dughlas

Whew ... I thought that said bushwhacking.

You just want more shirtless fit young fellas runin' around ...

Good. The most recent front pushed the smoke away from here too. While it's far too high for it to be an air quality issue it was heavy enough to equal a 25% overcast.

No. Someone did physical labor yesterday and the body isn't as young as it once was. Why in my youth I could spend the entire day riding my mastodon and never be sore but not any longer.

Page! Hi!

It's not bad thanks. Heads a little achy and some muscles I don't use often are a bit stiff. Blessed be bro.

Greeting Albert.

Chilly here too. It was 40/4° when we left for our morning walk. The sky was a deep indigo full of bright sparkling stars. Then the sun rose bringing a clear quiet dawn.

You mean back when there was a cute young guy, who wasn't masked like a bank robber, across the table and the remnants of a large glass of red between you ... or do you mean t-shirt weather?

Hello Albert. It was a good day. I spent about four hours grinding brush into wood chips. When we first moved here over 35 years ago we could burn the trimmings from bushes, shrubbery and trees and I did. Typically I would collect the trimmings in the spring and summer then move the pile to my garden and burn them in the winter. I would work the ash and char into the soil the following spring. Several years ago because of air pollution the township rewrote the ordinance allowing only farmers that right everyone else was required to either grind their brush, haul it away and pay to have it composted or pay to have the trash collector haul it away. I have several trees and shrubs on the property that require annual trimming/pruning. I'd collected material for a couple years and the pike had gotten rather large. It was time to clear it. In the past I usually hauled it to a local company that would grind and compost it to create mulch they then sell. It worked for them, they get paid to take the raw material they need to make a product they then sell. They get paid twice. This year I decided I wanted to keep they wood chips for myself so we rented a wood chipper and my dad and I worked up the brush pile and clear cut an area of saplings that had grown up. The pile will sit now over the winter and early spring then next year when I get back from mum's I'll spread them under my pine trees. It went very well. It was a cool morning, 60/15° bright and sunny with a bit of a breeze. Perfect weather for what we were doing. It was tiring work but I didn't need to rush just worked at a steady pace. I was finished by early afternoon and showered before my head got too achy. So the short answer to your question is I'm doing well enough thanks.

I hoping that there are enough senators up for reelection who will put the brakes on a rush to replace her. Four years ago we waited until after the election so the people could have a voice. I think the same holds true today.

Who's good fortune? I've noticed the folks who say a bird capping on your head is good luck are always the ones the bird didn't target ...

I suppose the Caterpillar needs sustenance too. Makes for a stark photo. I like it.

I would consider it a wonderful boon if you sent him 'round my neck o' the woods. OOHHHhhhh, you meant Boone the fella in your new story. The one everybody should be reading. When does the new chapter post? In answer to the question you posed, yes, yes indeedy.

Maybe Morgan will rub your feet ...

That's because you're such a cosmopolitan bon vivant.

I don't like Ohio State either and truth be told I only actively cheer on the others when they're playing against Ohio or in a bowl game. I suspect from his response that Papa Mann was also unaware of Cole's feelings about Sam. I suspect that sometimes parents see distance forming between their kids and their friends as part of growing up and going separate ways. I think Cole did an exceptional job of hiding what happened between himself and Sam. Of course they're your characters so you should know them best. "I gave birth to you" isn't grounds for winning an argument, neither is "Because I'm your mother" but it is grounds for respect. He could have expressed himself without the cussing and still made his point. Part of my feeling on that may stem from the fact I wouldn't speak to my mother that way.

G'day y'all. It's mostly overcast and we have a high layer of smoke from the western fires. At midday the temp has reached 70/21° and is slightly more humid than the past few days making it feel a bit damp. Expecting a front to pass through late day and bring a return to cooler drier weather. I've been feeling out of sorts this week. Headachy, lethargic and my blood pressure has been running high. I blamed it on the after effects of the Ajovy injections but this is lasting longer than I expected. I'm going to pay particular attention to my diet. I've gained back some of the weight I lost and need to more cognizant of how much sodium I've been consuming. Less sweets and potato chips to start. Blessed be.

But the story hasn't ended. This was backstory to provide more depth to guys we've met elsewhere. Thanks Carlos.

YES! Time for some spice, the ginger has arrived! I know Def, I know, back off 'cause you've laid a prior claim.

And that's a sad commentary on our society. I grew up in on a one block long side street in a small town. Everybody knew everybody some not as well as others but immediate neighbors certainly. The older couple in the other half of our duplex had teenage sons the youngest acted as my surrogate big brother/uncle. His parents became like an extra set of grandparents. Now I know the folks in the folks in the house to the immediate east of me. The folks to the west I know to say hello and wave to. Beyond that I don't know folks and I've lived here 35+ years. Though I must admit that the guy two doors to the east is a drool worthy slighty built dark ginger with chest hair that glistens when he sweats. What ?!? He works in his vegetable garden shirtless and I've got functional eyes. Oh, and I do know his name, it's Brandon.

But you best treat the BIG10 with all the courtesy and respect we deserve.

COLTON MANN! I don't care how big a boy you think you are, you DO NOT talk at your mama like that! She may be having a difficult time accepting you're gay but she bore and birthed you and cleaned up after you and has not rejected you. Consider if you might the dreams she had for you growing up, the grandchildren she imagined and how those dreams changed. She is a product of small town America. She likely grew up having every fault or transgression discussed on the public grapevine and loathes how it made her feel as much as you loathe how Sam's rejection made you feel. She lives here among these people and likely doesn't relish herself and her child the subject of derision and gossip. This is where her life is she isn't leaving to go back to New York. It's not so easy for her to say "fuck 'em" and what they think. She invited Sam and his family to dinner because he had been your best friend and she didn't know what fell out between the two of you. She thought you would be glad to see him just as she would be to see one of her childhood friends after such a long time being so far away. I hope that once you'd both settled your emotions you at least had the courtesy and respect for her to apologize for your langauge. I'm not saying you should ever apologize for being who you are and you definitely need to make that clear to her but you don't talk to your mama that way. Am I clear? I hope this visit to his parents was as cathartic for Colt as its seems. He definitely needed to exorcise some demons. As a side thought, I know his life isn't in Iowa but I wonder how people's attitudes might have changed once they realized that Colt as a man isn't so very different from the boy/teen they knew and admired. So he's gay, he's still Colt Mann. Maybe just maybe realizing he's as "normal" as they are would make some of them stop seeing gays as the frightening "other". Great chapter by the way.

I seem to recall an earlier picture with our intrepid explorer and a companion creature. Is this their initial meeting and basis for establishing a partnership?

Jimmy is a well-bred southern boy, his maman taught him manners and he used them as both armor and weapon. Maddie should have seen the hint of Jimmy's strength in the way her dogs responded to him. Perhaps she did but wasn't prepared to accept an equal let alone stronger will. Maddie best adjust her attitude. Jimmy isn't going anywhere and Sawyer is on the cusp of making decisions for himself. Her little pack of dogs will be small comfort if/when she pushes too hard. I rather enjoy the speculation that she may be a non-shifting alpha. It would explain a few things. A well executed chapter.