Tonight was super fun! The Alma House became a Mad Scientist Laboratory!

Spider soup and bug stew… bottles of orange and green potions… a boiling cauldron of dry ice…. shrunken heads and webs galore! Our costumes were hilarious: Andrew – blue hair and eyebrows, scrubs, blue gloves and a stethescope = Mad Scientist. Adrian – lab coat, green creepy fingers, a mask of melted skin and torment = Lab Assistant. Melanie – skull face, black wig with crawly bugs and slithery snakes = Monstrous Creation.

We weren’t ready when the y0unger ones started to come by for treats when it was still light out, so raced inside to put on our costumes…. Later on I wandered up to the main street to see all the haunted houses and people… From the top of the hill you could see the fog rolling in over the city lights and the practically full moon. Beautiful.

Now Gabe and I are watching “The Haunting” from 1963. It is so excellent and creepy.. perfect for tonight.

So, it was real.  I didn’t poke at it to make sure, but yep.  The rat in the garage was a real one.  I thought maybe it was a Halloween prank to get me to shriek and run madly up and down the block…. but, no, not an extraordinary replica of a rat, but a real dead one. O, ick and hell.

Henry, my faithful sidekick, was the one to find it. 

Update: Henry also “found” my spider companion.  This giant of a spider had been living in a spot above the desk for at least four weeks.  Now she is gone.  I feel a heavy loss, but Henry was proud of himself, having defended me against a crawling menace (his view).

It’s Yellowstone!

When I was 7, almost 8, my parents and I took a road trip cross country for the first time.  I was looking forward to two things: Disneyland and the park that Yogi Bear’s Jellystone was named for. 

I have one memory of that visit to Yellowstone.  It was a hot, hot day in July when we were waiting forever to see Old Faithful go off.  The combination of heat and overexcitement made me a complaining nudge.  When the geyser finally exploded my father cheered loud and strong as if it were the best thing he had ever seen, and had me cheer right along with him, restoring me to a great mood and convincing me it was worth the long, hot wait.

This recent visit was spectacular.  We drove in the southern entrance from Grand Tetons and up to the western exit.  Sorry for the delayed posting and the short entry… more soon.

Someone should look that up.  I think the name means something like Big Boobs in French, but I am not sure. 

It feels like the vestiges of the Old Wild West here in Jackson, but with a great coffee roaster just off the town square.  I have been ordering pizza from Mountain High Pizza Pie which has been a unique experience each time I call.  Let me just say there should be an emphasis on the “high” part of their name.  LOL.  But, the pizza was yummy. 

Gabe arrived on Friday and we drove Saturday into Grand Teton National Park.   Quite amazing, really.  The pictures I took cannot capture the feeling of the place – we both love the scale and found it to be very relaxing and envigorating.  This led to a conversation about the effects of environment on the development of culture and, then, to some less high-minded bitching about the house in SF.

We stopped at Jackson Lake and walked along the shore.  Henry took offense at the bouys – they must have been mocking him somehow, secretly.  He didn’t let them out of his sight and kept them in line with growls and mean stares.

This is what I did on my birthday.

Hi you all! Thanks for the love! 

I feel like a kid at Disneyland – so excited I am a little batshit.  I am in Jackson and waiting for Gabe to arrive so we can head into the parks and chase moose and buffalo!  I took a stroll around the town square with my sidekick – got a cup of coffee, but there was no cheese for Henry.    (poor, poor Henry)

Yesterday was a gorgeous drive.  I spent a few hours kicking back along a reservoir (Ririe?) and then drove along the Calamity Reservoir until I reached Wyoming. 

I am slightly freaked out about Jackson itself, though.  All the buildings are matchy matchy, with no corner out of place, no gum on the sidewalk, no loose paper, either.  It’s a little too sanitary and uniform for me.  Late last night I did a silent cheer for the crazy lady who heckled me from across the street.  Rage against the machine, lady!! ROFL.