Weekend Schmeekend

So I realize this blog thing has become more of a day-to-day recap of life happenings rather than an adventure sharing outlet like originally planned. But I guess that is okay…little adventures can happen everyday, don’t you think? That being said, I don’t know how long I will keep up with these event sharing recaps, for I don’t know how much interest will be had in such things, but we’ll see what happens.

It was a weekend of celebration and lots of laughing. The best kind of weekend in my opinion.

It all started with a happy family dinner of sushi and curry to rejoice in the birth of the eldest child. The best kind of dinner in my opinion.

Jeannie, Jody, Mommy, Emmy. BAM.

Shaun, Emmy and Jo holding hands to the car. Because that’s how much we freaking love each other, dammit!

The next night was a bonfire at a friend’s house in celebration of her birthday. A variety of matter was burned; rotting logs, trimmed tree branches, beer boxes and the old TV box. Unfortunately, no human beings or kitties were burned. I mean…er, wait…I meant fortunately. I think.

Will and Travis with the infamous TV frame…box…thing.  I think in our excitement to burn it we failed to realize that it actually wouldn’t land in the fire, but rather frame it nicely as if we were watching a lovely 3-D fire movie.

So while the two boys became giddy with cutting down branches and throwing their eclectic finds into the flames, their ladies talked graphically about being pregnant and having babies. Meanwhile, Emmy, Shaun (who I started calling Ron by accident) and I sang along to the internet radio just like this guy:

You’d think it would get old after the fifth consecutive song, wailing away “Squeeble deeble scheeble bork bork bork!” during the chorus, but I think we could’ve gone on all night if we hadn’t been threatened to be thrown in the fire if we didn’t stop all of our squeebles.

Emmy and I spent some time at Dixon Springs state park, climbing on the rocks and so on.

I wish this looked as impressive as it felt.

Emmy, being impressive.

That night was a Derby Dance Party (oh PS Saturday was the Kentucky Derby. I have no idea who won but I never pass up an opportunity to wear a hat, you know.) at the bar where my sister works. This resulted in tasty drinks, terrible 80′s music that made no one want to dance, violating the giant Captain Morgan statue, a hat competition in which Em and I judged and won (no one else wore hats) and Aspen being  terrified she would see a ghost after learning the place was haunted. She fears ghosts, I fear zombies. We all have our problems.

Shaun-Ron, oh so charming. Aspen, really really ridiculousy charming.

Sister hats.

Good friend Erin and Emmy in the midst of violating the captain.

And of course Sunday was mother’s day. The morning was spent watching the babes in the church nursery so our dear Grandma could have a day off. Then a nice brunch downtown and a walk to take a look at the river and the flood walls.

Usually you can see a whole bunch of concrete and land before you see the river’s edge. Not so much nowadays.

LEAKING!

The end.

Oh! For the road, a video of Shaun-Ron singing Kate Bush, with help from Emmy. I was recording from her lap, because sitting in the backseat is near impossible, and all too logical.

Thursday is a Great Day!

Because it’s big sis Jody’s birthday!!!!

Heppy, heppy birthday Jo! I love you so much and you just crack me up and I think you are one of a kind.

Modern and ancient day sisters.

And remember, Jo:

Cat dreams do come true!

An Afternoon of Strawberry Picking

With Aspen and Brick.

Driving out to Brick’s family’s farm with Toby Dog in tow.

“Aspen, can we put Toby on the tractor for a photo op?”

Perfect strawberry.

That’s alls I got for now folks, stay tuned…

Back From the Dead

So sorry for my absence! This little blog of mine has been left to the wayside since leaving Florida two weeks ago (Two weeks! Is that really true? My goodness how time flies!) partly because of technical difficulties with the camera and mostly because I’ve had a hard time getting my motivation and inspiration back under my feet. I kind of feel like now, in regard to my residency, I’m starting from scratch…and I have no idea where to go from here.

My original plan was to visit Kentucky state parks and do the camping/research stuff within them, but it’s been a tornado wasteland here since the day I returned to the loving arms of the Bible Belt. Well, the tornadoes died off after a couple of days, which I am thankful for, but it hasn’t stopped raining save for two mystical sunny days. So now I’m frustrated times 10 because that leaves me to very little outdoor adventure, trying to amuse myself in the house. It’s a hard thing to do when you’re home during the day, knowing other people you love and care about are doing important things like working and learning and exploring.

But! It’s okay. It’s all okay. It’s only a temporary thing and so on and so forth. Plus, to make it all better I take pictures like this:

Or like this:

(Mom and I spent a Saturday cleaning out the basement. I found my old prom queen tiara in a box of high school things. You remember I took the king’s crown from Florida? So you know what that means…someone will have to be the king to my queen for Halloween…or the queen to my king, I’m pretty easy going when it comes to gender specifics.)

Anyway. I suppose I should start with the drive back from Florida, up through Alabama and Tennessee to Kentucky.

And talk about a total makeover! Mrs. Weasley got a boob job, so shiny and fancy new! Too bad it only cost a hefty $2,000…

The very purdy Alabama countryside. I was stopped on the road during some construction so it gave me a chance to get a couple of good shots.

This guy wins Civil Servant of the Year Award. He stood there like this with his arm as a makeshift stop sign for…well I lost track of the minutes. I so badly wanted to run up and give him a high five and then yell, “Ya-ching!” Because it just sounds right, you know?

And then I was finally home. I helped Momma Suh cut up some Florida strawberries I picked for her and immediately started taking animal pictures. The Suhrheinrich household needs a cute-animal-picture-taking-addiction intervention.

A couple of days later we wandered down to the river in downtown Paducah to assess the damage of the storms. These pictures seem laughable now, as this was just the first of it. Now the flood walls are up and the river is higher than ever! Well, I don’t know about ever…I’m not good enough of a history buff to go off making those assumptions. But the water is pretty damn high. And the whole surrounding area is very full at the seams with rainwater.

That’s what it looks like here, everyday. All grey, all the time. With a little bit of green. It starts to seep into your insides, know what I mean?

This is a popular picture circling around the local news and with local folks. This is an aerial view of downtown Paducah. The red dots are where one would normally walk around and sit and view the river and the Illinois border. Again, this was taken a little while ago and it’s still raining. Can you make out the flood walls? The water has reached them and the army corp of engineers is “expecting the flood walls to hold.” But we can’t be for certain!  We could potentially be in big trouble…

But never fear! Back to my adventures. Obviously that is the more pressing issue here. There were TWO glorious days of sunshine last week. I went to a different park each day for a little bit of renewal. I took the Grace dog with me one day, and because of  the rain, she nearly peed herself swimming in the many mini ponds.

The beautiful waterfall at Ferne Clyffe State Park. I wish I could get some pictures that really did it justice, especially with the rain…it’s massive and rushing and just incredible!

It’s also been a couple days of wildlife sightings that would send Nigel Thornberry dithering about. Two foxes that were very close, a hawk swooping in front of me with a huge rat (or was it a mole? or a garden gnome?) in its talons…on this particular day Gracie was rounding a hill ahead of me on the trail. By the time I caught up with her to see what she was sniffing around, two HUGE black snakes jumped up–I mean it, those snakes jumped in the air!–and raced out of our reach. I mean, they were massively massive. Like something out of an ancient biblical story about Satan. Apparently we interrupted a tender intimate snakey moment.

And then this guy!

I know what you’re thinking. Dinosaur. He pretty much is, another massively massive creature commonly known as the snapping turtle. It’s pretty blurry because it was raining (surprise!) and he was being forced across the road. But a sight to see nonetheless. The question is: where did he come from?? Our house isn’t especially close to any lakes our ponds…at the rate he was moving, he must have been traveling for days! I’m guessing he was flooded out of his home. Are these guys loners or do think he is actively searching for his lady love and their love children? It could be the next big romance tale. Wish I could help him out…too bad I would lose a hand, an eyeball and four out of five toes if I did so.

Anyway. That’s pretty much all I got for now. Hopefully things will get back in motion over the coming days. I promise to not go so long without writing from now on! Maybe I’ll have a wildly exciting evacuation story next…but let’s hope not.

This Is What I Do When Left To My Own Devices

I thought I’d build on the silly mood of the post previous and share a little tomfoolery I got into this morning.

When one is stuck on a deserted island of despair and heavy sighs (not mine, but of one around me) one must look for ways to make a complete fool of oneself and thus find sources of laughter and joy again.

Or, one could sift through the MOUNTAINS of old stuff around here and delight in treasures of old.

I chose to do both. And thank the lucky full moon above that I did just that because I found some FUN STUFF. Mostly hats. The crown that I founnn..d (trying so hard to rhyme, people!) was my crowning (Heh snicker snicker I love puns snicker heh) achievement.

So naturally I had a little self-potrait time because I don’t think I’ve taken a single picture of me on this trip, just the way I like it. But I break down quick when funny hats come into play.

Black and white, naturally. It keeps the scary photo-flaw demons at bay.

CAMO EAR FLAPS! Oh I’m dying of joy just revisiting this.

One of the uncles had to have been Prom King. High school royalty must run in the family. Regardless, this jewel (HA! I did it again! Get it–crown, JEWELS?!) is coming home with me and it will be A) part of my next Halloween costume Q) forced upon dogs and kitties alike G) required attire for friends’ birthdays and E) rented out for an expensive fee for other people’s sexual role playing…crown must be disinfected upon rental return or renter risks (loving all the r’s here) additional fees.

Then things just got silly:

This is the fellow I went on a date with a couple of nights/posts back. Obviously you can see I’ve had a change of heart.

So anywho, then I painted on some pink lips (try to wallow in your misfortune with pink lips, you sinners!!!) and went to the beach.

P.S. I like colors.

Green flag means go. Yellow flag means slow. Red flag means OH NO! So today, wade reaaaaal slow like. Prepare for sudden stop in fun beach time. Either that or prepare for aqua flag which means OH SHIT THERE’S A SHARK GET THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN OUT!!!

Then I took some pretend-artsy pictures because the black and white of the morning made me feel like I had some shred of photography skill, which I do not. The lack of hue does all the work for me!

Then I got my pink lips all over my snack of herring and crackers and ultimately ate bright pink lipstick because of it.

Yum, lipstick. The best condiment for your fishy snacks.

Then I went home.

Another pointless and mad entry from the hands of yours truly. You’re welcome. Now go do something productive and meaningful. Lord sweet baby Jesus knows I’m not!

Lizards and Babies. Lizard Babies.

Or…wait, what? What am I saying? Alls I know is, this post has a lot of pictures. Of lizard babies. And alien pods.

But first! I wouldn’t be fit to be called a lady-woman if I didn’t first share my feeeeelings.

And right now, I am a bit frustrated. The “car people” (as I affectionately call them) said my poor, broken car would be POOF magically brand new by today. I called around lunch time all excited like, “WHEN CAN I PICK UP MY CAR SO I CAN LEAVE THIS MESS PLEASE AND THANK YOU?”

“Well, no ma’am, yer car ain’t done, call us Monday!”

Hot cha cha. So I’ve got to hang around an extra 3-4 days!

And seriously, it really isn’t so bad. I’ve been awful complain-y and I apologize. It truly is a wonderful place to be and the flora and fauna are just magical…but when not in nature the home environment is quite frustrating. Blaring TV set on the entertainment/icky news channel, junk food, computer games and so on. I try my best to stick to my reading or art or writing, but I confess I get sucked into these things and it really takes a toll on my mood and well-being. Not to mention those things are the complete opposite of the activities I had dedicated myself to on this residency so I struggle a lot with not harboring resentment over the reality of my situation.

So then I lose myself in hikes and swims and general sitting on the river beach moments, dreaming those daydreams I dream.

Two days ago Uncle Lance and Wife Tara (his wife, not mine, you sillies) and her Sister Janelle (me thinks?) and her Son Jameson and I drove up the road to the town of Munson and subsequent area of the Blackwater River State Forest.

Seeing Uncle Lance with a baby is hands-down the cutest/greatest thing ever. He is so much like Grandpa Russ it’s eerie, you know in that eerily similar way that is not actually eerie at all but really just natural between a father and son? Yeah, like that.

Me thinketh we needeth a new baby in the Sneddon family, Uncle Lance and Wife Tara.

Munson hike. These are taken with the camera phone, so I apologize for the less than sharp image.

So anyway, I fell in love with the place and went back this morning and did the full 5 mile hike and felt so free and at peace again.

Suspension bridge, yahoo! I felt like a female, human version of Donkey Kong. You should’ve seen me searching for bananas and gold coins, my friends.

Man, so proud of this shot right here. That little red mating beard of his was puffing in and out at lightning speed, as if he were pounding out silent love messages to the lady lizards like so: “Doyouloveme? Younoloveme? Doyouloveme? Younoloveme? TELLMEYOULOVEME!”

I would like to sit here with someone, yes indeedy.

Hullo? And who lives here, pray tell?

ALIEN POD, MUST DESTROY!!!

Listen, we gotta bomb this field of alien pods stat, otherwise death by alien attack is imminent.

LOOK WHAT I FOUND! A petrified frog and in a instant I turned into a 7-year-old boy and gave it voices and made it walk along the ground and gave it a nice top hat made of pine needles and a leaf. Because he is a gentleman.

There he is, dancin’ away. He excels at the two-step.

If he had a teacup in his hand his pinky would be undoubtedly raised, because like I said, he is a gentleman.

But ultimately he met his gentlemanly demise when I found him in the jaws of the Spook Monster.

What can I say? She likes her frog jerky. With a little cajun seasoning.

So then I had to a) grow up and b) return to being female because we went out to eat at the Cracker Barrel.

Oh the Cracker Barrel! Even saying it is an awkward delight in your mouth. Do you deny your Southern upbringing and properly say Bare-elle? Or do you give in to your twangy instincts and slur the r’s and the l’s and say Barrr-uhhl (a la Lou-ie-ville versus Lourrrrhh-ville)?

Anyway, whatever. It’s delicious southern food (delicious like McDonald’s is delicious, make sense?) and is filled with redneck goodness and games and biscuits. And I’ve missed it so.

I had chicken and dumplins’ (never is there a ‘g’ when speaking of dumplins’ if they are paired with questionable chicken…now an Asian pork dumpling, that’s different) because you are a fool if you order anything different. A fool, I say!

Well, I’m in a silly mood and this post was a rambly mess and I’m not sorry for it because I kind of love it and I just want to take off into the sunset.

I Just Can’t Help It

Because I’m on a roll and just can’t stop:

Check out those boots, huh? Bitchin’.