the onlooker

wifely things

aged pita (the saddest story ever told)

Song of the day: Hank Thompson

Song of the day (8/22/2010):
Hank Thompson - Let's Get Drunk and Be Somebody

Funny how you can walk your neighborhood a billion times, notice things and kind of put them on a tippy-toe shelf in your mind.

Yesterday, I took two separate wet-shirted walks with the dogs though the misery of late Wisconsin August and finally took some pictures of unusual garages/sheds I've noticed again and again over the last several years.

The danger of living someplace too long is that the holy shit, that's weird stuff eventually normalizes and shakes off its holy shit-ness. And that's a sad thing.

I guess there's a duty we have to capture it somehow. Preservation and all that.

Oh, and my dog Mateo? He'll never normalize. He's always shitting. Royally.

(Today's song is a nice slice of Western Swing by one of the masters. Yes, it has roughly the same title a Toby Keith song, but I assure you that this one won't have you yanking out the straight razor and cursing the Confederacy.)

Hank Thompson - Lets Get Drunk And Be Somebody.mp3

Honey Creek

The baby's getting anxious and cramped up there in A— womb. Figuring there are only a few weeks left to do whimmy things, we loaded up the car today with vague plans and ended up at the sprawl of cornfields, cow pastures, and unincorporated towns near Honey Creek.

Our only real goal was to wander around and check stuff out. See what was there.

We got a dizzying history lesson from Frank and Nancy down at Stir Crazy in Rochester. They spent a good half hour dropping names of the famous people who've been to their coffee "shoppe". Not bragging, just proud. Tony Romo and Jane Hamilton, like that. But more than anything, Frank seemed gladdest of the fact that he hangs his hat (a Yankees one, which you'd assume to be a punishable offense so close to Milwaukee) in the same town that sprung up Ginger Beaumont, the first guy to ever bat in a World Series game.

See, when my daughter asks me what I did for fun before she was born, I'm glad I'll be able to show her photos like these and just say, "Not a whole lot. Wondered around, checked things out. Saw what was there."

(View the rest of the photo set)

Flowdough day 20: Friends & Family

Flowdough Day 18: Yard Ornaments

Flowdough Day 17: 3 girls of mine

Song of the day: Quinn Scharber

Song of the day (6/25/2010):
Quinn Scharber - Midwest Blues

From Being Nice Won't Save Milwaukee.

Quinn Scharber - Midwest Blues.mp3

Flowdough Day 16: Doctor office art

Flowdough Day 15: Frogs of America

Camped in the primitive campsite up in Langlade County Veterans Memorial Park all weekend. One of the best sites we've ever stayed on.

The rain they swore would be there came lazy and late. Nothing much more than dampness in our boots after hiking in long grass and a bit of mist covering our tents. Made it better, if anything.

American toads were everywhere. Tiny baby ones. So many that you'd be more likely to step on them than you would be to see them.

And ticks, too. Deer and dog ticks. SO MANY TICKS! Most I've ever seen by a lot, planting trails of small tickles all over our shins. We lost count, tossing them straight into the fire.

(View the whole photoset)

Flowdough Day 14: weirdest junk i've ever found in the street outside my house

Flowdough: Day 13 (One man's trash)

Flowdough: Day 12 (Heaven)

Song of the day: Little Jimmy Dickens

Song of the day (5/22/2010):
"Little" Jimmy Dickens - Country Boy

I'm off to a morning of disassembling a deck, an afternoon (I hope) of thrifting, and an evening in the woods with one of my best buds in the world + his licky, gimpy dog Rico + the unholy howler, Joey. Really looking forward to it. Above are my provisions.

Have a dizzyingly good weekend, everyone.

(About "Little" Jimmy Dickens)

Jimmy Dickens - Country Boy.mp3

Flowdough: Day 11 (Foggy Humboldt)

Flowdough: Day 10 (sunburst indian)