There’s a reason you are supposed to jot ideas down in a notebook.  Especially if you are past the age of oh…say…27 or thereabout…and have a brain like a sieve.  There’s so much I wanted to tell you but haven’t made the time to sit down and write it.  Now that I’m sitting here? My brain is empty.  So…how about those Mariners? (Actually, I haven’t a clue how they are doing.  In fact, and I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I started to write Padres.  I guess old habits die hard. 

Let’s talk about something safe instead.  Like the weather.  That’s safe, right?

I realize that it is hot and humid in so many areas right now.  We, on the other hand, have finally gotten summer. (I’m crossing my fingers and hoping it stays) The skies are finally blue. 

The tops are finally off of our jeeps and, in Shaun’s case, so are the doors.

Yes, it’s a little scary barreling down the freeway with no door. It didn’t take too long for me to relax my grip on the frame of the Jeep.  (Hmmm…looks like I need a pedi really bad)

Everyone is outside playing.

Including these two who were surfing, Seattle-Style. Gnarly dude.

(Don’t worry, I’ll write about something more interesting tomorrow)

When Shaun first got his Jeep a few years ago, the first thing he wanted to do was take it off road and get it dirty. (Yes, I realize most people work hard to keep a new car sparkling clean, but you must remember that nobody has ever accused Shaun of being like most people)  So we headed East towards the Cascades in search of some hills to climb and some mud to go mudding in.

We found plenty of hills and rocks to climb.  Shaun gleefully cackled as he tested out his four-wheel drive while I held on for dear life and tried not to scream.  (Because, knowing Shaun as well as I do, that would only encourage him). Much to my husband’s disappointment, it seemed as though we were at the wrong time of year to find mud.  it was just too dry.  (Yes, it really does get dry in Seattle!)

As we slowly meandered through the back roads on our way back home, we came upon the most glorious mud puddle in an abandoned dairy farm.  Oh joy! I didn’t even have time to tighten up my seatbelt before we were slipping and sliding through all of that muck.  When we finally drove off, my husband had a grin from ear to ear. 

Well…at least until we started to realize that the stench of the dairy farm seemed to be coming home with us instead of staying behind.  After a bit of investigation, my Beloved realized that he had driven through a huge pile of manure!

This weekend I agreed to go for a drive up to the logging roads. At one point the road opened up and we found ourselves staring at a huge field of mud. Shaun’s mouth dropped open and his eyes widened.  It seemed as though he had just been given the most amazing gift ever. The next thing I knew, we were in the middle of it slipping, sliding and “gittin’ the Jeep dirty”. 

Slowly, it began to dawn on us that we were smelling something horrible.  It seemed as though our pile of mud off of a rarely used logging road out in the middle of nowhere was actually a pile of manure. 

It’s a good thing there is a car wash on the way home….