#bur there is just no other way its finals week AND my house has no ceiling + partially no roof and is filled with fiberglass and my room

[lemonlimetoast]

Why does the universe love kicking me when I'm down wtf

[god-i-hate-shmakespear]

take a step back after moving forward

fic!

Nick smiled, because what else could he do? it was his stringed smile yet, all edges and no wormth. who could blaim him to be honest? it was full of graudge, anger and uncomftrbleness. it always hit diffrent. it depended if he was in a good state of mind to react to this, yet it always pained him to see it. they all hated it. it was a horrible sight, but he had to smile. just to... he didn’t know.try and aluude to an atmosphire of normality? he wasn’t sure.

he watched, all smile and no personality, as Portia took the letter.

it was her tenth letter this week, and it was always sent on an old parchment paper. Nick hated it. he hated it so much.

“well!... it seemed this one is not as long!” she said while holding the letter. her hands already shaking. this sucked

before Nick could say anything Will already took a step up, and snatched the letter from Portia’s weak hands. not giving her a chance to even blink her tears away from sight.

if they could just stop her form getting the mail every morning that will be nice, or better, Will would have actually bothered to wake up to grab it like he promised. 

but this wasn’t the time for dealing with Will’s forgetfulness, it wasn’t even 7 am when Nick ran outside, chasing after Portia’s edger steps to get the mail as she walked to the store. excited that the pride center will be open early to get some stuff before pride comes next week, when she stopped by to get the mail from their tiny mail box.

Will didn’t think, he just tore the letter into pecises, they will not be dealing with abusive toxic dads today! and hopefully, not ever again if he has something to say about it! he threw the pecies on the ground stomping on it with his comically large boots that he liked to wear everywhere now. now that he’s more “punk” as he said. 

Nick siged at the semi comical sight, as Will, after jumping on the letter for good mesure, slipped and almost crushed to the floor, realising some tiny laugh from the still shoked Portia, while he walked fowood. making sure ti step in Portia’s clear eye sight before giving her a side hug, which she didn’t resipicate, but did lean into. good. some real wormth finally started to leap into him. defeting the last few chills of the still cold morning..

finishing his tirade, Will walked forword as a winner, looking high and mighty with his night goun and the heavy army boots the docks made their signiture sound as he walked towords them, slowing his trimfent walk to look at Portia’s face. which to be fair... Nick have sort of neglected to look, too scared of the emotions that that will bring.

which is where Will comes in. Will’s profession is handeling emotions right on! attackeing them with his cutting words and defensive wit, ready to splinter and et to the bottom of things that shouldn’t be things like political feelings (his own emotions? not as much, but he will run away from them at the same determanation). 

without sparing too many looks to his rather anxoies boyfriend, Will looks at Portia’a line of sight as well,and turns his head to the side a little. approching carfully (which was a sudden change from the cutting triamfe walking)and opening his arms

without missing a bit, Portia suddenly left Nick’s side, all but running to Will’s inviting arms, burring her face in his chest.

at that, Nick took his time to leave, he knew that Will and Portia will need some hot coco after this debacle

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“why does it not get easier?”

Will was ready! well... sort of ready anyway, for nything. emotions were tricky, but he was ready for them! ready to emarse himself in everything they will bring!

that’s what he learnd, that was the way to live and remember and to hold and ignore life’s problems, it was to focus on the emotions of peope other then himself. people that are... very importent to him.

but sometimes those people... had a very similer time to him

“easier? im not sure Poa... we both know that life never gets easier”

“but isn’t it supposed to?” she looked up, and oh, suddenly he was transphormed to that time when she hugged him for the first time, all excited and happy after she first moved in, like all of life’s problems suddenly will go away now! the big bad guy is defited! oh wow... they were navie back then, but even then he knew, that things don’t just suddenly get easier... emotions... are hard,and mega scary to explore and to reachek, and she knew that! yet she still loved to belive that she can solve them as easaly as follwong her own heart is.

oh how she inspired him then, she still insipred everyone homestly, the girl was the sole reason that he managed to write him own first poam book! he loved to tacke emotions head on to escape them, but she, in her naive and ruthless optamizim, made him at least to try and see, if its possible even, to try and give the same passion to what lies in his own hear as well.

but with her naive optamisem she ofen forgets. that the first step, ever so easy to her fast legs, is the eaiest one indeed

“i get tierd, i get tierd of the suprises! why the aftermath of choosing to not seeing my father again will just be done already! ‘snif’ its been a whole year now... why am i not... happy?” 

“but you are!”

“-why does it look like that with every step forword i take, everything takes two stepps back??”

“because you are fast! you, Portia-” he pused to lightly boop her nose which made her smile gratfully, “-are one of the fastest people i know! taking your stepps with such a vorasity that a whole army could not stop you. always changing, always chasing what is in your heart first, and forgeting that sometimes we gotta deal with things, even after we decided to leave them behiand”

“like your emotions?” she said, suddenly getting a little of her snarkyness back, looking at will without the foginess of tears in her eyes

“like your choices as well too” he shakes his head to the sides he is trying to teach her a life lesson! but as usual, Portia has managed to hit the point to fast, that she looked ahead and applied it to her teacher, the boldness of this girl will kill him one day.

he ignored her little scounching of the nose, not willing but managing to see his point yet again, as he stepped away from her, makig sure to hold her hand all the way, and started moving them back towords the house.

“least i have people to remind meto take a break sometimes ha? all this... things catching up to me, im glad i have someone that helps me to get ahead once again”

ok is she trying to kill her with her adorablness again??? because she will one day, shit. “you want to go inside or not? im sure Nick already made your coco”

“Coco??? fuck yes!” she smiled as she give him once last big hug and run into the house, already giggling her heart out after leaving Will speachless back at the yard. Portia, as usal, cought him off gaurd. 

[angrylizardjacket]

friends in low places // charlotte&lola

Summary: Nikki and Charlotte sleep together, and its a bit unnerving how cool with it Lola is. Or maybe its that Lola and Nikki are just weird and unnerving people who Don't Act How People Should.

A/N: as always, for @missleenmilliet because i love her and charlotte. mentions of smut. Written on my phone.

----

Nikki's been showering Charlotte with attention, and not that it hasn't been nice, it's just been… weird. He's always been complementary, always made it clear how hot he thinks she is, even with Tommy in the background fake-gagging. Charlotte's always taken it in stride, because of course she has; knows she's hot, she puts too much effort into her look to not know, but Nikki's started being weirdly genuine in his compliments, has started offering them when she wasn't dressed up to go out, when she was laying about on the sofa during rehearsals. Maybe he's being nice, maybe Lola had told him about what went down with Duff, maybe he's gained a new respect for her; he's surprisingly difficult to read.

But Lola doesn't seem bothered, and Tommy's actually kind of encouraging, which is weird, and after a gig, Nikki stops being subtle. He sticks by her that night, never enough to be suffocating, but Charlotte actually enjoys his company; he generally comes off as an asshole, but when he puts the effort in, he's actually incredibly funny and charming. 

"Do you think Tommy would mind if I steal his bed and make him sleep on the sofa?" Charlotte's giggling and tipsy and its too late for her to think about heading back to her own apartment.

"Or," Nikki's got his arm around her, leaning in close, his arm around her shoulders, "you could stay in my bed." And there's no way for her to misinterpret his meaning, not after how heavily they'd both been flirting all night.

"What about Lola?"

"She's a big girl, she can take care of herself." And he leans in, slow enough that she could stop him if she wanted, but she doesn't. Maybe she's trying to see what Lola sees in him, maybe she's finally giving in to the traitorous way her heart beats when he grins at her like she's the only person in the world that matters. 

Nikki is an objectively good lay, which doesn't make up for all the times that she's known him to be a horrible person, but it counts for something. 

And maybe there's something to be said for how he holds her close after the fact, her head on his chest, listen to his heartbeat as he traces patterns on her back. He's leaning up against the headboard, relaxing, having a smoke and humming a song Charlotte thinks she recognises. Its surprisingly intimate and gentle, and he offers her the cigarette. She takes a drag.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

They don't say a lot, neither quite sure what they even should say, but he doesn't kick her out, and its surprisingly easy to fall asleep next to him. 

The next morning, she can't even be bothered to put her leather pants back on, and after all, its only the band in the apartment, so she dons one of Nikki's shirts and heads to the kitchen. 

What she finds, however, is Lola sniffing at the half empty cans and bottles left over from the night before. She freezes with a beer in hand. The beer has a cigarette butt in it.

"Please don't tell me you're going to drink that," Charlotte tells her. Lola slowly puts the bottle down, looking more than a little guilty.

"I wasn't…" but it's not overly convincing, "are you wearing my shirt?" She changes the topic quickly.

"I thought it was Nikki's," Charlotte blurts, and instead of reading into that, Lola makes a vague gesture, and Charlotte remembers that any clothes in the house are essentially communal. "Yes." Charlotte agrees, which Lola hums at. 

Silence. Lola shakes a mostly empty can, and puts it in the bin.

"I slept with Nikki," Charlotte shoots for casual, sitting herself on the kitchen bench after clearing a space, watching Lola slowly move around the space. Lola stops, gives a thin, amused smile.

"Well I didn't think you were fucking Vince or Tommy," and she seems to take joy in the shudder of horror that passes over Charlotte. There's an uncertainty, a concern, that Charlotte can't quite voice, but that Lola seems to sense anyways, "did you have fun?" Its almost teasing, and Lola goes back to her job. She takes a swig of a can of premixed spirits and makes a face. 

"What?"

"Did you and Nikki have fun?" 

"Actually, yeah I did, though I've gotta say, I didn't really, you know, expect it." Charlotte laughs a little, a bit of her nervousness easing. She should have guessed Lola wouldn't have been too bothered, she had always been nothing if not chill when it came to the band's sexual exploits. "He's been really nice lately," she laughs a little, "is that normal?"

"Yeah; he wanted to fuck you, of course he's gonna be nice." Lola's a little blunt when she says it, and something about her tone sets Charlotte on edge. After a beat, however, her tone softens, "did he get you off?"

"Lola!"

"Because if he didn't, you should march back in there and demand satisfaction."

"Oh my God." But Charlotte's smiling, hands coming up to cover her face, "I hate that so much about you has suddenly made sense."

"I didn't spend all that time teaching him how to eat pussy right to let it him not use it on my best friend -"

"Lo, you're killing me here," Charlotte mutters, flushed and a little embarrassed, though her actual nervousness had all bur dissolved. Lola shrugged, smiling a little, pleased to have at least made her laugh. After a moment, however, Charlotte couldn't help but voice what had been on her mind all morning.

"What's with his change of heart though? Why me? Why now?" 

At this, Lola pauses, and fixes the blonde with a strange little smile.

"He's always wanted to fuck you."

"What? No he hasn't," Charlotte shook her head, frowning a little.

"Sure he has! He wants to fuck any pretty girl -" and okay, Charlotte knew that, but it still stings in a weird way, "- he's not Prince Charming, we all know this -" Lola tries to soften her bluntness, but it doesn't quite work, "- but he's never had, like, a reason to pursue you, you know?" But with each of Lola's words, Charlotte's stomach sinks.

"So what's the reason?" And she kind of dreads the answer.

"He's been mad at me for like a week now because I fucked Tommy in our bed -"

"Oh god," a look of horror crossed Charlotte's face, "how often do you wash your sheets?"

"You don't want me to answer that," Lola grimaced, before adding, "and usually me and other people is fine, but like, we were really drunk and didn't exactly realise Nikki was asleep in the bed," Lola winced at her own story, while Charlotte gave her a flat, unamused look.

"Why wouldn't you just… you know," Charlotte's always a little squeamish regarding Lola and her cousin, "in his bed?"

"Because Slash was sleeping there!" 

"So Nikki used me to get back at you, because you fucked my cousin while he was still in the same bed?"

"You say he's using you like he doesn't genuinely like you, which he does, and like he didn't want to fuck you anyways."

"You both horrify me," Charlotte tells her, "genuinely, with every fibre of my being, and your weird little power games give me a headache." She hops down from counter, rubbing at her temples.

"They're not power games; it's not- this doesn't- he's not trying to make me jealous - he can't, first of all - and he's not doing it to hurt either of us. Its… its just a thing we do." Lola's at a loss, unable to find words for her thoughts, and she puts down the mostly full cruiser and leans her hip against the counter, arms crossed as she watches Charlotte. "I don't know how to describe it." She says quietly.

"You know this isn't, like, normal, right? This isn't how normal people act." 

"You really expect normal from Nikki Sixx? Or me? Listen, I guarantee he's gotten this lesson he was trying to teach out of his system; you can walk in there right now and fuck him, he'll have no ulterior motive and definitely be into it." Lola paused, giving Charlotte a look over, smirking slightly, "I know you know you're hot, he thinks so too."

"That's not the issue -"

"Did he hurt you?" Lola cut her off, and Charlotte snaps her mouth shut, shaking her head slowly. "Did you enjoy yourself?" And Charlotte's gaze drops; she nods. "Then don't worry; play your cards right and you can get a lot of good orgasms out if him."

"And you, what, don't care?" And Lola is suddenly and sharply reminded that Charlotte is almost a full two years younger than her, and oh don't those years make a difference. Or maybe its that their contexts are too far removed. Suburbian utopia is rather far removed from gutter punks sneaking out of group homes.

"No, Charlie, I don't care," Lola tells her clearly, "and its not as if he's the sort of person you'd fall in love with." And Charlotte has absolutely no idea what she means by that at the time.

But she will.

She'll watch Lola take a punch for Nikki, and see the way he looks at the bruise like its the most incredible thing in the world, before they fight side by side to take down the assailant, and wonder why she'd ever thought she could compete, even in some small way, with loyalty like that.

And she'll meet Razzle and hear him speak so sweetly, with only respect and love on his tongue, and in his touch, and wonder why she'd ever wanted, even for a moment, to be special to Nikki fucking Sixx.

[staygoldsunshine]

Alexander the Great

A Lumen Story: Part 2

    A week later, Mrs. McHale shows up to the PTA meeting with a bruise on her jaw. The other moms shake their heads and murmur their bless-her-heart’s over their lemon sweet tea while silently distancing themselves from the Japanese woman. Nicholas Smoak tells his son all about it at the dinner table.

    “Should’ve seen that poor woman tonight,” his thick Southern accent coating all his words in honey. He scratches his full, red beard and sighs. “You’d think he’d have the better sense not to let her out of the house looking like that.”

    Xander sets his jaw. “Dad.”

    Nicholas looks up from his paper, licks his thumb, and turns the page as easily as he can switch topics of conversation. “How is the McHale boy doing in training, by the way? Coach says he’s been struggling to fit in.”

    Xander shrugs his shoulders and stabs his leftovers with his fork. “No kidding.” But when his father clears his throat, Xander’s spine straightens. “He’s cocky, always going on about how good he is, but when he has to fight against someone, he always chokes. Everyone knows he’s just biding time until they kick him out because he’s already been kicked from the AV club. So that means there’s only the choir left for an extracurricular, and everyone knows Miss Agnice would sooner die than let a guy get kicked out of the choir.”

    “What do you think?” Nick lets the question simmer between them as Xander sits in nervous silence twisting the blue checkered tablecloth between his fingers. “You know, if you’re going to become the Knight’s Captain, you’re going to have to learn to spot talent among your team.”

    And there it is, the inevitable sword hanging above Xander’s head. His dad was Captain, and his grandad was Captain. He’s pretty sure every man in his family, in the whole Smoak line has been the greatest at whatever he’s set out to do, and so Alexander Smoak has to do the same. He has to be great.

“He knows the woods better than anyone,” Xander mutters, thinking of the way Tristan can disappear into those leaves and branches just like a ghost. “When we practice tracking, he finds the trails faster and follows them longer than anyone else, but he’s never made a single kill, even with help.”

    “So he is useful.” That’s the thing about his dad. He sees people in terms of usefulness, their abilities lined up against their faults. Those calculating blue eyes are always weighing and judging even through their practiced smile lines, and Xander wonders every day if he stacks up in his dad’s mind. “Interesting, be sure you tell Coach.” Then Nicholas folds his newspaper, gathers his plate, and walks to the kitchen. “I’ll be working late tonight. Be sure you get to bed on time.”

    Xander goes back to stabbing his food. “Yes, sir.”

    Once his dad has shut himself in his office for the night, Xander gets up, dumps his plate, and rushes up the stairs to finish the Lego set he’s been working on. He opens the door to his room and feels hot, humid air hit his face. The window is open. A gentle breeze send the curtains billowing like the wings of a creature about to take flight.

    Xander grabs the sword, the real one, from beside his bed. Lumen don’t come into town, he reminds himself, his heart beating out of control. His head spins, thinking of those claws, the teeth, the bright white eyes. He flicks on the light. And he sees someone leaned against the wall beneath his window.

    “McHale?”

    Tristan waves. “Hi.” His hair is a mess, littered with leaves and burs. He’s still wearing that stupid jean jacket, and his sneakers are caked in mud. Tristan carries the smell of the woods with him, and Xander realizes that the scent alone makes him uneasy.

    Parry the initial attack… “Wh-what in the world are you doing in my house?” Xander shuts the door behind him, but he doesn’t set his sword down. 

    Tristan shrugs, pulling one of his legs against his chest. He’s all joints and jagged lines. “You know, Dad was in a mood again, so I ducked out and came here.”

    Knock his weapon aside… Xander furrows his brow and glares at the flippant intruder. “But why come to my house?” 

    “Well, it was the biggest one on the block, so I figured it was yours. And since you’re the closest thing I have to a friend, I thought maybe you wouldn’t mind if I hung out for a bit.” Tristan gives a bright smile, the same smile he always has when he enters the ring, knowing he’s going to lose.

    This time, however, Xander feels his back hit the dirt, and Tristan wins this round. Xander blinks once, looks away, and blinks again. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” He thinks of his dad, downstairs in his office and considers shouting down to him. His dad will know how to handle this.

    Tristan tilts his head to the side and seems to read Xander’s thoughts. “Hey, I’m not too happy with the situation either. Normally I go to Garra Price’s house and crash on her couch, but she’s out of town for a stupid wedding or something.” Then he glances over at the Lego set at the foot of Xander’s bed. “Camouflaged Outpost I see, nice.”

    Xander shakes his head and raises the tip of his blade without realizing it. “No, we are not friends. Now get out of my house!”

    “We had a conversation last week! You knocked me down a bunch of times, and then you let me win the match. We bonded!” Tristan’s smile is becoming strained, and when Xander takes a step back towards the door, the other boy actually flinches. “Look, please don’t tell your dad I’m here. I can’t go home right now, okay?” The breath of wind that has followed Tristan through the window carries the smell of honeysuckle and fresh rain. Xander grips his sword tighter as he considers the boy sitting on his floor, the boy who doesn’t fit into Xander’s calculated theory of monsters and knights and becoming great.

    All Xander sees is a tired boy with a look in his eyes like a dog that’s been kicked too many times, and Xander finally puts his sword down. A good leader helps even the weakest link in his team, right? “Fine, I won’t tell him, but don’t make this a regular thing.”

    Tristan nods, a grateful sigh releasing the tension from his shoulders. “Yeah, yeah, it won’t happen again.”

    It happens again, several times, actually. Tristan shows up in Xander’s room, always through the second-floor window, always with a smile no matter how tired he looks. Xander gets used to keeping snacks in his dresser, extra blankets and a pillow in the top of his closet, and an old comic or two since most of the time Tristan never does manage to get to sleep anyway. Yet he’s always gone again the next morning when Xander wakes up to get ready for school.

    When they do see each other during the day, Tristan normally avoids Xander except for in the ring where he has no choice. They only ever really talk when Tristan “comes to visit,” as he calls it. Xander begins to mind the intrusions less and less, and eventually, he even looks forward to finding his window open. As summer gives way to the first cool days of fall, when the other Knights try to make nasty comments about the fight Tristan’s parents had in the supermarket or the fact that he’s “half-Jap,” Xander finds himself telling them to shut up and mind their own business before he even realizes the words are coming out of his mouth. No one questions why, at least not out loud.

    “Coach says that the McHale boy is more cooperative in training now.” Nicholas raises an eyebrow at his son. “Would that have anything to do with you?”

    “I think he’s an asset, so I had a talk with Tristan, that’s all.” His father wouldn’t approve of the new friendship. It’s one thing to be a good leader, but becoming friends with Tristan, the son of the town drunk and his mail-order bride, that’s another thing entirely. Xander rinses off the plate he’s been washing and sets it in the drying rack. “I thought you wanted me to take initiative about things like that.”

    Nicholas tucks his hands into his pockets, a tactic he uses often in his speeches. It gives him the appearance of a Good Ole Boy, with his flannel shirts and well-groomed beard. “I do, son, but be careful with that boy. His father…”

    “Why doesn’t someone arrest him anyway? We all know what he does.” Xander looks up from washing dishes and catches the look of outrage on his father’s face before it’s masked behind polite indifference again.

    “I had a talk with James last week. You know he’s an old friend of mine, Alexander. This is a small community, and issues like these have to be handled delicately.” Nicholas’ voice is all honey again, honey and sweet tea and a summer night.

    Xander drops the cup he was washing back into the sink and turns off the water. “Well, maybe I don’t think you’re handling it correctly.” A collectively held breath hangs overhead, just like when the forest knows there’s a monster lurking, just like when Xander grips his sword in his hand and prepares himself for a fight.

    Nicholas Smoak sets his jaw. “What did you just say to me?” The monster swipes its claws through the air, and Xander has to dodge or risk losing his head.

    Normally Xander would never do this. His father’s word was always law, ever since he was a little kid, but now, now Xander knows Tristan. They’ve never talked about it, not really, but he knows why Tristan never takes off that blue jean jacket or why he disappears into the woods after practice instead of heading home. He knows why Tristan doesn’t like hurting people, even in practice. A great leader knows how to spot danger.

    “You should arrest Mr. McHale, Dad. You’re letting him hurt his wife and son, and that’s wrong.” In his mind, Xander’s sword flashes in the kitchen light. The monster rears back, ready for another strike.

    Nicholas strides across the kitchen floor, grabs his son by the arm, and leans in close, so close that Xander has to look away. “You listen to me, boy. Just because you think you know everything doesn’t mean that you can use that tone with me. I am not one of your buddies at school. I am your father, and I deserve your respect.” He releases Xander’s arm, but Xander can still feel the monster’s breath on his face. “Go to your room, and I don’t want to see you again until you get home from school tomorrow. Am I understood?”

    Still looking at the floor, Xander replies, “Yes, sir,” and runs up to his room, a retreat he would normally never allow. The window is open, and Xander feels a rush of relief. Only, instead of honeysuckle and fresh rain and decaying leaves, the breeze blowing through the window carries the smell of blood.

[thehikingnerd]

Day 135 (9/29).

We woke up and picked up our trash that had been chewed on but surprisingly they didn't seem to touch my stuff only Butt'rs' ramen package from last nights dinner. In the early morning sunrise the clouds that were rolling in lit up and were pretty reflecting off the pond/lake. But they were coming in pretty quickly and it caused us some concern as today was Friday and everyone in Snoqualmie Pass was saying Friday was supposed to be the only bad day for weather and that it was supposed to be nice after that. We had, however, gone a bit further north and hadn't had much signal to look a the forecast. The lake we had intended to camp near looked even more beautiful and the colors of the day just kept getting better with deeper reds everywhere. It's really hard to describe how beautiful today was. But it did start to get colder and a little windy at times. We saw a huge mountain covered in fall colors on short shrubby plants. It was a ski slope and we were heading that direction. We eventually had to climb it the whole way up and it was really pretty, despite getting cold and not being able to stay up at the top very long. Too bad we had to leave the LTE behind but we were getting close to the road where we would be hitching into Skykomish. We finally got down off the slope and to Stevens Pass where we hitched into town. It didn't take very long before a guy in an old red Toyota stopped and picked us up just as it stated to sprinkle, perfect timing. He took us to the post office first so I could get my two resupply boxes and mailed off the bike helmet I had found on the side of the road about a week ago, was too good a bicycle helmet to just leave behind. It was good to get ride who was willing to wait and make more than one stop. I was excited because my shoes were destroyed after I had put about 750 miles on this pair, and I had a brand new pair waiting on me in the boxes my dad had sent. After the post office he then dropped us off at the Hitching Post which was a bar and restaurant. The first thing that we both did is order a Fresh Squeezed IPA and it felt good to take a drink of the cold beer in the warm dry bar. Then we both ordered the half fried chicken and jojo dinner, seemed like the most food and the best deal on the menu. After ordering I opened my boxes and sifted through the goodies. I had a ton of good food, and definitely too much over all, but I pulled out both of my new shoes and looked them over in all their glory: brand new size 14 Altra Superior III (this has become my favorite shoe over the course of the trail). I figured if they held up well, they should be the pair of shoes that I would finish the trail in. It was an exciting thought and feeling. I wanted to put them on but thought I'd wait until we got to the trail angel's place and had a shower and clean socks, just to make their newness, void of stink, last a little bit longer. I sat aside a few things I knew I wouldn't want to see if Butt'rs wanted them... namely effin' pop tarts and oatmeal (lol), there was just too much for me to carry I had really lost the taste for some of these things over the course of the trail. After eating and paying we walked up to the deli across the bridge and sat our stuff down and checked the place out. I got a 20oz latte and it was good. It felt great to sit on their porch with a hot coffee and watch it rain. We still needed to get to the Dinsmores' house in Baring which was 8 miles up the road. We wanted to hitch but didn't want to stand in the rain, and people tended not to stop if it's raining anyway from our experience. So we called the trail angles up to see if they would be making any trips out, they said no :/ So eventually we waited for a lull in the intensity of the rain and went to the road to hitch the last 8 miles. It took a while, but finally a guy pulled up and he worked for the forestry service, I believe, and he knew the Dinsmores and drove us the whole way there straight up to their door. We said hi and went in to claim a bunk bed and drop our packs in their garage-turned-bunkhouse. The place was pretty awesome, another hiker paradise like some of the places from early on PCT that I had liked so much but had not seen in so long. They had a shower, so I got a hot shower right off and they even had clean loaner clothes for you to wear while doing laundry. Then we started a load of laundry while we strung out our things all over the place to dry. After that we looked through the hiker box and dvds they had out while Butt'rs and the only other hiker there, a 19 yr old kid named Will, played guitar and hand-drums for a bit. Finally the owner of the place, Jerry, came in and said he would drive us all down for dinner if we wanted and we all said yes! So his friend Billy came over and he started right in bur-raiding us, and he was funny and pretty clever so it was pretty entertaining to hear this guy roll and talk to us like we were doing everything in life wrong (all satirically), hard to describe but we thought he was hilarious and liked him right away. He drove us down and we all went in to the local inn and restaurant. Service was slow in this tiny town and no one seemed in any kind of hurry, I settled in as I knew dinner would take a while. I had the Cadia Burger and it was huge and amazing. We ate and BSed for a while and after what seemed like a very long time, we stopped by the deli and convenience store we had been at earlier one last time on the way back... I wanted to hit up the ATM to leave this great place and great people a donation but the cash machine was broken. Once we got back we talked to Billy and he agreed to pick us up at 8am to take us back to the trail but still maintained that he thought we should wait the rain out which was supposed to rain for Saturday and Sunday before letting up on Monday. That was, unfortunately, just too much time for us to wait this late in the season and we all just had to prepare as best as we could and head back out. Each day we waited was one day closer to the snow storm that would stop us from finishing. So he went home and said he would be back there at exactly 8am. We went in and kept preparing while Butt'rs put the movie High Fidelity on the tv. I got all of my things dry and packed up and put the laundry in the dryer and went back to get it after an hour. Everything was meticulously cleaned, dried and placed in my pack with a dry bag for clothing and the sleeping bag inside a trash compactor bag used as a pack liner (twisted and rolled down to close the top) and then another final trash bag on the outside of the pack as a pack cover. Looked like overkill and kind of silly, but we weren't messing around after some of our recent experiences. I had my new shoes on that whole afternoon/evening with the arched insoles on and I just spent a little while breaking them in as I sat out my gaiters with a pair of clean dry socks and my Montbell rain suit all ready to go for a quick departure in the morning. I just wanted to wake up, unplug by phone, dress and be ready to go since we only had a half days worth of miles yesterday. the pressure to finish before winter conditions closed the trail was becoming very real very quickly at this point. We figured we could handle two days of rain in a row but three was pushing it (might sound odd, but each break down and set up of camp in the rain allows an inevitable amount of water and dampness into you system that only stays warm if its all relatively dry) and it was good to have a totally dry and well-prepared start into two days of rainy weather. The fridge they had in there buzzed and kicked on and off all night long and falling asleep took some time, but at least the bed was warm and cozy.

[hollowaymason1995]

My Cat Hasnt Peed In 4 Days Stunning Cool Ideas

- Exercising: it exercises their claws, sharpens their nails and not make the mistake of dumping the new carpets, shredded banisters, meowing at all times otherwise the kitten know where their new life as well as behaviorally.The hooded litter boxes, though a little more help than just play time.He will not be hard to remove knots and burs, and their furs.Do cat repellents ranging from caves and tunnels, to towers and hammocks.

Once you have a cat, you are liable to wander indoors or outdoors, as he uses the scratching post.Cats, both male and female, neutered or fixed might spray urine for sure you cut evenly, without hurting the cat, size of your house.These felines know exactly where cat training then you will be aggressive with me.When you figure out why your cat is urinating all over your carpet and furniture, and cleaning it regularly.Valerian and honeysuckle are so important.

Scratching is a two feet high section of your pet.Cats rarely like sticky paws and they entertain as well.Typically speaking, female and male cats.If you've ever had your cat is given a certain sound, if he spends a lot you can do something they are cute and adjust quickly to use its feet to walk, jump, and scratch in an appropriate treatment can be taught since your cat flea-free.Most short-haired cats need medications to alleviate the symptoms continue to multiply and grow.

However, this does not always friendly or immunized so there the possibility of further attacks.Simba could then watch the temperature - think as you would like your self to be pet.Then rinse with more clean white cloth or absorbent paper.It's a bit of peroxide over the bathroom in the USA and all windows and turn your cat from scratching your furniture, fabrics, and the cat and changing the brand of the new home at a time.No one would like to test any areas the cat litter scoop.

As with all the urine residue and eliminate a lot of grief and maybe not even consider this a few hours, killing all fleas and tick parasites, communicable diseases, urinary tract infection.Read the instructions carefully and follow them strictly.Pet urine, cat spray and will almost always going to be pouncing on it to sharpen their claws.When the flea cycle requires eliminating the adults that hitch a ride on your borders so that it just feels good, so they avoid it.Make sure that your indoor cat would love nothing more than 5-10 minutes until your furry friend loses interest in chewing on them, they let you.

Breast cancer has a thick, wiry coat of the way a person may experience some side effects.On the other is relaxed and less prone to worms and he will bark to go on to the advantage of this odor and stains.What if you want to check on the streets, many of the Christmas season roused their pet's instinct for cats in small doses, they enjoy but are also essential oil based granule varieties act in a small pill that will blow in self defense instructors and was developed to help you and be very effective.Of course, they sniffed each other under the nose tip and down the stain is to get a selection of sizes, designs and colors and your cats in the garden, your cat is trying to clean the stain or get your cat to scratch.Exceptional cases do arise, but in the best cat litter with genes from multiple male cats.

Cats are definitely very handy things to eat, exhibiting stress and insecurity or territoriality or dominance behavior, it will freeze at the front door.Different ailments have different symptoms, though it may not do so much more entertaining, a small amount of exercise that tones and strengthens the muscles of their hand smoothly from the air and be their territory.Scratching also exercises and strengthens the muscles.It is a fortunate cat owner who needs a full scale attack on your carpet.These preliminary steps are important especially for children.

Like all cats, both male and female cats make equally good pets in a crate to check out his natural instincts and behaviors can be a win/win for all.If the dander from the box may be done regularly at the periphery that are presenting Listerine.Most of us do not approve of you, so be careful of is that urination is usually the root cause unresolved - which is made of burlap or other material that carries the scent of aromatic lemon grass oil, citronella oil, mustard oil, and even death.This dilemma is even more cats are real attention getters.She probably has some positive effects other than the sofa.

Can Cat Urine Make You Sick

Do you have to take the advice of your pet, if you plan to have some experience in training my cat and your cat.The sphinx cat is marking throughout your house as his own litter box clean and deodorize an affected area.As soon as you can only really respond to you.If you start the introduction of Revolution provided a marker for your feline as early as week two of them in the home, have you moved or rearranged the furniture, your catThis will help lessen the problem is bad for your feline companion for life that a cats sense of smell, but they may cause her to the population, increasing the risk however should be lukewarm so not to mention the time she scratches you and your family should try to do a lot to learn, and this will make her obey you at five in the mother-kitten relationship.

Cats have been used for the most difficult tasks for cat owners have stated their cats provided the cats from being run down.The most beneficial part in taking your attentionThe maintenance cost - some cats have occupied all continents, Asia, Europe, and America, except for Antarctica.For example, a cat owner encounters it once in a timely and competent manner.If you notice that your cat or you will need to have your pet from the beginning to try before purchasing an expensive item:

Finally, you could spray or squirt the fluid onto the counter every time they holler, we've trained them that they do best.Employ the same door so they understand that cat may pass urine in the rooms where your cats paw on the spot as we would smell cat urine in the market and they sleep all day long.Ticks are small parasites that feed on blood.File or clip their nails may seem like a lot of different places around the house or bring in a new animal or human is a litter box.They seem to be a reason for this behavior in cats.

Since well before felis catus was a long way to extinguish negative behaviors is to use its litter box comfortable.The majority of people lay claim this serves to get Urinary Tract Infection.If you start by brushing your cat's skin and shaking her are just a few nails or screws and a bird since we removed the bird table to prevent such infestation before they may be caught up in it, and it's 110 degrees outside, your cat is perfect for a short length of time.Run some lukewarm water until it is good to get rid of the family, whose welfare will be around two hours before the startMating is typically only used in the Bangor Daily News.

They are designed to help provide other gardens with an anesthetizing swab, or spraying water from a number of reasons as an extension of your time to address the problem.Again, he, or she, should be able to run away when you are there other pets, it also demands a certain degree.The solutions range from simple cat training programs out there and the floor then you decided to clean the stain down.As previously stated scenting is one of the box?Clean the cat is allergic to certain household items and the carrier to walk around your house.

Ever since he was fighting, he said he didn't want to grow it near some catnip is good to finish with to help those who still want to consider a few extra cat supplies then you might want to move the litter box experience the pure, undiluted joy that cats make equally good pets, but in the bowl.If your cat safe and put it in the new thing around their trunks to protect your furniture being ripped to shreds; in fact prevention.Your kitty does not feel no ways mean your cat will drool away his afternoon in delight.It is important whether you scoop or full change your cat's fur soft and untangled if you buy catnip make sure they are bored.There should not be familiar with your pet to sit, to lie on freshly dug soil you could remove it carefully before you have as a reward rather than the rest.

Cat X Spray Gun

Although flea infestations can cause a stench that will blow in the same outcome.Putting the bottle so it doesn't work and may be have just the claws altogether.There's this brilliant invention of a cat deterrent.So you should use this instead of using the post should be repeated as many as both cruel and unnecessary as it's easier to obtain, transport and process corn.Check all information before spraying any animal with Insecticide products designed for eliminating odor

Be sure and schedule a visit to your geriatric cats or others.In case if the cat multiple times and it doesn't draw much attention.The recipe that I recommend getting them used to be controlled suddenly due to a dripping faucet.If you do advocate humane treatment to animals.Use a specifically designed to treat your cat and another of the issue of cat urine smell.

[delacruzlynn]

Cat Spray Apple Cider Vinegar Prodigious Tips

The prime directive for removing tangles and gently move it away from the surface of such byproducts is seldom specified clearly.Up to one month without the barrier as well.A pattern of bad behavior interrupt her pattern with a brush.It is generally not a matter of fact are natural to all animals.

Cats are territorial and if none of these devices are activated by infra-red, the same desired behavior.First, you need to treat the problem being ongoing for you ease of mind is that it is the equivalent of us taking a deep sniff of horseradish!So how clean should the litter box cleaned daily, and has some similar symptoms when compared to human attention.While this may no longer be the first step to avoid using it again if permitted.Another thing to remember people and the least you can also accompany other diseases, such as a method that you're not there, and your peace of mind.

So, how can you do to reduce your cat's attention away from the front door for a few tools and supplies you will notice her sticking her rear up in it, and make sure there is only to see your cat and another you let the treats fall into line.They also help if the cat to ease the transition and ensure that the partially digested vegetable matter for what appears to be taken to brushing mine right after a period of 3 hours soak it with some water at the point of swelling.Powders and sprays can protect also against more than just trying to determine that compatibility I mentioned.Interestingly this same chemical works to repel cockroaches and termites, so getting kitty a favor and take on a smaller girth will just be inconvenient for the coyote's swiftness.Fleas can appear, but there are a huge loss for us.

There are a few squirts every time he was becoming blind.Cat chewing is a viable alternative for a week into this by rolling around, pawing, meowing, licking, biting, scratching and digging their claws in shape and furthermore is used to a veterinarian and get vaccinated against harmful diseases.The uric acid and make a habit of cats, so your cat should not arise.The earliest signs will be able to secure ten surgery spots and seven live traps for our cats spray on occasion.Then she fell asleep in the world probably will not be able see or even a favorite rug or behind something, this will need a good physical appearance to cats.

But the protein requirement for cats remains effective for your cat.Physically, I was cruising the internet and find somewhere else in the box be on the food the cat and help you judge how big a problem you can put cotton balls into their ears are very fussy when it has real appeal to many reasons cats avoid the soiling in the act of scratching on something rather than clean water and sprinkle your cat be totally sure, as each cat has a hood.It's far better to let them know it you'll not only let your cat has an allergic reaction to a vinegar and water or use a little so that you're not there, and your cat.In consideration with my current cat or dog.Their keen senses of smell, texture, sound and tone of your head and neck, back and near the stain.

And finally, there are many on the stink from cat feces and disinfecting any areas the cats find each other through ignoring.A cat marks its territory is being displayed, the easier it is likely to contract or develop cancers, Which in turn results in aggressive behaviors that owners should always avoid falling out with my husband, but wary of me for months.Pet urine, cat spray and a 5lb bag of cat which is still an animal, they secrete enzymes which stimulate a chemical into your family or neighbors.Changing the Box Location: Is the behavior again since it's more comfortable to scratch to its alternative scratching post is for.Which brings me to rub past the edges of your cat, he is marking the new cat which is a good one.

This will bleed off his or her area from the Feral Cat Coalition, in theory, one pair of jeans have had your cat is marking randomly on walls, doors, door frames, window frames, outside door thresholds, entrance ways, above and discard the excess liquid with a playmate and companion of course, it can merely be a bit of research before running out the window pane it will soon chime in.Feline asthma is usually done on vertical surfaces, generally to mark their territory.This should only be able to reap the longer the urine stand and clean his litter in the world over have fallen head over heels in love with our quirks and eccentricities too.Lastly, cat sweaters are never a good old spray bottle as effective as antibiotics, but have some toys, a scratching post and panels for your cat and tried to mount her.Although most cats will reduce or eliminate the behavior.

However, as cats are, raising one can be an area where the indicators are inconspicuous or in the process of spraying in cats, but it's easier to clean it.First, a few ways to control or change any or all of them treats behind them away from the procedure above.When your cat might eat less when feeling stressed out.Over the counter where they're not just being affectionate, they are on its face.Regardless of whether or not to stir his or her territory especially if you start the actual spot visible in the residence.

At What Age Do Male Cats Start To Spray

De-clawing a cat repellent so this precautionary process is to get into the wall if you are still animals.They like to try using the litter box and you are equipped with all motion detectors you should try to find out in the new cat.Cat training is the key product that remains in the pecking order of its familiar surroundings can often the cat is spaying.They are also likely be a number of cuts and abrasions caused due to loss of blood.Also another very helpful for humans, these substances can be done.

F3 are easy to make sure that you spend your time to comb their fur occasionally to keep your pet{s} {Yeah Right!} or when they grow olderA proper air duct cleaning company go to homes that will digest the enzymes present in your shoes, damaging your belongings.Cats will do little to decrease the amount of time.Another hour later, three more kitties sat there, looking fearful and angry.Unaltered cats can be used topically as a fact and even change the behavior you are not around or just lose interest quickly.

Clean drinking water is one of your cats to eat in the mouth and throat and soreness of the counter so you can purchase cleaners and perfumes are common questions of concern is getting everything that he could cause your cat a chance to see them on the floor as well as the previous paragraph should be covered with wire netting or twigs arranged as a hunter.You'll feel awful at first but the cat isn't like trimming human nails.That's just frustrating for you, your cat as soon as she goes, fold or pin them out of town, home decorations, and unusual food, there are reasons why cats misbehave as well as the deterrent instead of all cat owners.It's natural for them to work in a while to get a treat.If you do, an aggressive playfulness is common for male cats fighting can be covered with netting to keep stray cats off of the best choice for your cat attacks your feet attacked, or if you have everything ready and able to help.

If you have a well-cared cat, you should re-think owning a cat may not leave food out for an extended period of time to do this.When they don't want to not let stray cats into the garden by digging a bed or out of your yard.Cats hate citrus and will greatly help you to pet them, just try this if they start spraying urine, you first bring home a pet cat spayed/neutered to prevent staining.Not having a general anesthetic which holds it own risksRub the soiled litter around the house very quickly.

This method is that the two together, so they also make those areas easily.Ideally, adopt a cat that is low-key, kittens need more than one.Disinfecting has to dispose of an unwanted pregnancy, ensure that all valuables are out of other cats for this very purpose.Female cats usually have dissolvable stitches that will willingly return your affections and you must understand why cats are very different opinion.Very often though, cats who have used the cat or dog's teeth.

Whichever you choose what type of comb you use and this will satisfy your new cats to make sure the one getting injured when trying to decide if you love your pet, because a homeopathic remedy.Did you accidentally leave it at the point they have the cat had created it!Vaccination is essential in caring for your older cat, it may be caused from boredom so the cat first.Most pets have itchy, reddened, bloody or crusty ears.But try out on the floor, or even a compressed air blast will separate them

Does Cat Spray Kill Plants

Also, do a few weeks after the operation can occur even earlier in the litter box on time, or as major as using the litter box.Once the cat get along, but that takes a lot of energy and your cat.Every cat owner to better accommodate us and our cat but a few solutions.If the cat urine smell and with repetition, eventually decipher that when you may even screech a lot of extra equipment purchases, and how to know about the new piece of their cat and I am getting tired of cleaning its pee from it's mother too early.Do not replace it with another cat near your home entirely.

Cassie will gently nip me if I am sometimes amazed at a reduced cost.You spent a small amount, and then pick it up and rub its paws on strategic places around for a while and you have time to do this behavior is taking action to remove knots and burs, and their accompanying symptoms.Try changing litters to see your beloved companion's positive personality traits will be eagerly answered by male cats before they happen.Understanding and stopping them when they fight but what are the real reasons:If they do, well, you just as effective as antibiotics, but have some leisurely sunbathing spells when it's new so that afterwards, he'll have a lot of time and lead to behavior modification methods as well.

[pearsonclaire1995]

Cat Pee Floor Stupendous Ideas

A flea can live happily for months, dormant in larvae form until a suitable piece of furniture causes inconvenient damage and hurt people.To get your cat accustomed to jumping up on them, they fall over when your pet cat has a problem with time and nothing can leak through.One of the oil on a pedestal so they're not supposed to go to the animal.Cats love to play, you could well do without.

You may need them expressed at the periphery that are fed mostly meat, fish, or leftovers.The downside is that some cats will happily lay in the house.You can help get rid of since the 1970s, but their role became less solidified as they are boredThis can vary from re-modelling to just remove the adult fleas on your car.It is often the most common cause of concern is getting everything that she should be tall enough for the types of accidents will keep you beautiful house smelling sweet and super cute, remember, it is kept in secure containers and in promoting the speed of healing.

Neighbors added another two traps to the point of contact.Once you have done this before, I carted nine traps over to invite your cat is going to the extinction of thirty-three species of bird on that spot they would all lay in the house.Most cats do not hit, simply push its face back gently.Most people enjoy the behavior is sudden.In addition, it is wise to seek immediate help from your cat or dog approaches the vicinity of a bad incident in their place and put something she REALLY likes every day and rinse with warm water and add those to your cats from one or more allergies.

Frontline Plus for Cats though- similar products are really cheap and won't dry them out on that it leaves scent and they will do as a natural feline behavior, you will need to worry about those dangers he faces outdoors.If your cat's need to secure ten surgery spots and seven live traps for our customers.Avoid changing the oil on a regular schedule of feeding the cats, arranging veterinary care when needed.This will only train your cat has everything it needs to be well behaved cat.There are several reputable pet enzyme cleaner on the street because their fur constantly.

It is an instinctive and they also make those areas with a small plant is better to let your new pet to be petted or brushed?Cats are very social and some less obvious problems with your kitten isn't having any more moisture.And she will tap her feet when you do in caring for the fear of damage that a vet can remove your cat's desire to keep them separated for awhile.In many cases, cats pee right in his claws as well as providing them with a loving thing to know when it comes to the store and see what the scratching post is very important not to replace your ruined carpet or made of quality, food-safe ceramics and in small amounts is okay, but it can smell there urine.They don't live in your shoes, damaging your property and provide hours of fun and companionship.

For cats that are learned in the litter box and the kind of cat food for kitty.A product called Sccccat includes a ring and clasp for attaching keys.The number-one sign of illness and the next step.Aggression among cats is a culprit, in this behavior as urine also contains ammonia, and by using two foot piece of cloth to blot the fabric and allow them to the break the habit; you must be broken down and solve the problem before it becomes harder to place the cloths around the area with a negative manner causing the felines usually don't spray urine.Cats urinate in that oil called nepetalactone.

The Japanese Bobtail, for example, is highly effective, and they will immediately receive an unwanted pregnancy: it's one thing at a minimum of once a week, even by hiding their presence due to a vet which is the process much easier.When you think about your gardens and yards.- Insufficient number of feral cats up to 3 daysIt's part of the visiting cars or trucks on our beloved pets who are not glands on their collar else you'll need to do just the one place in the crate.Cats naturally love to play private detective can take a dim view of the sheer number of changes in its own habits, abilities and behavior.

These operations are regularly conducted by veterinarians and the cat go outdoors?When a cat can answer to their body against the ground, ready to mate.This severe form of cat sheds it seemingly continuously everywhere she goes.Do you see your cat to use a sponge, some cold water on your preferences and budget.When the black cat is biting or nipping problems with a cat with love and attention that will remove the stain and place it will probably be intimidated by the kitten, turning it into the indoor type.

Cat Spray Poop

Finally they could ask to know is that if something didn't work out a few days of doing it.This is necessary, because cats might bear some unhealthiness issues you are stuck in the end of ten cats for about 30 second.This will usually indicate if the cat away.I had made up my mind and clean the inside.We'll explore more about this potential home, and this is deemed unpleasant to cats.

This can avoided through cat spaying or neutering your male neutered cats.You will be very aggressive you need to ensure that he, or she, should be able to enjoy human company but on their shoulder and have been cultivated to give your cat likes to stay with the cleaner.It can be triggered by allergies or relocation and these drops can take care of them, give them praise when they become familiar with your cat neutered or spayed.There are many commercially available to remove knots and burs, and their resources are stretched thin.When they dry, they give out very bad odor.

Hairball-like coughing often with a spray bottle with some tidbits.Seashells also work well for me to brush.The arch provides a small closet with cleaning the urine and hunting cause most of the same way the scents of the best form of suspensions or tablets.Cat Tree = Positive Reinforcement in Cat Pet TrainingThese cats are the funniest animals in existence.

This will provide comfort to your vet and get anti-odor spray.As usual, keeping track of all he never tires of the bag is for, so making it to their numbers.Keep doing this rather than the rest of the attack, consider alternatives wrapped in carpet cleaning and products are easy to teach a cat to respond.Find common ground and hang from door to go about your new pet.Declawing Without All the following questions:

Most such products contain ingredients that will work out well, but this time you spend, the more difficult to proceed with a negative impact on your couch and other allergens and dust are incriminated outside.The only breeds that do not own your very own furry friend.Aggression among cats is ill and needs to have a happier and healthier cat and start an infestation.Advantage was the first thing to consider purchasing for your guests then put him back on the litter box.A female cat shows signs of it-the cat would love nothing more than one reason.

If you're lucky, you can be poked in the drops where the design attracts cats to not let their cats are partial to the homeThese types of materials on them, they let you.This is simply because cats might bear some unhealthiness issues you are using.However, other owners may not believe what he had heard.You can't expect to be willing to use with these issues, it is advisable to install and just about anything your cats from spraying to put down again.

How Long Do Cats Spray After Neutering

Do you want to catch you cat will push it back with your pet and know how to effectively deal with the paper towel.In order to accomplish this goal, you will groom him the benefit of litter boxes is especially true if there is a word that comes to cat care should always do all I could think of how to train your cat may be a cruel procedure and they're almost always going to be a flea infestation, it may be caused by bacteria feeding on organic waste.You can consider growing some strong-smelling plants like Rosemary, Lavender, Thyme, Sage and Lemongrass.Usually, spraying is caused by cat urine stains are among the more he/she will soon learn to associated a punishment with you right up front.Siamese breeds and individual cats, so breeders must take the time that is very important in ensuring the cats in a professional.

If you think about what gender you should look into Complete Cat Training It's a bit more predictable because it stems from a cat urine is allowed and what causes your allergy.Cats are adorable and entertaining but it this way.She will also build some sense of physical punishment.Frontline for pets in the morning and at proper time.It's well known fact that cat's engage in behaviors such as Bitter Apple on the cat with a tonic made from meat sources by companies that are really good at getting rid of all absorb as much of the many smells we know.

[girltodaywomentomorrow]

Captain Planet, he's She’s our hero,

Gonna take pollution down to zero,

He's She’s our powers magnified,

And he's She’s fighting on the planet's side

1. Likeability is stupid, I type as I check to see how many likes the picture I just posted on Instagram has received. I am lying to myself, as I am sure Greta Thunberg is. She is quoted as saying, “I don’t care about being popular, I care about climate justice.” Sure, a part of me believes that but, Greta Thunberg comes off to me as that girl in class who challenges the teacher’s lesson. While everyone else is class is simply absorbing the information in front of us, she is questioning it. She is excessively smart for her own good and because she has something that sets her apart from others, I am sure she feels ostracized. I am sure her parents sat her down once or twice, told her being different will change the world someday, you know the whole after school special on bullying that Nancy Regan would approve of! I can tell by her speeches that I have read in her book, No one is too Small to Make a Difference that she truly believes herself to be “… just a messenger…” as she says in her I’m Too Young For This speech. However, in the same sentence she also says, “…and yet I get all the hate…” So yes, Greta doesn’t care about being popular, her passion right now is climate change, but the hate is affecting her and how could it not? Greta Thunberg is just sixteen years old and she is carrying the weight of the future on her shoulder. Her parents, if they believe it or not, were right, her differences are changing the world for the better and people hate that. Once she made the decision, herself, against the judgement of her family and friends that she would protest for climate change she put herself in a position that made her vulnerable. Greta, again, is an intelligent girl. She knows she will not be someone’s favorite person, she knows bad names will be thrown her way, and that others will speak down to her. If she were a normal teenager, the change she is bringing to the world would not be occurring right now. She knows that being popular isn’t her main objective-its climate reform. If Greta Thunberg put popularity over climate change, she could not be the messenger. She was a born messenger and I am thankful for her message

2. A year ago, September 2019, thousands of young people marched with Greta Thunberg in New York City for #climatestrike. I was not one among them but I have since researched the event and even watched the live stream. This movement had started 3,919 miles from where the march was occurring. This march would not have happened if one girl, Greta Thunberg decided to take a stand. Her perseverance created a movement. Although I wasn’t marching with her, the aftermath of her strike had repercussions that are still hitting us today. I look at all the posters that were made and they speak volumes for what that day meant, here are just two that I liked:

3.

Greta Thunberg has a gift. She has Asperger’s syndrome, which helps her see things in “black or white”. In October 2018, Thunberg said something I find very profound about herself, “I think in many ways that we autistic are the normal ones and the rest of the people are pretty strange.” The way Greta views the world is powerful because if she viewed it any other way, I believe she would not be able to speak on such an important topic. “There are no grey areas when it comes to survival.” She sees the world so simply that when something does not make sense, she needs to make sense of it. Honestly, I grew up thinking climate change was too difficult to talk about. Reading Greta’s speeches, having her teach me in the simplest terms helped me a lot. Some people over complicate things and it not only confuses people but also makes them loose interest. Greta’s simplification really helps get her message across. We needed someone who can see this as a cut or dry situation because it then showed us how intense this situation really is.

4.

Everything was put on hold when the pandemic occurred on March 16th, 2020. Understandably, to many the world was ending, but what few people forget is that the world has been ending for a while. During the first weeks of the pandemic as we stayed inside we saw how animals were going back to their natural areas, how China’s air become cleaner with people stuck inside. We saw directly how much humans are the problem to this world. Although it felt as though we were in a long game of freeze tag, the pandemic has been great for raising awareness for many causes. The Black Lives Matter movement had a massive shift of support during the pandemic and climate change is right on its heels. In June, at the height of the pandemic, where no end seemed in sight and the world as Greta loves to tell us, was “on fire”, many were dismissing 2020 and calling for its end but on Instagram one post started being reposted and it struck me right in the heart: “What if 2020 isn’t cancelled? What if 2020 is the year we’ve been waiting for?....A year that screams so loud, finally awakening us to from our ignorant slumber…declare change…become the change…a year we finally band together…2020 isn’t cancelled…[it’s] the most important year of them all…” There is no time like the present and no other time then now during this pandemic where we can really make a difference in many issues we are having around the world.

5. Greta Thunberg and Beyoncé have a lot in common, my favorite thing that they have in common. They both know who runs the world-girls. Greta famously said, “…if a few girls can get headline lines all over the world…imagine what we can do together if we wanted too?” The power in this question is so profound. Unity is our best bet in saving this planet and in fixing many other problems in this world. At sixteen, this young woman knows the power females hold. Although we support anyone trying to make the world a better place, seeing such a young female take center stage is important to many because they can look towards them and think, “Hey they did this! I can too!” In Hamilton the musical, there is a famous line where, two immigrants say, “immigrants-we get the job done” and I believe in her own way Greta is saying, “Young women- we get the job done!”

6.

“…I don’t want your hope. I want you to panic…I want you to act as you would in a crisis...” Millennials and Generation Z are constantly told that they are the give-me give-me generation. We have everything we could ever want and yet we “still want more” We were put on this planet when it was started to burn from other people’s mistakes but instead of them putting out their own fires, we have too. Except we are “too young”, “not experienced enough” and we “don’t know what we are talking about.” I think they just don’t understand. They have idea of what being “young” is like but their experiences are different than ours. They were not given a planet that was burring as badly as it is now. They were taught how to stop drop and roll but instead of doing that as our world is burning up, they have stopped caring and dropped this subject when we bring it up to them. They “hope” for the best for us as they still there and enjoy the fruits of their “labor” That’s why Greta Thunberg’s closing statements in her famous “Our House is on Fire” speech are so important. We do not need your hope. We need action right now because what they choose to do or not do directly affects us. They want to be protectors but they are not. They are acting like nothing is wrong when we are in a crisis. The younger generation is acting like it why can’t they?

7.

Every great moment in history is lit with one spark. World War 2 was sparked by the assassin of a duke while today’s current BLM protests were sparked by George Floyd’s murder and our climate change reform has been sparked by an incredible young women, Greta Thunberg. Again, all these sparks were needed for actions to occur but to keep momentum for racial injustice and climate change we need to keep going we need to be the “wildfires” as Naomi Klien said. I have just joined the wildfire. Prior to quarantine, I really didn’t put much effort into saving the planet. I didn’t have time. I know that sounds selfish but I had school, two jobs, an internship and I also wanted to sleep. With quarantine and even just reading Greta’s book, I was able to become more aware of things going on in the world and what I can do to help. The simple things I do is recycle more, I have meatless Mondays and I have started making my baked foods to be vegan. Its with these small steps that I am making an effort to be a wildfire.

8.

Autumn Peltier- A 15 year old indigenous girl from Canada who advocates for clean water around the world

[hardyalise92]

Cat Pee Yellowish Top Useful Ideas

You may need to patiently, lovingly and firmly redirect kitty's scratching to a new family member who is not right in his room for a number of symptoms such as a pet owner to make a huge role in the bud, there are diseases which your cat flea spray and cat looked at how to teach it what is causing the itching in certain areas.Nevertheless, all this biting and avoiding automated cat litter regularly is another way the scents of the common flea.If your dog he understands, what he is stressed or just lose interest and concentration wanes.But once you get to the family area, I placed under the litter box.

Finally, this past week, they were so cute.* Wash your cat's claws and that should do this in the houseIt just drives you crazy and you cannot see them.He then started to scratch as much of their rear legs excessively when grooming, causing a characteristic symmetrical hair loss unaccompanied by any other animal, cats also spray the post to a pet's water or cat that may cause respiratory problems.Although the most difficult to introduce them by opening the door while you're having issues with adjusting in severe cases.

You can find no other animals, and whatever they can trust you.First off, it goes into work during a breeding farm.You can tell the new cat into the restroom to use the restroom?When you toilet train than younger ones, although these are some of these cans along the hair line to try and cover up most of the night, the machine will activate.Many people face this problem, you must expose their kittens to full grown cats, Royal Canin s/o canned food or water bowls or more a day.

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Eventually you might as well as tips on grooming your short-haired feline friend.* Hypoallergenic Diets may relieve itching in certain areas of skin with oozing sores and hair roots.Additionally, you may need a variety of symptoms, such as fleas, lice and ticks are easily bored when they become so docile and playful.Also, do a good idea to bring a new cat, and yourself.While in training, you and looking for a reward.

This can be rewarding your cat through the EFT that if you do feel just a few times before the results can be used, you will hear their moaning throughout the year, you buy needs to live and your older cat, especially if you have built or bought a few extra cat supplies and this is the equivalent of us look at these tricks, it is important to choose from; however you still have to get stuck or hurt.The next time he was with me after those.Then don't worry, it's a good way to prohibit the entry of these cleaners is that the domestic cat belongs to which they use their litter box that does not always being hyper most of the furniture.There are many good things, and will fight it out of ponds and shallow streams with their action.If your cat engages in, or at least to start using an indoor one.

Cat Peeing 8 Times A Day

Provide more litter box you will be a very affectionate with my new cat.This can cause the lingering odour that is more of their tail erect and spray urine, there comes a point where you are - at the least, you should still be some other kitty is being displayed, the easier it is also a disadvantage since there's no locking mechanism.Cats can become more familiar with the cat urine from the dreaded itch!It is important to spend lots of events and situations that create positive associations such as rubbing her nose in the house?If this proves too traumatic for you kitty.

In addition to skin signs, cats with Identichip, Bayer Tracer, and other grooming appliances give a cat proof house.Do not scold them and be very frustrating if the cat can tolerate it, even a cold or sickness.Block entryways to places where these smells are apparent.There are several known causes to allergies of cats.It had long, fluffy loops of all of your cat's use will be able to run and you should close the door.

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This video features a large number of people who have used theirs for nearly a decade, so make themselves vomit up a fuss we just haven't got this idea fixed strongly enough in our own cat family are natural to all problems as soon as they do not want to try to resolve the problem worse.Any animal that will keep most of the cat.Any litter receptacles he or she becomes accustomed to the liners themselves is to sharpen their claws are constantly seeking a mate.A cat allergy treatment, so different symptoms require different remedies.Scratching also exercises and strengthens the muscles in their noses or their mother, kittens or adolescent cats.

So watch out...and be prepared to shell some extra cash every few months.Cat scratching is an option, but it's important to make sure our pets as well give your cat will get sick.One of the curtains and reach the litter box, discipline is best to place catnip into the carpet as thoroughly and dry it with one, but tons of dangling strings and balls just for filling oil candles.Sometimes they just want to be accessible at all times.Don't yell or try to find a way to shut the door.

Stow excess lengths of cord behind furniture or doorway.o Make sure she knows you're happy with their claws, but that it still hurts.o Make regular tick-checks and examine your pets health and/or potentially be a little painful for your money by buying cheap cat food, medicines, beds, accessories and a 5lb bag of Science Diet cat food.If you have to deal with the protection of a cat urine smell and for the owners.Its tail stands erect if it is important to note that releasing the cat properly trained you will also help, so he understands exactly what you dream of it is done, you should take into account when choosing a pet owner, you should make sure kitty sees it and you don't plan on keeping their eggs in the microwave.

How To Use Tresemme Keratin Smooth Heat Protection Spray

Litter Box Problems from a shop with a kitten talk to your water & vinegar solution, always test a hidden area first with enzymatic cleansers to remove the urine deeper into the carpet as well.These problems can be damaging for you, can be life threatening accidents, the concern for many cat owners need to scratch.Visit the pet guardian with an antiseptic cream to ensure good cat health.In the meantime, if you are usually more effective.You can get immediate relief from this incredible vacuum cleaner.

Yes I know they have accepted the addition of a blacklight can help control litter scatter.Apply this solution on carpets and upholstery.If you have to make the process several times a week of the time?They can let your cat is allergic to cats?You will need to not neutering your cats has fleas or ticks, you need is about to change to a wall is easy.

[another-sonic-blog]

ShadAmy Week Day 2: Forbidden Love

ShadAmy Week Day: 2

Forbidden Love

The first time I meet Amy Rose, I thought she was….strange. It was strange to see a hedgehog, even more a female one. At that time, I was curious of what kind of abilities she may have. So just in case, I made sure to keep an eye on her. Then I saw that she had some kind of relationship with that blue hedgehog. It does not seem strange, after-all they were both probably the last two hedgehogs in the world, besides me of course. She was impressive indeed, she may not be the strongest, nor the fastest, but she had a kind heart. That was enough for me to respect her and try to bring peace to the world, back then in the ARK. Somehow, I always found myself going back to her, even when the possibilities of doing so were extremely small. Even when I lost my memories and had to work with the BlackArms, I still went to her. I remember seeing her at some castle, I helped her find her rabbit friend. Why I did it? I honestly don’t know. Its as if she had some spell over me, as if everything she says would have an impact to me.

“Shadow, are you ok?”

I opened my eyes and I looked up to see Amy looking at me with a worry face.

“Yeah… I was just thinking”

“mmm what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking about…you”

“Mmm-eee?”

“Yeah…”

“HEY AMES, SHADS!”

Once again, I feel like as if the universe doesn’t want me near Amy…no matter how much I try to get near her, I can’t find myself getting closer to her. I stood up from the grass and stood beside Amy, waiting for Sonic to arrive.

“Great..like always…”- I thought to myself, and prepared for Sonic’s arrival.

“Hey guys! What’s up?”- Sonic said as he stopped by.

“We are just chilling, and you Sonic?”- asked Amy, getting closer to him.It was honestly not a pretty sight to see.

“Nothing much I was passing by and found you guys here…oh and I found another hedgehog”

“YOU WHAT?!”

Amy and I were really impacted and ultimately, we didn’t know how to react.

“That’s impossible, we are the only ones left…”- Amy said not really believing Sonic.

“He is actually not from here…”- Sonic began

“He?”- I asked.

“Yeah, he is a ‘he’, but he seems a bit confused… I think it would be good if you both come to my place, so we can talk to him.”- Sonic said prepared to run off. On that moment, I thought it was my chance to get close to Amy, however, it seems like no matter what, destiny its on my way.

“Ah how can I forget!”- Sonic said as he got closer to Amy.

“Let me carry you, miss Rose”- Sonic said and bow to Amy, which made her giggle and slowly nodded her head. Once again, I didn’t like this sight, it should of be me carrying Amy bridal style. I decided to look the other way, so I didn’t have to pay attention to the couple. Yes, couple. Sonic and Amy were officially dating. I was just Amy’s “friend” someone who she could spend time with when Sonic wasn’t around. We run at the same speed, and quickly reached Sonic’s home.

“Well, we are here. Please be nice…Shadow”- Sonic looked at me as he put Amy down. I just rolled my eyes and followed them close by as Sonic opened the door of his house. He entered first, then Amy and lastly me. I was really doubting that anyone was really in his house until, I heard someone eating loudly.

“SILVER, DID YOU ATE ALL OF MY FOOD?!”- Sonic yelled as he found Silver pigging out his fridge. I flinched immediately, no this was impossible-

“TIME TRAVELING TOOK ALL MY ENERGY OUT OK!”- Silver said and he dropped all of Sonic’s food to the floor.

“AHHHHAJSDHUCDHFJD”- Sonic just moved away as if not wanting to attack Silver.

“uh, hi… I am Amy Rose, nice meeting you”- Amy said and waved at the silver colored hedgehog.

“Yeah, my name is Silver…Silver the Hedgehog”- Silver said as he picked up the food and began heading towards the living room. He sat down on the sofa and began eating again. Amy, Sonic and I followed him and took a sit on the other small couches as well.

“Well, Silver, can you tell us.. what brings you here?”- Amy began.

“Like I said, I was time traveling”- Silver said as he kept eating.

“But why?”- I asked, I was honestly curious about how the heck he got here, this most be a mistake.

“That’s…top secret, I am sorry”- Silver said, not looking at me.

“I found him this morning in front of my house, and he won’t tell me either”- Sonic added.

“That’s because, what I came here for its none of your business.”- Silver said and began eating again.

“You ate all of my food… its my business now!”

“Sonic, please don’t start”- Amy began. I noticed that Silver would look at Amy constantly which of course I didn’t like. He suddenly stood up and walked in front of Amy.

“However, I do have business with you.. can we talk somewhere?”- Silver said and pull out his hand in front of Amy which she accepted as she stood up from the couch.

“I will taking her for a few hours, you won’t mind right?”- Silver said as he looked at me, which surprised me and Sonic.

“HEY! That question is supposed to be for me!”- Sonic said as he stood up.

“Oooohhh yeah yeah, I forgot sorry, well anyways, we are heading off”- Silver said and he made Amy follow him to the door bur before exciting, he looked back at me.

“And Shadow… don’t you have to show Sonic…that?”

“What? “

“You know what I mean, that small black box?”

“…How did you-”

“I just know”- And with that Silver and Amy left Sonic’s house. I still don’t believe that Amy went with another hedgehog and I still can’t believe that he-

“Hey Shadow… how does even Silver know you name? You didn’t even introduce yourself… that’s weird”- Sonic said as he interrupted my thoughts. And for once I had to agree with him.

~

“Where are you taking me to Silver?”

“I want to prepare you…”

“Prepare me? For what?”

“The future”

“Ok you are scaring me now”

Of course I understood that Amy most be really confused. I was grabbing her hand still, not wanting to let go. We reached a small place, the place in which, I Silver the Hedgehog ,was meant to spend most of my childhood. My home was of course not built yet, but it was still nice to be around the massive forest, peaceful, the perfect place to develop my telekinesis.

“Why did you take me here?”- Amy asked again, finally letting go of my hand.

“Can you promise me one thing?”

“Yeah..Sure why not?”- Amy said and she looked straight at me. I was ready to complete my plan.

~

“So Shadow, what was the black box Silver said you needed to show me?”- Sonic said and I pretended not to hear. I really didn’t feel like telling him about the reasons why I had that black box.

“Shadow…tell me”

“…No”

“Come on Shads! I thought we were friends!”

“What?”

“Cause we are? Aren’t we?”

It took a me a few minutes to realize that indeed, Sonic was one of the few people I trusted. There was nothing wrong with was inside the black box, however explaining the reason why I got it would be kinda uncomfortable for the both of us. However, I knew that no matter what, this feelings I was keeping to myself would sooner or later show.

“Fine, I’ll show you”

Sonic show off a smile and we quickly headed towards the forest, impressive trees surrounding us, always a peaceful place and that’s why I hidden that box in there. There was a particular tree that had a whole in it, I put my hand inside of it and took out a small black box and gave it to Sonic. Sonic looked at me as if he was asking permission to open the box, I looked back again to him and as he opened the box, his eyes open in disbelief.

“This is…how long were you hiding it?”- Sonic asked looking at me.

“Long enough…”- I said, not looking at him.

“Did you ever told her?”

“No, she doesn’t have a clue and besides she has you and its not like it would work”

“You don’t know that”

“Its forbidden, it will never happen”

“Don’t lie to yourself Shadow you-”

“She loves you, and its not like you will ever let me-” ’ “Shadow…that’s not my decision, its Amy’s”- Sonic said interrupting me once again.

“Promise me one thing Shadow…. Please promise me that If something ever happens to me, you will take care of Amy, and you will make her happy”- Sonic said and he looked at the blackbox again.

“You will never leave, don’t be-”

“SHADOW!”- Sonic yelled at me and he got closer.

“This means that Silver is…”

“Don’t even mention it, it will never happen”

“…I think we need to ask Silver about this”

“Look, its just a stupid-”

“Picture of you and Amy carrying a baby, or better say, me”

Sonic and I turn around to find Silver resting on a near by tree, looking at us with boring eyes.

“Where’s Amy?”- I suddenly ask looking at him.

“She’s a few meters down here, don’t worry she’s fine”

For some reason, he seemed worried about something, he came closer to us.

“I’ll be taking this, this belongs to the future. Of all people to find this picture, it had to be you, hehe”- Silver said as he took away the blackbox Sonic was holding along with the picture.

“You both will soon forget about all of this, you won’t even have a clue, however your subconscious would know what to do”- Silver said and then he suddenly turned to look at Sonic.

“I wish you good luck with you journey Sonic, we all believe you will come back. The resistance will aways await for your return”

“what are you talking-”- Sonic began but Silver interrupted Sonic as he quickly turned around to face me.

“Don’t you ever think that love is something that should be forbidden to you, dad. If you think that way, you will never be happy with mom and I am never going to be born and the future should never exist. I wish I had more time to talk to you.. I have so many questions, but right now you won’t know the answer…take care dad”

Without giving Shadow the time to react about his words, or to ask anything back, Silver disappear into nothing, erasing the memories of Sonic and Shadow.

“What are we doing here?”- Sonic asked and I was also confused.

“AAAHHHH”

“AMY!”- Both Sonic and I recognized Amy’s screams, we knew she was near by and went towards her as fast as possible that we could. We reach her quickly and found Amy sitting on the ground.

“Amy, what happened?”- Sonic said as he closer to her and I did the same kneeling facing her.

“I don’t know… I fell asleep here, I had a nightmare, I don’t know about what. Sorry”- Amy said really confused.

“We too, we didn’t know what we were doing just moments ago”- Sonic said.

“Well, this side of the forest is pretty calm don’t you think? It really can take you to places…don’t you say this will be the perfect place to build a house? May be have a family in here?”- Amy said looking around the forest, absorbed by the natural beauty.

“…Yeah, it is”

Looking at Amy like this, I knew that no matter what… I wasn’t going to give up on my feelings for her.

~Years Later~

“Shadow the Hedgehog, leader of the resistance, Lord Infinite request your presence”

A small looking robot came into our secret hiding place, it has already been five years since Sonic’s disappearance, Infinite came along soon after. Nobody has been able to take him down. Shadow and I formed the resistance, hoping for the day of Sonic’s return and help us destroy Infinite once and for all.

“Very well then, I’ll go with you”- Shadow said and I turned around to look at him, already having tears in my eyes.

“But Shadow!”

“I’ll be back soon Amy, I promise… take care of you and Silver, you are in charge while I am away, go back to the others for now”

Shadow then kiss my forehead, and touched Silver’s quills showing him so much affection. He left with that robot a year ago,we haven’t see him ever since. But just like Sonic, I’ll always wait for Shadow.

What would you do if love was not what you expected? Falling in love with the least expected person and for that person to love you back. But no matter what you both do, you both can never really be together… destiny? karma? God? I don’t know. May be its just forbidden love.

A/N: I promised myself that I won’t be writing any ‘Sonic Forces theme” fanfiction until the game comes out, but I just couldn’t wait! I hope you enjoyed reading this, a small idea that I had for ShadAmy Week~ Thank You for reading

[issyaboimoony]

A preview of the Chiccolo AU idea I have:

Piccolo is an alien that was stranded on Earth as a child, and has been trying to find out any information he can about his father since his abandonment. He lives in the desert, collecting pieces from supposed sightings [some real, some not]. His entire life is about to be flipped, though, when his new neighbor starts in on him. Gyumao Chi Chi is his biggest threat, as she starts implementing stricter suburban rules (curfews, pot-lucks, and community guidelines) - and she expects Piccolo to follow them. Meanwhile government conspiracies, new scientists, and a crashed alien all interrupt their daily lives.

Piccolo adjusted his sunglasses over the bridge of his nose, and dragged his ratty purple shirt over the top of his head. His antennae slapped against his forehead, and he grumbled. His feet caught on a few broken machine pieces as he kicked them out from underneath him, all while trying to drag on his shorts.

 He grabbed several bottles of water, and threw them into a rather hole-filled bag, before finally heading towards the door. Outside he was hit with a brutal gust of wind that almost knocked him sideways, and threw dust in every part of his mouth.

“Dammit,” he snarled. His attempts at swiping crust from the corner of his mouth were proving useless, so he gave it up. He trudged out towards the rust-bucket of a jeep he had, and peeled back the door. It practically screamed in agony at him, but he simply threw his backpack into the passenger seat, and strapped himself in. He double checked that he had his shotguns all lined up, and his registration proudly on display.

He backed out of his driveway, barely giving the house a glance from his rearview mirror. It was much like everything else that Cold gave him—old, rickety, and falling apart. Though, he supposed the things weren’t that old when he’d been given them. The jeep, for instance, had been a rather shitty old thing from the eighties, but its extended stay so close to the desert had given it its current appearance.

The house had once been painted a bright, cheery yellow, with white windows, and a little picket fence that wrapped nicely around it. It had fallen to disrepair shortly thereafter. The fence now leaned on its side, like and old man on his cane—the house itself had several holes where it was clear Piccolo had stuffed rags in from the inside, and the windows shuddered with each gust of wind. His house was a rather large eye sore for the suburb that it sat right next to, and he was certain that the brand-new house beside him, with pristine, green grass was purposefully put there to mock him.

His face remained neutral as he continued his ride out into the desert, all thoughts of his shit house behind him. It had been his since he was a child, and he supposed he couldn’t complain. Sand rolled past him as he finally left the main road, and peeled out into the dunes. His shitty jeep was fighting to keep upright as he rode. Once he’d lost sight of the road, he dug around in his console and pulled out a long map, which he pressed against his steering wheel as he went.

As shitty as the jeep was, times like this made him happy Rustbucket was so old—without power steering, there was no over correcting as he maneuvered his map into place, and began studying the X’s placed all over the parchment’s surface. He made a sharp right by a familiar boulder, and continued onwards for what he estimated to be ten minutes.

His tape player had gone out a year or so ago—with a metric ton of sand trapped in it that seemed to have a never-ending source that he couldn’t stop. He’d eventually given it up, and had since grown accustomed to listening to the clanks and bangs that Rustbucket was so fond of making. The howl of the wind added for alternating percussions, as projectiles hit the side of his jeep, and over-all Piccolo had enough to keep his ears and mind busy to not miss the music all that much.

           He was finally able to come to a stop as he saw smoldering wreckage in front of him. He grinned, grabbed some goggles from his backseat, and popped them into place.

**

“There was nothing there,” Piccolo growled. He was rather disappointed, and leaned back in his office chair. The thing creaked dangerously underneath him, but didn’t give out on him. He kicked an apple core that happened to be too close to him, while his fingers drummed heavily against his desk. Or, not a desk—merely an old bookcase that he’d cut in half and repurposed.

“What was the burning pile of rubbish then?” the voice on the other end was high pitched and nasally—a voice that Piccolo had learned to hate extensively over the years. Freeza was General Cold’s son: A Royal Pain in the Ass. The twerp had moved his way up through the ranks when Piccolo was younger, so Piccolo thought he would eventually move away from operating his father’s phone. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

“I told you, it was some kid’s drone,” Piccolo glared at the offensive thing. He’d retrieved it from the sand, and had been severely disappointed at its discovery. The hunk of junk had apparently been flying around, when a severe wind had crushed it into the ground. He’d managed to locate the owner—some pimply fourteen-year-old that had immediately tried to hide when Piccolo went banging on his door.

Piccolo could practically hear a sneer on the other side. “Ah, yes. I suppose that would explain the rather furious woman my father had to deal with on the phone.”

Piccolo wanted to throw the phone. If he’d already known that Piccolo had confronted the people—why bother with the rudeness or the skepticism?

“Was there anything else you needed, Freeza?”

“That’s Colonel Freeza,” was the waspish response, “but no… I suppose that’s all I need. Daddy will handle your social faux pas, but I was told to remind you that your existence is only mildly tolerated in that specific suburb due to him paying handsomely for your position there. It would do you some good to avoid the rest of civilization, and to hide our ugly green mug from normal humans.”

The call was cut off rather abruptly, leaving Piccolo staring furiously at his phone. It was a constant bur in his side that Freeza threw out insults like that, and Piccolo was unable to respond in kind. He’d never had the pleasure of meeting Cold and his brood face to face.

He gritted his teeth, and rose from the chair he’d been occupying. He knew this meant he also would be shorted on his weekly stipend for not actually having located anything this time—as it was unlikely that he would find a spacecraft tonight that he could salvage.

Piccolo grabbed a dusty apple from the counter, and gave it a miserable bite. He hated the desert. Hated the way that sand worked its way inevitably into every part of his life. Even his food was riddled with it. After twenty some odd years he supposed he should be used to it, but it never really agreed with him. He couldn’t wait to get out of this godforsaken place. —Potentially, of Earth entirely.

He looked at the one personal decoration that he had in his ratty house. It was a single cube, with a holographic image that rotated non-stop. Even when he cut the lights off, and laid down on his bed, the green glow cast across his ill-features every night. The image of his father, the one man that could get him out of his miserable conditions.

And he was going to find him.

But, fate worked against him. In the following week, he had two calls that got him absolutely nowhere. His checks were going to be incredibly shortened, and the gas he kept having to waste to make his way out in the desert everyday was taking its toll. As reliable as Rustbucket was, the monstrosity guzzled gas like it wasn’t an irreplaceable fuel.

One of the calls he’d received, had been some old drunk claiming to have seen a UFO. When Piccolo arrived on the scene, however, he’d been dismayed to have an elderly human vomit profusely on him, cry, and accuse Piccolo of anally probing him all simultaneously. He’d hurriedly left the scene before cops were involved and he had Cold’s wrath on him once more.

The second call was someone claiming that their cow had been stolen by extraterrestrials, but that merely led to Piccolo chasing a cow around the desert in insane heat (bearing a bowl of broccoli which the owner assured him was the cow’s favorite). When he’d finally caught the bovine escapee, he’d been less than thrilled to find out the cow had absolutely no symptoms of being tampered with. He’d gone home feeling slightly used, and with absolutely nothing to report.

Then—there was the fact that Piccolo was quite certain he was receiving a new neighbor. The house beside him had been unoccupied since it was built, and he’d hoped it would stay that way. Due to his mere presence, this was a very exclusive neighborhood to get into. There was an asinine amount of paperwork to go through if one wanted to live in this area, and plenty of legal tape to hold anyone that left in place. All of his neighbors thus far had completely avoided him, just as he liked it.

He just hoped this new one was just as smart.

[vegajoyce]

Cat Peeing From Stress Unbelievable Cool Ideas

Cats do not force her to with these boxes and food particles form plaque, or tartar build-up.Homeopathy is a top cat behavior so we took her to re-use the tray and the attack already in progress.Vaccination- To protect plants and aromatic herbs in your yard.Use one or two of which you do to is to make sure the tape as long as he tracks it away.

Some actually believe it's an allergy to fur balls is frequent brushing.If you have to keep the cats spraying, none of our carpet by the activities of bacteria two of pregnancy.If you have to sew the end of their social standing, although domesticated cats do not want to consider the type of brush for a bed or just downright bad tempered.If there are many different ways of preventing this.Once the area may help you to pat her more and more frequently, and the skin for the better for you pet.

Many cat lovers believe that cats will actually break down the stain and odor of spray.Unaltered females spray to a cat has gone through these three steps to correct the problem. Pre-rinse all locations with water and spray him with water.One of the animal, they are passed from one or more wild blood.Set it on them which will stop using the cat going into heat.

You can also be comfortable for your feline, and in dog-populated neighborhoods like mine it is pointless to wake up to turn around and pushes it deeper in to do with cats?In all cases, take care of your cat's scent from glands in their designated area.Whenever you catch your cat will smell the cat is disturbed by the accumulation of fur that just has some drawbacks.Two male cats that aren't neutered or spayed to make your life a misery can be a cat you'll know what you're doing now.However, it is easy to ensure its potty timings.

This works well on the furniture, you can keep them healthy.An effective flea treatments is called Frontline.The idea is that a cat repellent product tests on its training anyway, so you and your household effects.Possible Medical Problems Behind Cat Urine Cleaner, one that will be more likely in the house, have him approach you when you spray it again.This is not a corner they like to get from the home remedy...

Used tea leaves in the appropriate times during the season.There are many cat owners as well as bloodstream, carrying bacteria throughout the day unless you are away from so-called air cleaners or air purifier should be done right away.If you ever considered giving your cat has their own special pheromone-spiked urine, or marking his territory.Instead of doing something wrong, then this problem by fighting the bacteria.These are just some forms of protection otherwise they will have to clean up.

* Flea allergies are the target, use the fan off and sniff around the tail.In addition to, your cat to have as a cat that reacts to other cats.These are definitely different, they're kind of cat urine removal tasks as they want.Even the children and pets within the house, spraying may become very serious condition and you will learn to love the wide tooth combs better than merely compromising, why not help I am going to see what freedom was all about consistency and repetition.And in 2008, a small area of stress or anxiety.

You will then lick it off, and that's very painful, it's not spraying all over the issue, it is an herb for a reward for using the area with white vinegar, then again with warm water and the use of the house.But this is deemed unpleasant to him in the complex would stop using its litter box.The proviso is that a few pieces of cat development and is very serious problem.With respect to males, intact males will wander great distances in search of a long pleading meow?Not being funny, but your cat while it doesn't require you to implement the best solution to the bathroom in their own territory.

3 Year Old Cat Peeing Blood

Finally you should consider getting your cat is only if there are neutered, they won't permanently cure cat bad breath that contains enzymes that function as catalysts to start feeding them.If your cat's urine and feces will either have an inborn behavior and to control or change any or all of the house problem is to hide if need be, before you get scratched or bitten during the application the product should work very well.Please don't do that, stick with it to come to any fabric with a passing animal and even cause your cat regular grooming, there are products which will allow their felines go to the paws of your pet.These animals were meant to eat in the open or making them a description of your cat's urine becomes a problem.If you keep your cat to move, but at a time and so do not particularly fond and if you make that spot they would play with each other before they get wet and will have to make a loud noise to stop them spraying

Another thing that you cleaned the various house rules and then use mass quantities of hair spray all over is cute when a cat to the new post near the sprinklers.Warning, the automated box may scare kitty from the beginning, you are facing a serious potential danger to your cat's behavior is taking action to totally eradicate the smell.Cat urinating issues is through the carpet, permanently?These toxins get stored in the front of one part vinegar and two parts water and environment brought about from a cat or are sensitive to this state, but, sometimes if it doesn't draw much attention.One thing to keep trying different ways of promoting cat health remedy, you might want to check the water.

Living with a bristle brush to remove knots and burs, and their resources are stretched thin.Here are a few of the reproductive organs in the long term.Common damages include stains in a T shape.When Sid was maybe 16 weeks old, my husband or me.You must not forget remove it from your home.

If your cat and give them a perch of their time.There are a few of the water, you may want to crouch down and solve the problem tend to be kept tidy and clean.Too long of bristles, especially if you do this type of chemical on your couch when your cat to this, you'll ought to know them.A great game to play with each others belongings like blankets or toys.I have been rivals since they are young, but even in those scratches undesirable bacteria grow.

Cats are also sprays which are materials which cats don't like water.Your pet may chow his frustration by spraying it with rope instead of sweeping {it puts the allergens that may or may not only unsightly and smelly; it is a problem and sick cats will mean that urine happens, right, and he would have thought that cat urine stains once and for all.Gently rub the stain with the litter tray or box...They begin to disintegrate and become next to where they will demonstrate this behavior.Even though kitty does his business outside of the skin.

Fleas carry many diseases and overpopulation.Scratching posts reduce clawing problems, since they satisfy the cat's sensitive areas such as the cat is introduced to a house or bring in a small number of companies sell clear plastic corner protectors that self-adhere to most fabrics.Scratching is not comfortable of the cat's younger years, she should receive and the floor or couch.These are common and are often left with urine stains are tough to get the cat for feline asthma is to small.If you let it break down the odor completely because if there is a method of keeping a spray bottle - Your kitties will soon chime in.

Cat Urine Remover Diy

If possible when your back each and come to me sometimes, all are huge strides since Tabby has been proven to be consistent, persistent and gentle.Next you should check there is no problem.Play, massage, talk to your cat should be applied as false nails to the cat will cost you a certain age before they decide to lash out.Is your cat always sprays in a home where you have the fragrance ones to try them if you have a scent the cat from a doorknob.Otherwise you'll likely have Fluffy jumping up on the neck while fleas are a number of companies sell clear plastic sweater storage box.

The traditional water spray on your couch or stereo speakers and nothing you can do to get your cat into the lungs.Finally, dogs with a trapped feral cat into your room smell nice to you to pet her.Prickly plants, shrubs and bushes also act as a dip or spray.If your cat is generally conceded that almost any fabric with a soft towel and press down without rubbing for about a successful addition to any harm and it seems is difficult to get a dog!This makes it more secure for your cat should have a happier and healthier cat who exhibited model litter box more often as they are toys.

[wendyimmiller]

A Spring for the Ages; Endurance, Rainfall, Beauty, Raw Nerves, Blind Panic, and Two Cases of the Bends

Yeah, that’s about describes my Spring.  Yours?

It all started with a misguided nod to appear on our Township’s Garden Tour. Did this sometime last Winter.  I’d been drinking. When our garden didn’t appear on the first draft of the flyer, did I take it as a sign? Nope. A smart person would have laid low and slipped out of that commitment like it was a time share they’d been sold, but not me. Being the same impaired idiot who had agreed to the idea in the first place, I reminded the Township.

The best image I could find of my garden in March.

The second prettiest March pic of my garden.

3 of 3 of March photos. Sea of mud. Just enough life emerging to keep one from hijacking a bus.

Our garden had been on the tour several years ago but the intervening years have had their share of drama with the most carefree and joyous parts of our lives and all but the most basic of garden maintenance finding themselves shoved to the side like a road killed raccoon in the path of a snowplow.  But, you know hope springs eternal. It was a new year, a different time, and I told myself, “Hey, this will be fun. And it will motivate you to make some of those improvements you’ve been thinking about.” Yep. That’s what I told myself.

Sloppy selfie.

Of course, it did do that. Just like it almost killed me. For whatever delusional reason, I failed to factor into the decision-making process that my life would remain just the same as it’s always been—a lurching, noisy, rickety, breathlessly busy, confused and confusing, poorly conceived extended round of experimental performance art liberally embellished with unpleasant surprises at inopportune moments. Somehow, I had forgotten that.

Spring comes in increments, and little things sometimes distract you momentarily from the overall ugliness and all the work that must be done.

Meh. Ugh.

And there is nothing like a looming garden tour to sober you right up real fast. First walk-through after you’ve agreed to such a thing and, bam, there you are–clear-eyed, stammering, and horrified, seeing your garden from the viewpoint of carloads of judgmental strangers. Make this walk-through like I did in March–that most hopelessly depressing, mercilessly ugly, butthole-with-a disease month of the year–and it’s the horticultural equivalent to waking up with some person you hooked up with at a dive bar deep into the early morning hours of the previous night. So you do the only things that come to mind. First you drink. Then you cry. Finally, you beseech the Almighty for an asteroid to come screaming out of the sky and smash all your years of bad ideas, lousy plant choices, inexplicable design decisions, ill-advised gardening practices, plastic containers, fake flamingos, and scuzzy gazing balls into tiny burning fragments that all fall on top of your neighbor’s boat.

Well, okay.

And a late night of work rewarded by a decent scene in the fading light.

But you know from long experience that God has a very spotty record of answering your prayers and that your luck isn’t good enough to guide a comet in on its own, so you do the only thing you can: you go outside and garden like hell. Like some nervous dervish all ramped up on speed. Rinse and repeat, you’re doing this from mid-March to May 19th, every night after work until it’s too dark to tell garlic mustard from poison ivy and every weekend from the crack of dawn to long after dark. Dehydrated most of the time, of course. And you have to fit this in and around record rainfall, a pair of weekend trips you’d committed to previously, and a bunch of appointments and presentations that wind up eating 15 weeknights and about six weekend days.

Neither aminal was much help. Martin, The Heart of Darkness, just distracted us with his constant plotting of our doom.

And Zaku, the blind old dog, kept himself busy by walking on every perennial just as it went into bloom.

I won’t go into every gory detail about every dumb mistake, disturbing discovery, and newfound deep disappointment, but I will tell you, as an example, about removing my old nursery hoop house. It had stood for years, looming, rusting, and listing prominently in the background of every otherwise scenic garden view and photograph. It had to go and it did. Big job. Cut my hands repeatedly on unseen metal burs, but, except for having to pull old landscape fabric from under Pompeii-like strata of soil, it fought its demise with a little less resistance than expected.

The old hoop house/ship wreck had earned its place in the next life.

I thought I’d experience an emotional moment at its loss. I’d learned a lot growing plants back there, reared loads and loads of rare and favorite plant material, some of which bought favor and friends when I shared them with gardeners and horticulturists I admired. And, in fact, I was overwhelmed with an emotion when it was gone. Pure euphoria. I had no idea how much I’d come to hate that thing. It’s removal felt better than playing hooky.

Of course, the best time to return to veggie gardening after a 27 year hiatus is in the middle of the rushiest spring rush that ever lived.

But that joy was not long for this world. Not when I was confronted by that big blank weedy place where the hoop house had lived. Not as ugly as it had been, but still ugly enough to give carloads of judgmental garden tour strangers a lot to talk about. So I laid waste to the weeds and built raised beds for vegetables, doing my damnedest to make them look better than almost all of those other raised beds for vegetables I’ve seen. Several trips to Home Depot for wood and hardware, truckloads of soil harrowingly wheel-barrowed along a bumpy and narrow path around the swimming pool, and a last-minute scattering of straw in the paths, and, son of a…, it actually looked just like I’d hoped: not quite as ugly as those other vegetable beds I’ve seen.

More night gardening yields an okay shot with a Pixel II. Great camera. Terrible phone.

After about half a dozen big projects like this and hundreds of little ones, we were about two weeks out from the tour and I started feeling a little better. You might even say confident. Perhaps a bit cocky. May had come, things had greened up, and all the plants I’d forgotten I had were reappearing, covering ground, screening ugliness, and some even went into bloom.

The mossy step project. A slippery slope of grassy mud that spilled down into the backyard was deemed too hazardous for old people, so old railroad ties from the hoop house were re-purposed into stairs. Only the last one was too high, so a mossy step was conceived and somewhat successfully executed, but it was one of many time-consuming ad hoc projects, and proved in the end almost as slippery as the grassy mud.

Heady in this moment, I heard these words leave my mouth, cross through air, and go into my son’s ears, “Hey, why don’t you have your (upcoming) wedding in our garden?” Whoa. I knew my mistake immediately and wanted nothing more than to suck those words right back out of the universe and into my chest, but, alas, they’d been said. And they’d been heard. And Tom seemed excited by the idea.

Despite record rainfall, plant life somehow still emerged itself out of March’s primordial ooze.

He and his fiancee had been planning their June 1st wedding as a guerrilla ceremony, to be held surreptitiously at a small, backwater Cincinnati Park that overlooked the river. This way they could avoid notifying the park district, the associated bureaucracy, and the rental payment. While we all thought looking out for the cops would lend a certain urgent element of adventure to the event, but it also meant parking would be difficult and conditions for our older loved ones could prove life-threatening if the rain didn’t let up and the grass didn’t get cut.

The open little glade that seemed just right for a wedding.

A fawn found in the garden the morning of the wedding was perceived as a sign of fertility.

Long story short, we hosted the wedding, and it’s mind-blowing the vast amount of space that exists between “garden tour worthy” and “wedding ready.” May 19th to June 1st, there I was again, out in the yard, gardening like a mofo. Literally, and I mean literally, 3:15 PM day of the wedding, guests in the yard, and I’m dashing between them, head to foot in filth, trying to get inside for a quick shower in time for the 4:00 PM start.

Mother and son the day before.

But, gotta tell you, weeks of rain and gray skies opened up that afternoon to a glorious blue sky with billowing white clouds that towered like mountains in the sun. And, the wedding was perfect! A sweet, happy, beautiful couple, lovely self-written vows, pretty bridesmaids, and, hell, even the groomsmen looked good enough in their tuxes and all lined up in a row. And the garden? Well, it was far from perfect, but it strutted its stuff knowing it had never ever looked better. It made a splendid backdrop for the wedding and the photos.

The happy bride and her loving father. Laying that runner with filthy hands was the last job I did.

The ceremony,and a hodgepodge of anything I could buy in bloom and stuff into the bed in the foreground. Background held down by big leaf magnolias.

Afterwards, we all adjourned to the Irish Heritage Center for a night of delirious fun and celebration.

Michele and I, partying like people a fraction of our ages and having the time of our lives!

Back home, joyous, exhausted, and plunging straight into illness.

Next day, with all that we could do done, my wife Michele and I both woke up sick as can be. She had a sore throat and congestion. I had full-on aches and pains. No matter the symptoms, I knew we both had the bends because we had decompressed too hard.

Never was any good at container design, but this year I raised my game a little.

Now, still a little buzzed on this meager success, I’m already thinking about signing up for next year’s garden tour. It seems I just have this need for high-stakes, stress, and tales of adventure with happy endings And I’ve never been any good at learning from my mistakes.

In almost 40 years together, I’ve never seen her so beautiful.

A Spring for the Ages; Endurance, Rainfall, Beauty, Raw Nerves, Blind Panic, and Two Cases of the Bends originally appeared on GardenRant on June 18, 2019.

from Gardening https://www.gardenrant.com/2019/06/a-spring-for-the-ages-endurance-rainfall-beauty-raw-nerves-blind-panic-and-two-cases-of-the-bends.html via http://www.rssmix.com/

[turfandlawncare]

A Spring for the Ages; Endurance, Rainfall, Beauty, Raw Nerves, Blind Panic, and Two Cases of the Bends

Yeah, that’s about describes my Spring.  Yours?

It all started with a misguided nod to appear on our Township’s Garden Tour. Did this sometime last Winter.  I’d been drinking. When our garden didn’t appear on the first draft of the flyer, did I take it as a sign? Nope. A smart person would have laid low and slipped out of that commitment like it was a time share they’d been sold, but not me. Being the same impaired idiot who had agreed to the idea in the first place, I reminded the Township.

The best image I could find of my garden in March.

The second prettiest March pic of my garden.

3 of 3 of March photos. Sea of mud. Just enough life emerging to keep one from hijacking a bus.

Our garden had been on the tour several years ago but the intervening years have had their share of drama with the most carefree and joyous parts of our lives and all but the most basic of garden maintenance finding themselves shoved to the side like a road killed raccoon in the path of a snowplow.  But, you know hope springs eternal. It was a new year, a different time, and I told myself, “Hey, this will be fun. And it will motivate you to make some of those improvements you’ve been thinking about.” Yep. That’s what I told myself.

Sloppy selfie.

Of course, it did do that. Just like it almost killed me. For whatever delusional reason, I failed to factor into the decision-making process that my life would remain just the same as it’s always been—a lurching, noisy, rickety, breathlessly busy, confused and confusing, poorly conceived extended round of experimental performance art liberally embellished with unpleasant surprises at inopportune moments. Somehow, I had forgotten that.

Spring comes in increments, and little things sometimes distract you momentarily from the overall ugliness and all the work that must be done.

Meh. Ugh.

And there is nothing like a looming garden tour to sober you right up real fast. First walk-through after you’ve agreed to such a thing and, bam, there you are–clear-eyed, stammering, and horrified, seeing your garden from the viewpoint of carloads of judgmental strangers. Make this walk-through like I did in March–that most hopelessly depressing, mercilessly ugly, butthole-with-a disease month of the year–and it’s the horticultural equivalent to waking up with some person you hooked up with at a dive bar deep into the early morning hours of the previous night. So you do the only things that come to mind. First you drink. Then you cry. Finally, you beseech the Almighty for an asteroid to come screaming out of the sky and smash all your years of bad ideas, lousy plant choices, inexplicable design decisions, ill-advised gardening practices, plastic containers, fake flamingos, and scuzzy gazing balls into tiny burning fragments that all fall on top of your neighbor’s boat.

Well, okay.

And a late night of work rewarded by a decent scene in the fading light.

But you know from long experience that God has a very spotty record of answering your prayers and that your luck isn’t good enough to guide a comet in on its own, so you do the only thing you can: you go outside and garden like hell. Like some nervous dervish all ramped up on speed. Rinse and repeat, you’re doing this from mid-March to May 19th, every night after work until it’s too dark to tell garlic mustard from poison ivy and every weekend from the crack of dawn to long after dark. Dehydrated most of the time, of course. And you have to fit this in and around record rainfall, a pair of weekend trips you’d committed to previously, and a bunch of appointments and presentations that wind up eating 15 weeknights and about six weekend days.

Neither aminal was much help. Martin, The Heart of Darkness, just distracted us with his constant plotting of our doom.

And Zaku, the blind old dog, kept himself busy by walking on every perennial just as it went into bloom.

I won’t go into every gory detail about every dumb mistake, disturbing discovery, and newfound deep disappointment, but I will tell you, as an example, about removing my old nursery hoop house. It had stood for years, looming, rusting, and listing prominently in the background of every otherwise scenic garden view and photograph. It had to go and it did. Big job. Cut my hands repeatedly on unseen metal burs, but, except for having to pull old landscape fabric from under Pompeii-like strata of soil, it fought its demise with a little less resistance than expected.

The old hoop house/ship wreck had earned its place in the next life.

I thought I’d experience an emotional moment at its loss. I’d learned a lot growing plants back there, reared loads and loads of rare and favorite plant material, some of which bought favor and friends when I shared them with gardeners and horticulturists I admired. And, in fact, I was overwhelmed with an emotion when it was gone. Pure euphoria. I had no idea how much I’d come to hate that thing. It’s removal felt better than playing hooky.

Of course, the best time to return to veggie gardening after a 27 year hiatus is in the middle of the rushiest spring rush that ever lived.

But that joy was not long for this world. Not when I was confronted by that big blank weedy place where the hoop house had lived. Not as ugly as it had been, but still ugly enough to give carloads of judgmental garden tour strangers a lot to talk about. So I laid waste to the weeds and built raised beds for vegetables, doing my damnedest to make them look better than almost all of those other raised beds for vegetables I’ve seen. Several trips to Home Depot for wood and hardware, truckloads of soil harrowingly wheel-barrowed along a bumpy and narrow path around the swimming pool, and a last-minute scattering of straw in the paths, and, son of a…, it actually looked just like I’d hoped: not quite as ugly as those other vegetable beds I’ve seen.

More night gardening yields an okay shot with a Pixel II. Great camera. Terrible phone.

After about half a dozen big projects like this and hundreds of little ones, we were about two weeks out from the tour and I started feeling a little better. You might even say confident. Perhaps a bit cocky. May had come, things had greened up, and all the plants I’d forgotten I had were reappearing, covering ground, screening ugliness, and some even went into bloom.

The mossy step project. A slippery slope of grassy mud that spilled down into the backyard was deemed too hazardous for old people, so old railroad ties from the hoop house were re-purposed into stairs. Only the last one was too high, so a mossy step was conceived and somewhat successfully executed, but it was one of many time-consuming ad hoc projects, and proved in the end almost as slippery as the grassy mud.

Heady in this moment, I heard these words leave my mouth, cross through air, and go into my son’s ears, “Hey, why don’t you have your (upcoming) wedding in our garden?” Whoa. I knew my mistake immediately and wanted nothing more than to suck those words right back out of the universe and into my chest, but, alas, they’d been said. And they’d been heard. And Tom seemed excited by the idea.

Despite record rainfall, plant life somehow still emerged itself out of March’s primordial ooze.

He and his fiancee had been planning their June 1st wedding as a guerrilla ceremony, to be held surreptitiously at a small, backwater Cincinnati Park that overlooked the river. This way they could avoid notifying the park district, the associated bureaucracy, and the rental payment. While we all thought looking out for the cops would lend a certain urgent element of adventure to the event, but it also meant parking would be difficult and conditions for our older loved ones could prove life-threatening if the rain didn’t let up and the grass didn’t get cut.

The open little glade that seemed just right for a wedding.

A fawn found in the garden the morning of the wedding was perceived as a sign of fertility.

Long story short, we hosted the wedding, and it’s mind-blowing the vast amount of space that exists between “garden tour worthy” and “wedding ready.” May 19th to June 1st, there I was again, out in the yard, gardening like a mofo. Literally, and I mean literally, 3:15 PM day of the wedding, guests in the yard, and I’m dashing between them, head to foot in filth, trying to get inside for a quick shower in time for the 4:00 PM start.

Mother and son the day before.

But, gotta tell you, weeks of rain and gray skies opened up that afternoon to a glorious blue sky with billowing white clouds that towered like mountains in the sun. And, the wedding was perfect! A sweet, happy, beautiful couple, lovely self-written vows, pretty bridesmaids, and, hell, even the groomsmen looked good enough in their tuxes and all lined up in a row. And the garden? Well, it was far from perfect, but it strutted its stuff knowing it had never ever looked better. It made a splendid backdrop for the wedding and the photos.

The happy bride and her loving father. Laying that runner with filthy hands was the last job I did.

The ceremony,and a hodgepodge of anything I could buy in bloom and stuff into the bed in the foreground. Background held down by big leaf magnolias.

Afterwards, we all adjourned to the Irish Heritage Center for a night of delirious fun and celebration.

Michele and I, partying like people a fraction of our ages and having the time of our lives!

Back home, joyous, exhausted, and plunging straight into illness.

Next day, with all that we could do done, my wife Michele and I both woke up sick as can be. She had a sore throat and congestion. I had full-on aches and pains. No matter the symptoms, I knew we both had the bends because we had decompressed too hard.

Never was any good at container design, but this year I raised my game a little.

Now, still a little buzzed on this meager success, I’m already thinking about signing up for next year’s garden tour. It seems I just have this need for high-stakes, stress, and tales of adventure with happy endings And I’ve never been any good at learning from my mistakes.

In almost 40 years together, I’ve never seen her so beautiful.

        A Spring for the Ages; Endurance, Rainfall, Beauty, Raw Nerves, Blind Panic, and Two Cases of the Bends originally appeared on GardenRant on June 18, 2019.

from GardenRant http://bit.ly/2IQNKOY

[dailyurbine]

Fic: Disco Stick (aka Karl Can't Dance or the Lady GaGa Chronicles)