Tryin' to hold back this feeling for so long...
Running like a hamster on a wheel, trying to keep a dozen plates spinning in the air. That's how my life feels right now. I'm blogging when I should be comatose, preparing for the next 5:45 wakeup call.
Travel two days this week, practice every night I'm not on the road, lessons when there's no practice, and a gig with our band, the Swinging Orangutangs, this coming Friday. We're working up five hours' worth of songs. Stretched just a wee bit too thin, and the answer to "how do you do it all?" is "Not very well," or "All the time, thank you."
But I take this life and worry it like a favorite toy, extracting all the joy I can from its hectic warp and weave. Today, I baited a huge orb-weaving spider with a mealworm tossed into her web, and photographed her as she prepped it for lunch. It was pure natural heaven for the spider and me (I suspect the mealworm was less than thrilled), and I hold those moments of awe and discovery close to my heart, for they get me through.
When I'll have time to upload the photos and write the story, heaven only knows. And then there's the county fair...oh, it was so beautiful. I haven't even looked at my photos.
I've finally admitted to myself that the reams of images I took this summer in Utah, Colorado and Maine are probably not going to make it onto the blog. You do four states in a month, you have to let some fall by the wayside. The weeds grow over your good intentions. Other neat stuff happens and the blog-ant becomes a nutty grasshopper, frantically storing a kernel at a time, never filling the pantry.
Chet Baker is snuggled up against my thigh here in the dark living room. He rolled in some nameless but amazingly stanky poo not once, but twice today--on the way out to take a stack of paid bills to the box, and on the way back home. I found that out when I kissed his cheek and came away with a distinctive taste in my mouth. Thanks, Chet. Yet another bath for you, you little butthead. Your problem is you like baths.
No, that is YOUR problem, Mether. My life is just exactly like I want it. I think I should roll in something lovely every day, and then you should bathe me every day, then towel me off and chase me around the living room. It is all good.
Chet Baker, also biting off more than he can chew.
15 comments:
When people ask me, "Why does my dog roll in gross and stinky things just after I give him a bath?" I give them the dog's point of view: "Why do my people bathe me in scented shampoos right after I have liberally doused myself in my favorite colognes, like Dead and Disgusting or Poo-Poo Perfume? I love them, but their sense of smell is twisted."
Methinks the Science Chimp should get off her hamster wheel for awhile and just sit back and "smell the roses" of Chet Baker feet. We all know you are SuperWoman; you don't have to prove it. Sometimes it is good to be still. Trying to be all things to all people is not good. Too much running around results in getting run down, which results in getting sick.
~Kathi, who will stop being "PeopleDoc" and go back to her day job now
I don't know how you do it all Julie. Chet seems to have it all figured out...lol. :c)
Wow. Must have been National Bossies Roll in Stinky Stuff Twice Day. Zeke (Ezekiel P. Trouble-Trouble), our one-year-old Boss, found a forgotten Japanese Beetle trap that had fallen down, rolled in it (unbelievably nasty), got bathed and rolled again. Now he smells fine, but how do you get that smell out of a leather collar? Oddly, the Plott Hounds were even avoiding him. You know you smell bad when it's too much for a hound dog!
What type of toy does Chet have in the pictures? Did it survive his attentions? We have had a hard time finding toys that stand up to Zeke. Someone told me you have to buy Rottweiler toys for Bostons, but I think they can out-destruct even a Rottie. Maybe Polar Bear toys?
Love your blog. Take your time, get some rest, we'll wait.
-Jen from NC
I'd love to see the orb weaver hog-tie and wrap his dinner, too.
The simplest of acts around us, yet so awesome to capture.
I'm preparing to get away on vacation soon and trying to store some posts before I go to fill the hiatus.
I thought blogging was about my life--it seems it has become my life?
I think we'd all allow you a week away from the world of blogging--it seems blogging may be the one "optional" activity in your to-do list.
Hmmm. Is there something in the air that has us all frantic lately? It's definitely got me! I hope you give yourself permission to let a few things slide for a while. What lessons are you taking in your 'free time' these days?
I stood at the front door last night watching a spider who has built a massive canopy of webs across the front window and hummingbird feeder. Hypnotic. I wonder if she has to rebuild that web every day after the squadron of hummingbirds has been zipping through it. She must be frantic too!
All those who want Julie to slow down, and take care of herself, raise their hands?
Ahhh--I see many hands.
So, take care of yourself.
But, do show us the orb spider (sorry. . . didn't mean to add pressure).
I love the photo of Chet with his paw on the chew toy, claws out-spread!
Julie,
I wish I could take some of that off your shoulders, although I am not sure where I would put it! I am pretty much running at warp speed, too.
I'm exhausted just reading how exhausting your life is!!
Someone needs to apply that back massager to YOU (...or maybe rolling around in something stinky would be just as invigorating!? ;-)
Great post, Julie. Being overly extended is such a part of the modern American way, isn't it. You seem to be a genuinely happy soul, and that probably makes the whole thing worth it.
I can relate to the spider. I had one in my bathroom once (named it Spike) and I threw insects up into its web. Watching the prep was an amazing experience.
"Weeds grow over good intentions." Wow. This poignant line says it all – figuratively and literally.
Well, fortunately through the miracle of the internet we get to enjoy Chet Baker's googly-eyed cuteness without the odor. The last pic made me LOL (fortunately, my office mate is out right now!)
Take care of yourself Julie! (ditto what Kathi said)
Maybe you should roll around in something stinky and have Bill give you a bath.
Thank you, sweet blogpeople. I will slow down just as soon as this gig is played. Until then it's full steam.
Jen, I cannot imagine a Boston covered in dead beetle gook. Yow. To answer your question, that's a Kong Wubba Chet's got, and it lasted two months, which is a century in Boston Toy years. Of course, you have to get the LARGE because he just eats up the small or medium. It's a great toy, and only about $8.95 for the large. Get it!
Ruthie, the photo of Chet's rubber lips is one of my favorites ever. What is not to love about that face?
He's sitting here wooing at BOTB and me right now. He wants cookies, a massage, and he wants roughhousing, and he wants them right now. BOTB is obliging. Oh, and he wants the cardboard box from Trixie's package to rip up. OK, he's got that.
Thanks, Trixie dear. Phoebe cried real tears when I turned out the reading light tonight!! You are the bomb! Stop thinking about THAT WOMAN from Alaska. Just stop.
hey Julie--do you have a Flickr site? You could add all your great photos there and link to them from your blog....and then we'd all get to see them ;-)
hope you had fun singing and rocking out!
I am a diagnosed arachniphobe. I am terrified of them if their body size is bigger than a dime.
This is not "i'm afraid of spiders" this is fall to the ground, making animal noises, vomiting, afraid of spiders.
I mark the arigopes in my yard with flags, so I don't even have to go near them. I certainly don't kill them...I just want to know where they are, so I can avoid them entirely.
I don't feed them anything, and when I find their egg cases in the late fall, or early spring, I gently transport them to the easement out back. They can do their thing back there. As a result, I've seen one male arigope so far, but he moved on.
A life w/o spiders is a good life for me, LOL!
The next time I have health insureance, I will get treatment for my phobia, as my degree is in Natural Areas Management. April
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