The Dirt Field

When I used to live at home, my parents would frequently battle over the loading of the dishwasher. My mother would rinse the dishes and place them where there was space in the dishwasher, while my father would sterilize the dishes and arrange them scientifically in the dishwasher in accordance with a carefully prepared schematic that was designed to maximize space and rinsing capability. My mother and I thought he was insane, especially when he would approach a nearly full dishwasher, remove ALL of the dishes, and start rearranging them.But this morning, I was placing a single drinking glass in the dishwasher when I noticed that the other glasses already on the top rack were a bit cluttered. So I moved them into neat rows. And then I saw that the bowls were on both the top and the bottom rack, so I put them into an orderly row as ...continue reading.

You may recall that I drove to Florida last month to collect Aisha from her breeder's house. While I blogged frequently from my cell phone throughout that fun little adventure, there was one small, insignificant, tiny, little thing I neglected to mention. While passing through Greensville County, Virginia, which is ten miles north of the North Carolina border, I was charged with reckless driving.I am normally an incredibly alert driver when traveling on 95, always ensuring that I watch for speed traps and clearings where troopers might be hiding. However, when I was pulled over that morning at 7:15 am, I had not been paying attention because I was trying to photograph the sunrise with my camera phone through the driver's side window. Clearly, my priorities were in line.I didn't mention this ticket until now because (a) my court date was today, and (b) I didn't tell my mother until ...continue reading.

I went to my first tactical shooting event tonight. Afterwards, I joined my father, my father-in-law, my brother-in-law, and the other men from the competition for dessert at Bob Evans. It was there that I had a discussion with a particular gentleman (I use that term loosely) about both the debilitating gout that afflicts his toe AND the time he used a claw hammer to defeat an El Salvadoran man who was going to kill him with a shovel. If only more conversations could be so exciting.