Thriller Pack Meeting Night

After eating at Mama's and doing my homework, Daddy took me over to my pack meeting at OLM. Since I don't have my tiger scout uniform yet, I held my hand over my heart during the pledge of allegiance. One of the webelos led us in prayer. They announced the hike this weekend at Muir Woods, but there's a chance it might get rained out. I learned the scout motto ("Do Your Best"), the scout handshake, and some other scout stuff, and then I colored some pictures. Too bad Demetrius and Dwayne weren't there, but I still had fun. I showed them my pinewood derby badge, which I earned over at Lowe's. I hope my racecar can win the race in April! When I got, I copied the lyrics for "Thriler" by Michael Jackson.

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Desolation

I stopped by Renzo's neighborhood the other day to see the desolate panorama of what were once bright, cheerful homes in sunny San Bruno. Gazing on the charred embers of rubble and burned out cars and blackened tree trunks, I imagined the horrific sight of screaming people, a mother and child trapped in their burning house, unable to escape as the earth trembled and exploded as the broken gas lines ignited and sent a fireball over the unfortunate suburb. I heard their screams for help, saw their tears, and felt the burning flames engulfing them, as they uttered their final prayers...deliver us...now and at the hour of our death...our life, our sweetness and our hope. Lord, have mercy on them, on us, and all souls.

The Brave and the Bold

I'm ready for Halloween. I picked up my costume, number 103 small, at Party City. I'm going to be Batman, the brave and the bold! Ate Dee pickup her costume, too. First we went to the Halloween Spirit store, but it was super scary! We goosebumped into Abee and Leander, who were also shopping for their costumes.

When Grampa Drank and Spanked

This is my last day to waste philosophizing and thinking about the way things might have been, since tomorrow my mind will be occupied full-time with first grade and meditating on the eternal truths of addition, subtraction, decimals and fractions. Although I never met my grampa, I was just thinking he must have been something, to have had half a dozen great kids like my aunt, uncles, and Daddy. Of course, he had a few beers sometimes and smacked Daddy once or twice with his belt when little Uncle Tom cried, but isn't that an admirable quality, to defend the weak, defenseless little brothers of the world? I'm sure his life would have been better if he had lived long enough to know me. I could have taken him to Burger King for a Whopper, and Century 20 to see the Clash of the Titans. He would have helped me cheer on the Cardinals against the Giants, and taken me to Alcatraz and to ride on the cablecar. He would have helped me learn Latin, but I'd still have trouble with some of the dinosaur names, since they also derive from Greek. Triceratops, for example, comes from "tri-" (Latin for 3), "cerat-" (Greek for horn), and "ops" (Greek for "face gives the name for"). Daddy still remembers his first day of first grade at All Saints, when he entered the big kid entrance with the stampeding second thru eighth graders, instead of the quiet, orderly entrance reserved for the little first graders. Good that he lived to tell about it, but as I'm sure Grampa would say if he were still alive, "omnia in bonum" (Latin for "all things work together unto good for those that love God" - St. Paul, Rom 8:28).

Paleontologist or Radiologist

I can't believe there's only one day of summer vacation left...where does the time go? I hope I'm in 1A this year. That would make it easy for me to get to clubhouse...it's right next door! I'm hoping I can get Aaron to sign up for AYSO this year. It's so fun to get out there and kick some grass...you just have to be careful you don't trip over one of those gopher holes. I still can't decide whether to be a paleontologist or a radiologist. I guess I could specialize in CT scans of prehistoric bones...there are so many options! Sometimes it's hard to decide...Burger King or McDonald's? The Giants or the Cardinals? Rocky Road or sherbert? Anyway, condolences to Abee and Leander, who lost their grandma recently...well, they didn't lose her lose her...she passed away to that great Disneyland in the sky. Tomorrow's her funeral mass...may she rest in eternal peace and joy!

California, Here I Come!

We were pretty much able to keep the clouds south of us as we travelled west thru Wyoming and Utah. We stopped at Travel America to quench the van's thirst for gas, buy a few gifts, and get some ice cream. We passed the anti-snow drift fences and some cows, and that pipe sticking out of the ground with the flame coming out the top. We passed a lake with some boats, passed Sinclair and all the other exits. Mr. Squiggles and I expected to be exiting at Salt Lake City, but Daddy surprised us by exiting at Park City, where the rest of our family had vacationed before I was born, a long, long time ago. We pulled into the Waldorf-Astoria, which only had valet parking. The lobby was really nice, with some deer statues and a large fireplace. Our room was amazing...a big, modern kitchen, big dining table, Philips TVs (even in the bathroom), fireplaces, jacuzzi, etc. Outside our patio was a large bonfire, like the fire at the opening of the Olympics. It was hands-down the nicest hotel we had stayed at. While it was still sunny, we headed over to Main St., where Ate Dee and Ate reminisced about the last time they were here, and we took a picture with the grizzly bear sitting on the bench. We had dinner at the Saigon restaurant where we noticed the workers were speaking Tagalog. After we got back to the hotel, we all went for a swim. The pool was so beautiful and peaceful until I started doing my cannonballs! The water was warm, but when I got out to go to the hot tub, the air was chilly. We also checked out the workout room where Mommy and Daddy did the treadmill. In the morning, we had a wonderful breakast with so many antlered skulls hanging on the wall. I wasn't too fond of the Irish oatmeal, so the waiter and his assistant brought me some delicious Belgian waffles that were to die for. The fresh squeezed orange juice was great; it was too bad we had to hurry and leave and spend the next 12 hours driving across the deserts of Utah and Nevada before crossing the mountains at Tahoe to get back home to our little house by the ocean. If it wasn't for Mommy's upcoming birthday and the upcoming Paul McCartney concert at AT&T Park, we could have taken our time and maybe even have stopped by the Grand Canyon to stand in awe of nature once again, but that wasn't to be. It was dark when we got home, but Mama had cooked some nice food for us, and we showed her my dinosaur blanket and told her what a great time we had had traveling to Aunt Janet's, Chicago, and down to St. Louis to see Grandma and my Uncle Don, Uncle Tom, Uncle Bill and Aunt Judy. I can't believe school's starting next Wednesday. If only I could be like Phineas and Ferb, and have it be summer forever, and never be hungry, and never get old and gray. Anyway, start spreading the news...first grade here I come!

Riding Thru a Nowhere Land

So after watching Dinosaur Train at breakfast, we piled back in the van and headed toward Colorado Springs. Most normal people would probably stick to highway 70, but Daddy wanted to take the road less travelled (albeit the straightest), so we got onto highway 40, a narrow road with little to see but fields, a few cows, land, and more land. We seemed to drive for days without seeing any signs of life, but in the distance we began to see some tiny mountains, which grew larger as the hours passed. In the middle of nowhere land, we bought some gas and I played a racing video game, where I crashed about 50 times, but kept on driving until I reached the finish line. Finally, we arrived back at Aunt Janet's. She still had the elephant puppet that I picked up for her in Wyoming. Then...the highlight of my vacation, Aunt Janet gave me a dinosaur quilt that she had made for me while I was gallivanting around the midwest!!! It was the best present I ever received...I just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it! Needless to say, I was in a fine mood while every one enjoyed the barbeque. We met Alex and Carson's mom, who had been away in Vermont when we were in Colorado earlier. Ate and Daddy climbed up Aunt Janet's backyard to see what they could see. There was no sign of Adolph or the other deer, but they had a nice view of the gathering storm off to the west in the Rockies. While I was dozing off, I think I heard Uncle Michael explaining to Ate why it wasn't a good idea for her to become a psychologist, but that might just be a dream. When rosy-fingered Dawn woke me in the morning, I hugged my dinosaur quilt, then had a wonderful breakfast, and we bravely strapped ourselves into the van and headed up 25 to highway 287, another less traveled and wet road thru The Buttes (population 31) and on to Laramie, Wyoming, where the sun reappeared for us. Netflix sent us Furry Vengeance, so I'm sorry but I've got to go. Maybe you could put on some Sgt. Pepper while you're waiting for the final episode of my saga thru the west. Adieu!