Without a trace we’ll be gone, gone
The moon and the stars will follow the car

And then when we get to the ocean
We’re gonna take a boat to the end of the world
All the way to the end of the world

Oh, and when the kids are old enough
We’re gonna teach them to fly…

—Dave Matthews Band, “You and Me”

More.

Then I realized I wasn’t seeing my breath. After a brief check to insure that, yes, I was in fact still breathing, I realized it was not frigid outside. After a week of what is very cold weather for Alabama, I’d gotten used to that.

Today the snow is mostly gone. Snowmen are a greatly endangered species.

I knew it had been a long time, but I didn’t realize it had been that long. But behold, I post again.

See you in May!

The Oshkosh experience was great. Photos to come.

The Yellowstone trip was brilliant. Photos to come (I’ve not even pulled them off the camera yet).

Saturday I had to have my cats Abbey and Minuet put down. It was a lousy way to return home after a wonderful vacation, but it was simply their time. I am totally at peace with that decision, and I think I’d made it some weeks ago when it was clear that their quality of life was slipping fast.

This year I will take along my new iPhone. According to the AT&T map Oshkosh doesn’t look to have 3G coverage but with luck I’ll have EDGE access at least. The wifi coverage for the campground is supposedly improved over last year (when I could see the network but not connect) so perhaps that as well. If at all possible I’ll be posting since I desperately want to be seen as techno savvy.

I’ve replaced the camera that Alice broke with an identical model because I liked it so much. There’s certainly plenty of things to photograph. I may also take my elderly but impressively-hefty Canon Digital Rebel since I desperately want to be seen as a good photographer.

Cameras, check; memory cards, check; chargers, check; cables, check. The list goes on -way on- from there: clothes to comfortably cover a variety of conditions over nine days, food, assorted gear. But I like making detailed lists, being desperate to be seen as organized. That’s one appealing thing about trips, camping trips in particular: for a brief amount of time I can be organized in a way I cannot be at home. I have what I brought with me, and I know where it all is.

A friend was cleaning out her garage and giving away what she didn’t want. “Want a guitar?” she asked. Yes, yes I do.

It’s a Fender F-35, a very decent instrument according to several online sources. I got it home last night, pulled out my iPhone and downloaded a tuner, and tuned it right up. But that’s all I can do, because, you see, I don’t actually know how to play a guitar.

At least, not yet.

There she is, the girl of my dreams.

It’s a fairly dark show, one of revenge and murder in the streets of 1846 London. E has the role of a beggar woman. Not only that, but a half-crazy and occasionally lewd beggar woman. Great.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

“Alice! Stop licking the window!”

“Helen, you have rice in your armpit.”

“Please untie Kelley; she wants to go home.”

“Someone wipe the mashed potatoes off the hairbrush.” Note: this was said out loud largely so I could claim it here, but the statement is accurate.