AMAZING

She makes me feel like a piker for ever complaining

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/05/07/homeless.project/index.html?hpt=C1

Truth in Advertising

For those who think that a mother and two cubs is not equivalent to the three bears, rest assured that today I saw daddy. He was big and luckily about 100 yards away and across a stream. Now, I know that neither the stream nor the 100 yards were any deterrent to him. However, seeing as I am not lunch I was hopeful that he couldn't be bothered. He couldn't and I continued in a different direction.

Goldilocks and the Seven Dwarfs

After my ex and I split I was in Florida and she, with the boys, were in North Carolina. I had them (the boys, not the ex) for long periods of time and the drive was boring, to say the least. One of the methods I used to keep them occupied for the drive was to tell them fractured fairy tales, ala Rocky and Bullwinkle. So I told them about Cinderella and Gretel, Hansel and the Three Bears, etc. Of course they shrieked with laughter at my “mistakes” and corrected me. It is one of my fond memories. I wonder if they remember it, or Boa Constrictor,

My right leg is killing me. (more about that in another post) and about a half a mile into today's hike I see three bear cubs about 20 yards ahead. As we are closer than I want to be I strike my walking stick against a rock to make some noise. One starts to run off but stops since the second did not follow and the third disappeared. I waited a couple of seconds and out came the third bear, which wasn't a cub, but was the mommy. Now a major league fastball can travel 20 yards in about 1/3 of a second (that's exactly the distance from the mound to home plate.) A world class sprinter can cover that distance in about two seconds. (One Mississippi, two Mississippi) It would take a black bear about a second to cover 20 yards.

The mommy looked at Guy and me and I looked back without making eye contact. (Making eye contact is like crossing the proton streams in Ghostbusters) I banged my walking stick against a rock another couple of times, then the bears finally ran off.

So, I have my pain, and many of my readers are much worse off (as I said, another post) so life isn't a fairy tale, there is no Goldilocks, and no “happier ever after.” But I can guarantee you that there are “..the Three Bears.”

I don't count

Is the census over? I haven't been counted.

WHY I HIKE - Part whatever

Yesterday and today are days off from hiking. I usually relax and do “errands” these days and it gives Guy”s and my legs a much needed break. However, it is now 1:30 and I left the motel at 11 (check out time) drove to two places to get my oil changed, stopped at the post office to pick up my mail (Netflix), did my laundry, and ran into a grocery store for some ground beef to mix with Guy's kibble. Now what? Luckily, I found that book. And we will walk a little on the Greenway. I'll run into the library to post these BLOG entries. Maybe a crossword puzzle or two. Just a day or two of ildeness is enough to drive me up a wall. Plus, it is hot out here.

AGAIN, WHAT FILLS UP THE DAYS OF THE TRULY HOMELESS?