatches for a big storm of hail, wind and rain. sunday we scouted for new minnow spots and fished from behind #19 to tent city before gunpowder ridge. I headed home sunday evening and a second wave of campers was heading that way monday.

the future
do you think day care nurturing will affect the herd mentality of the next generation? this is what I ponder when I see herds of kids walking about town holding a rope to stick together.

emergency
while we were in the rowboat on the greenbrier, sirens began to wail. I didn't hear them at first, but dad commented on them. then we saw emergency vehicles speed across the bridge and up gunpowder ridge. later we saw the aftermath of a nasty motorcycle accident. hope the guy didn't go over the edge.

unexpected find
cleaned a run-of-the-mill trout from the creek and found something I didn't expect. when I clean fish, I'm always curious what's in the belly of the beast. sometimes you find a crawdad, a minnow or a beetle. this time, I felt something hard and long, much like a whopper crawdad. but when I gave the stomach a squeeze, out popped a chicken bone!

hot showers
the new bathhouse at blue bend is pretty impressive. hot showers, clean restrooms with toilet paper roll that actually roll, and the fastest, loudest hand dryer I've ever seen. the doors could use anti-slamming devices, but other than that I approve. I didn't realize they'd be taking out the old facilities. now it's quite a hike from the far campsites to the bathhouse. some folks even drive up and back.

infinite summer
read about this quasi-book club in newsweek and thought I'd give it a go. checked 'infinite jest' out of the great falls library today. we'll see how it goes.

coming up
a dc visit by pinevillians
civil war century
OT in the slot

seen/heard/read
boogers are my beat
lapsing into a comma***
the hot zone
public enemies***
the lookout
23
wristcutters
doubt***
the jacket
charlie bartlett
the dead girl
***recommended ***