89 CENTS (REDUX)

Thanks all for wishing my girl a big Happy Birthday yesterday. Embedded in the post I left a few links, and if you are anything like me the chances are slim you followed any of them.
So, today I will take this opportunity to inflict upon you maybe my favorite little story about my little girl.
Moments like these are just priceless.

Her Cowgirl Boots were Red, and her Little Jacket was pink. We bought those boots about 5 sizes too big and it seems like she wore them all the time between the ages of 4 to 11. Like any other young girl, she loved Horses but her love for them was way uncommon.
She had about 100 of them in her room; some were to play with and others were fancy Horses, only for show.

Sometimes I would take her to the store for a Candy Bar and she would study and examine each and every one of them asking
'How much for this one?"
'Those are 89 cents Baby"
"Oh my, that's too much" she would say and scrunch up her nose and put it back.
She would spy one that was slightly larger and look up to me with those big pretty eyes
"How 'bout this one daddy?'
"That's 89 cents too."

And she would hug that Candy Bar and raise her face towards God, grinning so big her eyes would close and you could feel the Heavenly bliss emanating from all her pores.
Then she would gaze longingly at the other selections and put it back, moving on to see if there weren't maybe a slightly better deal for her 89 cents.
We would generally spend about 45 minutes looking through the Candy Bar section before she would really get down to business and ask

"Daddy, how much are carrots?"
"Carrots are about 89 cents a package Babe"

Then we would drive to the Grocery store and get a bag of Carrots so that we could go around the corner and down to the Creek to feed Brownie.
Brownie was the Chestnut Mare that lived in the little plot of land that the local water tower was on.
In her Red Cowgirl Boots and Pink Jacket, she and Brownie would work that 89 cent bag of Carrots for all it was worth.
I've never spent ANY money to any greater effect.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUBREE'!

Today my little Water Baby turns 20.
This is maybe my favorite picture of her because it shows just how happy a child she was!
One of my favorite things to do with her when she was lirttle was teaching her how to make fart sounds. when she got older we would go out in the backyard and plant flowers. Click here for one of my favorite stories about her.
Like all little girls, she grew to love horses....click here for a story about her and Brownie.
As of last month, she now has a horse of her own. I think the name is Brandi.



When she grew up and started going to High School she joined Choir and the Marching band. she gets that from me because when she was young I always had the Music playing and we would dance. That is to say she would stand on top of my feet and we would sway back and forth or else we might run in circles with our arms flying...you know...dancing.
I started this blog two and a half years ago in large part to chronicle her Band experiences. The following comes from one of the posts...
"If there is a purpose for this (blog) other than as a record of this year for my Daughter and the pleasre of having written it, it would be directed to anyone out there reading this that is responsible for hiring of new employees.... my daughters band is not the only one that is participating in a workload I have described and any member of any band is going to have to demonstrate the Qualities and Attributes I have so poorly attempted to describe to you during these several posts. When a former band Participant comes to you hat in hand I would give them the highest recommendation one can, sight unseen.
Also, for any parent whose child may be so inclined, as wholesome as it is for the child...
I AM HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE!"

Click here to read more about the band

Anyway, I am so proud of my girl. She graduated and tried to go to Texas A&M and came home feeling defeated. She has learned how to bounce back, my Water Baby has, and she is going to the local Community College now, and working too, and is even living with a boyfriend and they are engaged! She says they don't plan to marry real soon, but probably in the next few years.


Click here for more about her boyfriend ...my two little birds!

And stop by her little blog and tell her Happy Birthday! (click here)

By the way...she doesn't make fart sounds anymore!

She's a lady...her mother takes full credit.

Also...its National Pancake Day!






HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUBREE'!

POETRY

My daughter, generally known in these parts as Water Baby, has an original poem of hers up.
Go take a look here...

"'A faerie who lies scoff' the gentry of fae
then how do I lie and I do, as I lay. "

"OCTOBER"

I WROTE ABOUT THIS PIECE TWO YEARS AGO. (click here)

The first time I heard this piece, I was sitting in the stands, watching High School Marching Competition. From almost the first note, I cried like a baby. X-mrs. bulletholes looked over at me and said "What the hell is the matter with you?". The Band adavanced, and when they played it again that evening, I cried again.
After the show, I told the Director how his Musicians had moved me to tears, not once but twice.

"Which child is yours?" he asked.
'Oh, no, you don't understand" I said 'my child plays for a different Band."

It was one of my first posts. I seldom click on a You-Tube when I see it posted, and I doubt anyone really wants to hear this all the way through, but if you will listen to the last minute, and the way the Composer presents the last 2 notes of "October", you will know what November (click here) is all about.




Keep in mind that this is done by High School Students.

THE KING OF THE BOYS

My Daughter, the Waterbaby, was about 5 when we let her watch "Dirty Dancing" with Patrick Swayze as Johnny Castle.. It became her favorite movie, and she would watch it regularly.
One Saturday afternoon, having watched it through with her, she turned to her mother and asked:
"Mommy, is Johnny like the King of the Boys"
Her mother, delighted, just grinned and said
"Oh yes honey, he certainly is the King of the Boys"
I took this oppoortunity to flex my arm muscles while doing a little dance move and claimed to the two leading ladies in my life:
"But I thought I was King of the Boys".
They just looked at each other and laughed.
"Oh, daddy, your'e so silly" says the Baby.
"I thought you were supposed to be mowing the yard" says her mother.
"Who wants to try doing a lift" was all I could think to say.

I asked the Waterbaby a few weeks ago if it were wrong for us to let her watch "Dirty Dancing"
at such a young age. She is all grown up now, almost 20.
"No, daddy, 'Dirty Dancing" was Okay, but you might not shoulda let me watch "Roadhouse".

MY TWO LITTLE BIRDS

WATER BABY AND COLORADO

The Christmas Holiday of my 9th Grade year, under the guise of ‘Christamas Caroling” I met up with several Neighborhood friends. After regaling the first house with a rousing rendition of “Where Shepherds Lay” we paired up and headed for the fields and bushes for the purpose of ‘making –out”.

Up to that point I did not know who Rhonda was, but there is a certain ‘growing closer” that can be experienced by the simple act of a very wet kiss. We grew very close that night. Wanting to grow closer still we ‘Caroled” nightly in the trusty woods, all the way to New Years Eve.
It was all so simple then.
For the next year and half, Rhonda was my girl. She had curly hair and a very cute ‘Button’ nose and when she said “R-Ruff’ it drove me wild. We had Purple Pants and Green Felt shoes with stars on them that matched and of course there were the Captain America shirts we wore with this get up always on the same day.
Our shoes always matched.
She would spend the night from time to time with my sister. When my parents would turn in for the night, rhonda and I would get together under the piano for more growing closer.
In time my sister learned to have a second friend spend the night whenever Rhonda would stay over.
It was a sad day when Rhondas parents moved to Pheonix and took my little Puppy love away.

Some of you are familiar with my daughter Water baby. She came home from College a little early last year feeling defeated but found some comfort in a boy she calls Colorado.
They have taken an Apartment together.
If his grades are good this year he will graduate from High School.
Yes, he is a bit young and its a long story, but the bottom line is that they seem to be quite good for each other right now and while I may see all kinds of sorrow down the road my only course seems to be to support their decisions.
To love 'em.

I was with them renting a Truck last weekend. I found a couple ladies in line at the Truck Rental to flirt with. I told them my daughter and Boyfriend were moving in together.
They surveyed these two kids and one asked
"Oh my, how old are they?"
"Well one of them is too young"I drawled "and the other...is WAY too young!"

I wrote earlier that things were so simple for Rhonda and I...
I hope things will stay simple for my two little birds for a long time.

"DONT SWEAT THE LOSSES

JUST LET 'EM GO...
j.mcmurtry


Well, I said in a comment to Gewels yesterday that I seemed to be a different person from a few months ago.
I took a Personality Test at her site and my answers to the Questions were quite different from what they would have been a few months back, and my posts aqnd comments reflect an Altered State.
I have been posting more trrying to worm my way through this.
I have no explanation for this but it is probably a good time to go ahead and talk about something I haven’t been able to till now.
In fact, I'll probably let this run at the top for a while....

My daughter, The Water Baby, came home at Spring Break from her Freshman Year at College and decided to withdraw. It was a very hard and traumatic decision for her and for the last month I have been trying to help her get over the many feelings she has about this.

Which really amounts to just trying to keep my big mouth shut. I know from my own experience that the last thing she needs is a lot of good advice and to talk about it.
And she is starting to get it back together….she has taken a job, a good job-40 hours a week too…and she may take a class or two at the Community College this Summer or Fall.
I also note that she has even been able to write a bit about it.
Go tell her she ain't alone.

She may have felt shamed and defeated but she is a Champion in my eyes.
If there was one thing I wanted her to know, it was that we get a lot of chances in this ol’ life and

"There are times when we are mandated to attempt something that we are unable to fulfill and we learn that the real mandate is to be able to stand guiltless in the face of whatever predicament it was we found ourselves in."

89 CENTS

Yesterdays post seemed to insinuate that the Water Baby was financially irresponsible. This would not be true and her being overdrawn waas not her fault in the least.
In fact the Water Baby is the only one of the bunch of us that has a lick of Fiduciary Common Sense and Self Discipline.
She always has, since she was only a child.
Her Cowgirl Boots were Red, and her Little Jacket was pink. We bought those boots about 5 sizes too big and it seems like she wore them all the time between the ages of 4 to 11. Like any other young girl, she loved Horses but her love for them was way uncommon.
She had about 100 of them in her room; some were to play with and others were fancy Horses, only for show.

I would take her to the store for a Candy Bar and she would study and examine each and every one of them asking
'How much for this one?"
'Those are 89 cents Baby"
"Oh my, that's too much" she would say and scrunch up her nose and put it back.
She would spy one that was slightly larger and look up to me with those big pretty eyes
"How 'bout this one daddy?
'That's 89 cents too."
And she would hug that Candy Bar and raise her face towards God, grinning so big her eyes would close and you could feel the Heavenly bliss emanating from all her pores.
Then she would gaze longingly at the other selections and put it back, moving on to see if there weren't maybe a slightly better deal for her 89 cents.
We would generally spend about 45 minutes looking through the Candy Bar section before she would really get down to business and ask

"Daddy, how much are carrots?"
"Carrots are about 89 cents for a package"

Then we would drive to the Grocery store and get a bag of Carrots so that we could go around the corner and down to the Creek to feed Brownie.
Brownie was the Chestnut Mare that lived in the little plot of land that the local water tower was on.
In her Red Cowgirl Boots and Pink Jacket, she and Brownie would work that 89 cent bag of Carrots. I've never spent ANY money to any greater effect.

The Water Baby can get more *POP* outta 89 cents than anyone I've ever known.
God, how I love that little girl.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR

MY THANKSGIVING

Yvette (the XMrs Bulletholes, not her real name), says
"Steve, Water Baby is overdrawn on her account...can you give her some money?"
"Sure, how'd that happen?"
"I don't know"
"How much does she need?"
"$200"
"OK"

So Water Baby, Rip, Yvette and I are in the car going through the drive up ATM....Water Baby is at the wheel ...

I hand her my card and a lightbulb flashes on in my mind and I try to keep a straight face....
"Whats your PIN Daddy?"
"Y-V-E-T-T-E" I spell out...
All 3 turn and look at me like I must be nuts and Yvette says in a real concerned voice
"Its not really is it?"

So I say
"Gimme a break"
and give them the real code.
First there is a huge sigh of relief....
Then we all crack-up...

That was worth like $200 (almost)

BREAKFAST AT NOON

I call the Water Baby every now and then. Not really more than a couple o'few times a week; I don't want her to think that I am trying to be overly attentive, or that I am worried, or that she might not be able to take care of herself.
She has been gone for six weeks now.
The truth is I just want to hear her voice, her laugh, and give her the opportunity to listen to what ever I have to talk about.
Usually, after I have told her that I actually cleaned the kitchen this week, or that I had a flat tire yesterday, or that I saw a cloud that made me think of her, she will explain that she needs to go because they are watching a Movie, or everyone is going to the beach, or its time to go eat breakfast (at 12:30 P.M. in the afternoon! ) and while whatever I have been saying is fascinating...you get the picture.
"Gotta go Dad, bye!"

So I was very excited when the phone rang and it was her calling me!
She wanted to know how I was doing.
I told her that I was fine, but that the kitchen was dirty again.
Real dirty.

And I continued...
"I went to the Homecoming game last week at the High School so I could see your band play...but it wasn't the same without you there and remember how loud I used to be and excited to see you,no, all of ya'll out there and yelling and dancing and generally calling way too much attention to myself?
Well I got up in the stands and sat there and didn't yell or clap or cause any commotion and when they wanted all the old Alumni like me to stand up at halftime I nearly didn't even stand up but the band was good even though I didn't clap and you weren't in it so I left after they played.
I felt all out of sorts.
"Awww...poor Dad"

Now that I have her attention, I continue:
"The next day I saw the nice girl that walks her dogs out in the parking lot while I was gazing at an Annelisa type sunset and she passed by me and I said
"Check it out"
We usually just politely nod;
I pointed to the sunset and she stopped and took a breath and said
"That's gorgeous!"
and smiled at me so I said
"So...Would you like to hold hands"
and she laughed and said
"No one has ever said anything like that to me before!"
So what do you think I said?
Well baby, I could have said something like
"Someone sure ought to be sayin' that to you"
but instead I said
"Well, I guess I had better go clean my Kitchen" and just walked off.
Can you believe that?
How chicken is that?"

So the Water Baby just said "Hmmm..." but she didn't say she had to go somewhere so I continued...

"So I went to a Computer Class and now when I want to print something I won't come out with 100 pages of scrap paper and one page of what I wanted to print."
"Hmmmm..."

"Rip has been being good lately except his grades; and he missed his SAT test; and he says Mom is all over him all the time and that your bed is very comfortable and I said if he was going to move in here he was going to have to have better grades and get his stuff for college taken care of so that Mom can RELAX for a minute and other than all that he is doing pretty good"
"UmHmmm..."

"I'm thinkin' about maybe buying an Iron so I won't have to press my clothes with a skillet anymore...
"'That'd be good Dad"
"And I'm starting to do more Posts because I don't think I am trying to talk the way I blog, or try out a post while I am in line at the Grocery Store like I'm Drew Carey;
or use big words that I'm not too sure what they mean, and act like I'm some kind of George Will Jr. and quote Proust and stuff...

And I'm looking out the window Baby, and it looks like they mowed today and ....
WOW!!! There a really pretty bird in the Crepe Myrtle out there...with feathers..."

I started to describe this pretty bird when I suddenly realized that she had not told me yet she had to go somewhere so I stopped talking about the damn bird and said..
"Are you OK Baby?"
There were a few seconds of silence and then she broke into tears and said
"D-d-d-addy, I-I am s-so homesick!"
And she was sniffing and whimpering and I knew her nose was kind of running and she was going to run out of breath...

So I said:
"Thats Ok Baby because... we were all starting to think you... just didn't give a Shit!!!"
And I gave my little nervous laugh hoping that might help.
It did.
She laughed and I laughed and she's coming home for the weekend in two weeks.

And I told her to call her Mother right away because she would be so glad to know her girl is homesick too.
They talked for an hour.

TENTS

When the Water Baby was about 9 months old, we took her on her first Camp-out. Arrived at Toledo Bend Lake on the Texas -Louisiana border about 3a.m. The Campsite I go to there is very primitive. Fired up two Colman Lanterns and proceeded to set up the tent.

When Mrs. Bulletholes and I began Camping in the early days, before kids, our tent was a
Two-Man Pup Tent that you could not even stand up in. Of course, it did little to keep out rain, and there was no floor...we had to get cozy right down in the dirt.
I called it "Roughin' it".
How The Mrs. hung in there I don't know.
The Mrs. "Lobbied" for many a year for me to get a better tent...that is to say a REAL tent...and when Water Babe was born, she put her foot down, and we now had a "Family" style Tent that had a floor, mosquito net, 6" tall with an Awning.
Big enough to put in a Pool Table and Wet Bar.
Anyway, as I set up the Campsite and Tent, with the shadows from the Lanterns dancing on Pine trees, the Water baby cried and cried and cried...she was in totally unfamiliar territory and she did not like it! Her Mother held her tight, trying to comfort and reaasure her that all was fine.
But even familiar objects like pacifiers and bottles and Rattles, and the little cooing sounds a Mother makes, or rocking and swaying in Moms arms could not ease the terror of this strange place.
She was just flat horrified.

I finally got the tent set up. I took the poor girl in my arms and tried to show her the trees, the Lantern, the lake.
"See honey, everythings cool...its OK...you are going to love this place....amd look!
I have this Tent set up for you to sleep in...its like a little room with walls and you'll be safe in here..."

And I set her down on the floor in the tent.
She looked up to the right, then up to the left...she crawled in a circle, giving herself a Panaorama of what daddy had been working on...and she finally stopped crying.
She looked up at me and flashed a little grin...
Then she did something she still does to this day...
Her eyes will close with a pleasure that comes from knowing everything is going your way, not just everything, no, the entire Universe.
Then she will raise her face slightly to the heavens, further basking in Gods good humor, while the contentedness just washes over her...its like something out of a Charlie Brown Cartoon I swear...you would think shes eating Ice Cream!
And thats what she is doing now...alll the fear and unknowing and reluctance has been replaced like an old tent....she is right where she should be and I hope she gets everything out of it she can.
Then she's going to help save the Planet!

Category 1 Hurricane

UPDATE ON THE WATER BABY

"Daddy, I love going to School at A&M in Galveston! Yesterday there was a Tropical Storm named Humberto and the waves at the beach were awesome!"
"So last night everyone came to MY apartment and we had a party and Humberto turned into a Hurricane!"
"Of course I went swimming "out there in that hurricane"....DUH!"
"I sooo love it down here!"
"Classes? Oh yeah, I have four classes"
"Yeah, I've been on time...I mean they don't start till 1:00P.M. ...so I can stay up all night!"
"Yeah, I'm making lots of friends...they are all boys!"
'His name is Travis and we went to the Football game on Saturday and it went into Triple Overtime...but guess what?
"WE WON!!!"
"I'm coming home the 28th of October for the weekend"
'Where will I stay? I don't know...has my brother taken my room yet?"
"Cool...love you Daddy..bye!"

FROM THE STORK TO PELICAN ISLE

I am taking the Water Baby to Pelican Island this afternoon and leaving her there.

She will not have a car, but I will give her a weeks worth of food.

She will have to study her way out.

They had a Hurricane there that killed 6000 people.

Water Baby says "when parents get worried they yell".

I yelled at her last night. I'm not worried about Hurricanes....and I'm sorry I yelled.

I'm worried and shes scared...

I'm hoping she does well...she's really very smart as evidenced by her quote about parents and yelling.

College...the first Semester...could there be anything more exciting?

Why is all the exciting stuff so scary?

She is going to help save the planet, you know.

WATER BABY GRADUATES

Its been a very busy week down here. No time to post or get around to my friends. Heres a picture of my sister Lisa and my niece Jen flanking the Water Baby in her cap and gown. Jen is "Dave Mows Grass" sister. She is wearing the light green sweater.

My sister is the one that looks like Jane Fonda ; she and I have little in common but our laugh...

...My god that laugh! It starts from the toes and builds up its force in the gut and when at last unloosed it bellows...its like a cross between a Donkey and some kind of Farm Equipment in need of lubrication.

Of course my daughter has graduated High school and is on her way to College.

I love them all so.

I love them all so!

Yes, I have a Son Too,

But he has managed to stay in so much trouble that its been hard to write about him. He hasn't done anything I haven't done, but he keeps getting caught!



I wanted to post pictures of all my Family, but there seems to be some kind of technical difficulty (X-mrs. Bulletholes) in getting pictures of my boy onto my Computer, and the latest pics in from my Daughter just wont wait.

Maybe tomorrow I'll have some of him and a few stories of the little rascal to follow. If I had his eyes, I'd be irresistible!


This is my Favorite picture of the Water Baby; I think its the Greatest Baby Picture ever and I'll kill anyone that thinks different.

This is her graduation picture, just in; Senior pictures these days include about 40 different Glamour shots and the XMrs Bulletholes actually asked me if I had $1500 to spend. I really wish I did.


And from her Band days, this one is very nice:


Now I know everyone is wondering about me so here is a string starting with my Wild Bill Cody days, then one of me as a Chef (I caught the Fish, a 12 lb. striper).

Grandmother said I was her prettiest Grandbaby!

This picture of me and X-Mrs was at Waterbabies Competituion last fall. I am not as pretty as I used to be, but I'm still a Hunk.

Its so good we get along still.

ENTROPY INCREASES

A great bit of energy has been spent this year prodding the Water Baby into taking care of her Application, Testing, Essays and various and sundry paperwork that she must have turned in for acceptance into College this fall. She definitely has the procrastination Gene. Everything was done with much Angst and Drama at the very last Nanosecond.

I had actually decided that she was deliberately sabotaging herself because deep inside, she did not want to go to College. That's my way of freakin' out, I guess. My mind, chasm that it is, plays tricks on me.
Her Momma, for whom the Heavens and Earth must move at all times, has been her usual intense self... she is an Atomic Alarm Clock. For the last week, I have been reminded to check the Mailbox over & over & over again. Its worse than the Milk. For Babe's entire life, the letter we were waiting for loomed large, especially for her Mom.
Thank God for Mom's!!!
The babe and I stopped at the Mailbox in the pouring rain yesterday. She waited in the car and I opened the Box and there was the big white folder with Texas A&M @ Galveston in Maroon on it. I waved it at the car.
Glee and giggles comes bubbling out of the car and into the deluge...I do a little dance with it held high over my head. She clutches the packet close to her breast, closes her eyes, makes a wish and opens it.

I guess I was supposed to bring the letter of acceptance with me to do this post...I didn't. It says something like "Water Baby, You are the Bomb, Come on Down!" only they used a lot more words and sounded very impressive. I almost took a knee.

She is very excitable, this girl and she whirls around and shouts to the Heavens

"I AM ACCEPTED..HAH-HAH-HAH!!!"
and she turns and hugs me like she hasn't since she was just a little girl.

After a time, I whisper in her ear "I am so glad for you, sweetie" and she looks me into the eye.... and I just busted out cryin'.

"Whats wrong Daddy?"

"I don't want you to go. Don't go."

Well, that didn't go over real well, but I guess I looked sweet, bawlin' in the rain.

She has been so worried about a lot of things, and I have tried to tell her that if today was not her best day, then tomorrow brings another chance. Don't sweat the losses, let 'em go. We are all bound to miss a time or two.

The future rides on tomorrow, and today is so soon past.

The Future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created-created first in the Mind and will- created next in activity.
The Future is not someplace we are going to, but one we are creating.

The paths are not to be found but made, and the activity of of making them changes both the maker and the future.

I'll miss all that glee that pours off of her.
Like water from a vine.

PARENTING 101

"if they were right, i'd agree"
the son, from"father and son"


I love the George Carlin routine where he talks about driving, saying the ones going too slow are "idiots"while the ones going too fast are "maniacs"
"Look at that maniac"
"Watch out for that idiot"
He goes on to say:
"Road Rage?" I don't have time for Road Rage... I'm too busy screaming"

You might imagine, and quite rightly, that I do not make the ideal parent. I easily qualify as an idiot or a maniac, on several levels too, but with regard to parenting; I probably am too lenient when I should be strict and become a Jailer when I should just let things be.

My daughter, the Water Baby, astutely points out in a recent post that parents tend to yell when they get worried and she wonders why that is...its no mystery to me ...

We yell because we cannot kill them!

When I was her age this song by Cat Stevens from "Tea for the Tillerman" was huge... its sung as a dialogue, and still today its the son's part I relate to the most...

FATHER AND SON
(Father)
Its not time to make a change,
Just relax, take it easy.
Youre still young, thats your fault,
Theres so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but Im happy.

I was once like you are now, and I know that its not easy,
To be calm when youve found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything youve got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.

(Son)
How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again.
Its always been the same, same old story.
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen.
Now theres a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.

(Father)
Its not time to make a change,
Just sit down, take it slowly.
Youre still young, thats your fault,
Theres so much you have to go through.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but Im happy.

(son-- away away away, I know I have to
Make this decision alone - no)

(Son)
All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
Its hard, but its harder to ignore it.
If they were right, Id agree, but its them you know not me.
Now theres a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.
(father-- stay stay stay, why must you go and
Make this decision alone? )

CARLOS MENCIA / REWRITE THIS POST

Old Lady had a post concerning thongs; I think the idea was that everyone contribute their thong story or how mid-life has affected thier choice on underwear or something; I guess I have a story along those lines, from several months back and from the abandoned blog.
Its a sad little story.

My daughter has just moved in with me. We are both so very excited as it has been 8 years since we lived together. She is 17 and a Senior in High School. She stays so incredibly busy with the Marching Band there is barely time for her to study or be a kid. With this in mind I told her that I would be doing all her laundry. I did the first loads last night.
Its been a long time since I had occasion to get an up close look at women’s’ underwear.
I knew it had been a long time
I found out last night just how long its been.
I had heard of a “Thong” before but never actually seen one. I don’t know how y'all wear those things.

But there was another type that made no sense to me. They looked like a thong, but the stretchy fabric was cut much wider. The leg holes were different too, and made no sense. The entire ass and the pubic region would be uncovered if one was to wear them the way they seemed to be designed. I turned them around... no appreciable difference. I turned them upside down... made no sense.
 Inside out? Only a “Flatlander” would know.
Nothing about these panties added up.
The only purpose they seemed to serve was to leave crotch and ass exposed and enhance the panty lines. And she sure did have a lot of them, very popular.

It was with much anticipation that I waited for her to come home to see what a nice job I had done with her laundry and to ask her about the mysterious lingerie.
“Hi Daddy”
“Hey, Girlie, got your laundry done....see what a good job I did!”
“Thanks Daddy”
I get a hug and a kiss.
“Water Baby’, I got to know something.I’ve never seen a thong before so I gotta ask... Do you have no ass crack, girl?”
She giggles and smiles and laughs.... “Oh, Daddy, you are soooo funny!”.
“And , honey what the hell kind of panties are these” as I hold up the crotch-less, ass-less panties that make no sense as panties.
Her eyes get wide. “Oh my God Daddy, you are so silly.
THOSE ARE NOT PANTIES, THEY ARE "SPORTS BRAS"!


”Oh Yeah,, Sports Bras, I forgot about Sports bras” I say as I snap my fingers.
I had never seen one of those either.

FOR WATER BABY

BOTH SIDES NOW
Bows and flows of angel hair and ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere, i've looked at clouds that way.
But now they only block the sun, they rain and snow on everyone.
So many things I would have done but clouds got in my way.

I've looked at clouds from both sides now,
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall.
I really don't know clouds at all.

Moons and Junes and Ferris Wheels, the dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real; I've looked at love that way.
But now it's just another show. You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know, don't give yourself away

I've looked at love from both sides now,
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall.
I really don't know love at all.

Tears and fears and feeling proud to say "I love you" right out loud,
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds, I've looked at life that way.
But now old friends are acting strange, they shake their heads, they sayI've changed.
Something's lost but something's gained in living every day.

I've looked at life from both sides now,
From win and lose, and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall.
I really don't know life at all.
joni mitchell



Water Baby
Since she was just a little girl, she made me think of this song, especially the first verse and clouds. Now she has turned 18 and for my 100th post I want her to know of all the pains, and all the joys and all foolish wisdom associated with the last two verses.
Don't give yourself away.

SIERRAS LITTLE HAVEN

Most of you are familiar with my Daughter, the Water Baby. A couple of weeks ago, I tried to switch to the new Blogger and in doing so , used her Email Account and responded to one too many questions about whether I really wanted to do what I was doing with a “YES””, and the end result is that I married her two blogs to my one.
I’ve done worse stuff, believe me, but I am sure all of you can relate to how badly SHE WOULD HAVE LIKED TO KILL ME!
We were not able to divorce the Blogs, so the Water Baby, in a superlative act of graciousness, has begun a new Blog that can be viewed by clicking any of the “Water Baby” links within this post.
The comments everyone made on her other site meant a lot to her, and we still have them in a fashion, but I would be much obliged if anyone would take a moment to look at her new site, and comment accordingly.