Sandman's Journal

Oooh. Thunder & lightning!

The day started out with Dad up at 5:30 and me trying to sleep. At 7:00 or so I crawled out and ate a bowl of cold oatmeal he'd made. He rented a carpet cleaner, so we cleaned carpets until 9:30 a.m. Then I mowed grass and Dad departed to the mountain.

At 11 a.m. I got my hair cut. Then I went to First National Bank and set up a checking account. By noon I was on my way to meet Dad.

The weather was nice today--78 F--so I took a detour to Whetstone Cemetery to visit the graves of my great-grandparents, Herman and Kristianne Nupen. It's a tiny graveyard in the middle of the prairie with no more than thirty or forty tombstones. A small, abandoned church still stands. Upon leaving, I continued west until I bumped into the oil fields of Grassy Butte, whereupon I turned around and drove back to the mountain.

Dad and I planted eighteen junipers on the north ridge to create a living snow fence and then rode horses. I've been seeing lots of groovy mushrooms and colorful birds about.

Grandpa turned 86 today. His and Farmor's dear friend Patty Goodall came to celebrate. She brought steak and whiskey and vegetables and fruit and pie and ice cream and brownies.

I picked up Uncle Chris at his trailer and drove him down to G & G's, where all six of us then proceeded to feast.

Afterwards Dad and I drove back to Killdeer amidst this storm. At one point lightning struck nearby and lit up the land. To the right I saw a cosmic orange fox grinning in a neon green ditch. She looked like she'd eaten one of those vibrant birds, or some of those mushrooms.

"...the ghost of 'lectricity howled in the bones of her face.
And these visions of Katrina have now taken my place."

I'd best turn this computer off before its circuits get fried.