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Go Speed Racer
J:
Before I record this week's events I'd better
catch up on last week (two
weeks ago, that is). Two weekends ago Kory and I visited Brick
and
family (oh hey Thom— Whitlock says hi) to play some board games. They
live in a huge house with two cats and three people inside, and
assorted trees, deer and foxes outside. We played Cloud
Nine and Daytona
500, both very entertaining games. In fact, even
though I'm not a race car buff in the least I'd still put Daytona 500
and its Formula 1 edition titled Detroit
Cleveland Grand Prix in my top
ten list of games. I should put up that top ten list someday.
Hey, I just
wasted a bunch of time with a backup drive, and Rich and
Izolda and their wonderful doggess Athena just came over to visit. I'll
try to finish this news tomorrow.
While
Kory and I visited Brick, Gina worked at the studio and then went with Rich to
see the Reduced
Shakespeare Company perform all the great books
(abridged). Then she went to a bar with Rich and one of the performers
from the RSC. She had a good time.
During that week we spent a lot of time watching the Tenacious D DVD that Dave
Chalker loaned to us. I must have watched most of the DVD about five
times now; it's keeping me sane.
That Wednesday Chris and I took Booda to a dog oncologist who gave us
the bad news (Booda has a terminal Cancer) and that's why I didn't
write much in last week's news. Chris was very supportive that whole
week; he's been great.
Despite the awful news, we ended up hosting our monthly party, which
was slightly subdued but still a nice distraction.
Oops; Robert
Atwood just dropped in! I'll finish this tomorrow (the next tomorrow), maybe. I'm only
done reporting on the week before the one I'm supposed to report!
Margit, Sev, and their cousin Ursula visited us the next day to see
Booda (Sev has always been one of Booda's best pals). We
small-talked and ate party leftovers. Later Gina and I went to
dinner with Chris and Kory and then that night we played Grand Prix
late into the night, including a really fast version, with turns
limited to 10 seconds each, along with "driving rules" — no taking back
played cards or moved cars. Very
tense and thrilling.
I think I split some wood that day, and the day before that, too.
That's my latest hobby— besides watching Tenacious D, of course. I use
an 8-pound splitting ax, for all you splitting geeks out there. It's
very satisfying and therapeutic, and I find myself improving with
practice. Booda likes to watch. My best shot lately was on a 1-foot
diameter, approximately 2-foot long stump. I hit it in the middle and
it broke into four pieces! The cold weather helps.
On Sunday I loitered at the New Deal with Chris much of the day, and
then, after a roast veggie dinner, played more "speed racing" with the
boys and Gina.
On Monday Robert Atwood stopped by, all the way from London! Haven't
seen him in about six years at least. He's in town to give a talk at a
dental conference on titanium implant technology; he was staying part
time at Greykell's place. Greykell dropped him off and took a quick
tour of our house since this was the first time she has ever visited.
We took Robert and Kristin and Alison to Noodles & Co. for dinner
and then went home to sit around our very smoky campfire (smoky because
the wood was freshly split and wet, and it was windy, causing us to
move around a lot to avoid the smoke). Nonetheless we had a good time
by the mischievous fire. Later we took a long, pleasant walk under the
stars down to the Beaverdam Creek bridge and back with Booda, then I
took Robert back to Grey's home.
On Wednesday night (when I started writing this page) Rizolda stopped
by with Athena, one of Booda's oldest dog friends. Athena has been in
bad shape for quite a while, and Wednesday was her last night on Earth,
after about 13 years of a very good life— a very long life for a big
Alaskan malamute. She was sent to the last big sleep the next day,
Thursday the 10th, at her home. Our dearest condolences go out to Rich
and Iz. One of Athena's last tricks was getting Booda to drink from his
water bowl, which he hasn't done in weeks. She wobbled into the kitchen
and drank out of his bowl and made him jealous, so he drank after she
finished. Thanks 'Thena! We'll miss you, girl.
Welp, that's about it for this week. We're hanging in there, with more
tears than usual, but lots of Booda's friends have been visiting and
giving him comfort, and we're grateful to them for that. Still
relishing the good days, and getting through the bad days...
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