Daily bookmarks
How do I tell if I have a message from the dead on my phone message machine?
How do I tell if I have a message from the dead on my phone message machine?
I’ve been pretty tired this week so last night I decided to go on a walk. Sometimes a long walk in the heat is helpful to me when I’m feeling rundown (I know that’s counter intuitive, but my fatigue has a lot to do with emotional exhaustion, so exercise helps. But that’s a different post.)
My iPod walks involve letting my imagination go wild. Sometimes when I listen to my Cash duets playlist, I imagine that I am co-starring in Walk the Line. It’s fun. You should try starring in one of your favorite movies. No one will ever know (unless you post it to the internet). So that was me coming down the street deep in thought and listening to Johnny and June, my head deep in the rigors of filmmaking (the kissing scenes require multiple takes) when I looked up and saw a dog step out of his yard on to the sidewalk in front of me. He wasn’t on a leash and I didn’t see an owner anywhere.
He was a Boxer, and I love Boxers. I love all dogs, but I’m also aware that dogs are dogs and that even “good” dogs sometimes do dangerous things. The big, muscular dog was just standing there motionless staring at me, so I stopped walking.
Now I had a couple of really sound choices here, the most obvious one being to simply cross the street and remove myself from this dog’s immediate vicinity. Instead of doing that, I did something that I know very well one should never, ever do. I also just stood there motionless and looked this dog square in the eye.
In my head I said to myself, don’t just stand there and stare him in the eye, woman, you are challenging him to a duel, and he will win the duel. The other part of my head, however, was slowly processing the scene, trying to read the dog’s emotions and, apparently, emanating strong fear signals. Like a deer caught in headlights, I was a woman caught in Boxer light. Just as I had the thought, I think this dog is going to eat me, he came toward me, aggressively barking.
I was startled, to say the least, and made brilliant choice number two. I decided to run from him. Now, on what universe I thought I would be capable of running away from this powerful dog, I have no idea. The fact is, I am not a graceful athlete. No, I’m not any sort of athlete. I just hope no one was watching as I tried to make my escape because my arms and my legs all went in opposite directions. I basically flailed around, that’s what I did. I hopped, I skipped, I flapped my arms like a headless chicken. I may have even gone in circles at one point. Then, I realized, I was not being eaten and, in fact, the barking had stopped.
The dog’s (human) mom was sitting on the front porch just around the corner and she called him back when she heard the fracas. I looked up and there he was just sitting behind her like a sweet boy, looking at me like I’d lost my mind which, apparently, I had.
The woman was profusely sorry. She assured me he’d never done anything like that before. I tried to explain to her that it was my fault, that I’d reacted in a crazy manner, but all that would come out of my mouth were these humiliated sort of mews and awes. In my attempt to flee I’d twisted my back and I was thinking about that, wondering if I’d done actual damage or just temporary damage (it was temporary.) I think I actually said the sentence, “No, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you sitting there and I was all like waaagggh.”
And then I waved my hands all around in the air so that she would understand the nature of “all like waaagggh.”
And then I just, you know, went home.
BlueGrassRoots:: Nothing 'local' about CentrePointe
A successful future for Lexington, especially in the wake of the 2010 Equestrian Games, cannot be based on homogeneity and corporate ownership of downtown. Lexington is special not just because our buildings are old or because we had a bar that attracted national musicians that wouldn’t even venture to Louisville or Cincinnati, but because Lexington as we know it has been built by Lexingtonians for Lexingtonians. The Dame, Buster’s, Mia’s and the rest of the thriving businesses in our downtown have become popular because they are here for us, and we use them. CentrePointe has nothing to do with Lexington, nor you, nor I, except for the fact that it will be in Lexington.
BlueGrassRoots:: Welcome to LexWebbington
Progress is not made in building up, but in building intelligently. There was finally, finally the kernel of a downtown worthy of its citizens. But developers bought it up for yet another vacant hotel.
This is one of those summers that just isn't clicking for me. People keep reminding me that we've had good weather, and we have. We've had really good weather. Still, I just haven't hooked in to that summer feeling. I haven't served a dinner of salad and fruit on the porch. I haven't spent an afternoon reading outside. The garden is...well...the garden is a mess. It's completely overtaken by vines and weeds. I've yet to see a hummingbird; I've barely kept the other birds in seed. The chairs out back are constantly filled with water because I haven't been vigilant about putting them up when it rains. We haven't gone on any big trips or even any drives. The Bluegrass Fair is going on right this very minute and we haven't even considered paying it a visit.
I don't know what it is. I just haven't clicked in to that flip-flopped flowy skirted sun on the skin feeling. I haven't peddled a paddle boat. I haven't even taken out my new bike in a very long time.
I'm not sure why, but that's okay. I'm accepting of the non-summer summer. I'm sure there's a reason that it needs to be this way right now.
And today I did show slight signs of getting summery. I put a towel in one of the damp chairs and read for a bit. I also experienced an intense craving for one of these.
(Chocolate dipped, naturally.)
I had these instead.
We took Woody out to the park tonight for magic hour and it does feel pretty summery to watch him kicking up his back legs and running in the grass. And in that messy garden, there are currently four small watermelons growing. Any minute now I'm going to hear there's something good playing at the drive-in and we'll pile in the car in get our giant bucket of popcorn. Or maybe we'll go for a hike.
There's still summer left. There's still time for it to flow.
The best thing that I did today was go to a bookstore grand opening.

