My Fresh Hell
Life in Scribbletown.

...Nobody Knows Who You Are!

2006-08-09

Last night as Dusty and I took our evening walk, we discovered a completely new and wild plant growing next to the barn. It was nearly 3 feet high. I snipped off a piece with the leaves (which resembled oak leaves) and the flowers (which resembled trumpet vine flowers only white with a blueish purple inside). Turns out it�s Trumpet Flower/Oak Leaf Datura, a highly poisonous plant�if you eat it. Though it is also apparently a medicinal plant and, if it doesn�t kill you, can produce an LSD-type experience. I think it�s beautiful and the horses have ignored it so we�ll let it live and perhaps transplant it in the yard this fall where we can enjoy it next year.

I need to break down and buy a pair of rugged outdoor shoes so that I can romp around on all this land without worrying about stepping in something or being bitten by hidden things � bugs, snakes, what have you. Something like this.

We do have snakes around. My husband discovered one recently while mowing. Snakes do not bother me though and I have no fear of running into one. I mean, it�s not like I�m going to run into anything poisonous but, I am glad that the mowing keeps the grass down in the yard and the horses take care of the pastures. I am more afraid of ticks than snakes. Ugh, I can�t even THINK about ticks without having the urge to strip down and check every inch of flesh to make sure there�s not one on me. You may wonder what the hell I�m doing living amongst the enemy. I wonder that myself sometimes.

Red�s got a new hero: Spiderman. For some reason, whenever she sees him in a magazine or the newspaper, she shrieks and laughs. Last night, he happened to be lurking on the back page of the comics section. I have to read the comics at night these days because Dusty bogarts them in the morning and I do not have a millisecond of leisure time in the morning to even glance at them. So, I opened the comics and Red began to yell and wave her arms and laugh. What the? She pointed to Spidey. Him? Oh yeah, Red needed Spiderman. Red loves Spiderman. When I folded back the paper, she raised her arms up in a shrug and said, �Go?� As in, �Where�d he go?� I opened the paper again so she could see him � gales of laughter and shrieking. I hid him again. Go? I revealed him. Jollity commenced.

I have never understood this child and at this point, I just take her predilections as they come without thinking too much about them. You can do your best to instill a sense of taste and culture in your children, but there�s no accounting for personal preference. I gave into this long ago with Dusty�s Hello Kitty obsession. (I still draw the line at Disney, though. I do have some standards.)

Dusty and I cut out the Spiderman picture and taped it to Red�s bedroom door so she could continue to gaze upon her hero. She�s happy; we�re happy.

Spiderman! Where are you coming from, Spiderman...

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3:28 p.m. ::
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