ender visited oak creek. breathing the air in this canyon is like taking a good draught of Ent water. he is unaware, but he grew 1 inch that weekend.

noah holding ender on his lap. M.I.A: jack, their more experienced and mature cousin living just one hour-ish shy.

happy noah & erin

zander expressing his maternal side.

Weezer - I'm Your Daddy

a excerpt for ender

the bridged version. believe it or not.


there once was a baby (that would be you little one) growing inside a euphoric young woman(and that would be me). this child had an astonishing effect over her mind. the world was filtered through the life inside of her. he bathed her brain with an elixir of peace.


one night, the young man she was married to (your daddy, of course), received two tickets to Weezer for his birthday from his cousins. (those cousins will remain cool).

the ecstatic couple began planning their night. they would sit high upon the hill away from the loud speakers and sweaty fans and enjoy their childhood band like retired people. the elixir of peace made it ok not to be a screaming teenager. there is a season.

the music of weezer connected these two from the start. you could read more about it (the unabridged version) in your travel book, where the story gushes more about true love, epic battles, and redemption: all common themes in a 15 year old's life, right?


anyway....

the night of the show you could see them parking far far way to get free parking.( you have cheap parents kid) 8 1/2 months of belly waddled briskly toward the show. after a mile of walking in a panic, thinking they would miss the opening song, they finally made it to the ticket booth only to have their wonderful SLR man- handled. After bickering with a very butch woman, they agreed to disassemble the camera and promise not to take photos (they meant it ). Therefore no photos of this night were taken; we will roll oldschool and pass down stories via word. word.


After kicking away empty beer cups, cigarette butts, and other human trash, they cleared for themselves a nice little nit ch to sit on the trampled grass. They were both anxious to be in a crowd like that, insecure, out of place. But then, oh but then! Childhood came strolling out on stage to an 'Epic beginning' and manifested itself in a middle aged rock nerd. the boy held the girl all show. now typically, a public display of affection like this would cramp her style. yet again, the elixir of peace cured any of her hang ups.

As she danced and sang and looked up at the band wide eyed, she thought "those guys think they are so cool, ha! they're old! i'm the one hanging out with a guy way more talented, funny, hip, smart and cool. You all suck compared to him." She thought that toward her favorite band! My my my. You see, boy, that is what love does to you, so please wait a while.

the night carried and on and soon 'My Name is Jonas' sprung from the set. By that time the couple found themselves against the railing, stage right. Surprisingly, the crowd parted along with their cigarette smoke and allowed for the girl to rest her tired body on the barricade. Well, along comes Rivers Cuomo, running down the line of stretched out hands groping the air in hopes of receiving a high five. "Aha!" thought, the girl, "This is my chance to impress the boy! This is the moment God set aside." She held out her hand and when the lead singer clapped her palm, she closed her hand on his and pulled him up on the railing. There he continued to sing and entertain. (What a great vantage point)! She wasn't finished yet. Thankfully, she wore shorts under her dress. For up flung the hem of her dress revealing her swollen, pale belly. She grabbed his hand and placed it square on her stomach. Mr. Rivers pulled back shocked, bug eyed, and then, replaced his hand on the crazy fan's belly and continued singing. Commence a good belly rubbing to a classic song.

The girl was beaming with pride! The boy was gawking in disbelief; not sure whether to be offended or mad with glee. But in that moment the two of them fell into a time warp. they were drowning in nostalgia. they fell in love all over again and ten fold. their son was blessed by river's cuomo, fully rock god, fully nerd: a miracle. (no blasphemy intended here, truly) there childhood love unexpectantly swung full circle before the birth of the first son. it couldn't have been more fitting.



*your late uncle william, while incubating in Nana, attended a Willy Nelson concert. Your grandpa got in a brawl over a willy T that was thrown out into the crowd. No shirt, but a pretty shiner. In utero rock concerts run in the family.

aye aye aye!

A week after giving birth or really being sliced open in a kind of sci fi way (c-section)... zander obliged me for a walk down his parent's street. There and back again, he urged me to venture a little further. We rounded the corner on Lafayette and strolled along the mini canal. He began to reminisce about catching crawdads this time of year with his friends. The air, the light, the sounds, in unison called him back to his childhood.

His eyes suddenly getting big he asked, "would you want to fish for crawdads?!"

Wearily, I replied, "right now?! but what about the baby? he needs to eat soon."

"Nah, he's fine, lets do this!"

Well, if he was going to play that card, I haughtily replied, that as a little girl I didn't use a line and hot dog (as z suggested) but my BARE HANDS! Gasp! Yes, i was a tom boy.

Zander was too excited to bother with my curt response as we decidedly walked back to pillage his parent's place for a hot dog and fishing line.

It was the perfect evening. Ender, our beloved, was napping with grandma, and we escaped.

Barely containing himself, he ordered me to pinch a piece of dog off and he tied it to the line. Seeing that he was taking his craft very seriously left me no room to laugh at him. I found myself getting caught up in his happiness and I listened to the master fisherman. He casted the line in at a shadowy, squirmy figure lurking just below the surface of the silt. The hot dog scared the critter away. He re casted. Then from down stream, an army of crawdads appeared (picture Pirates of the Caribbean when the skeletal pirates are marching under the ocean and the moon light spills onto their decrepit bodies. Imagine, the heart thumping music as they advance with evil stealth toward their fleshy prey). Yes, I tell you the truth, crawdads are just like that!

Zander and I squealed with delight and a little bit of the creeps. The hoard was soon upon the hot dog. Their bodies roiled and fought each other. With a few tries, zander coached me in the art of yanking one up on land. The fishy glutton still ate ferociously as it spun on the line in mid air. Disgusting! I found myself, giggling. Yes, giggling, giggling like a very non tom boy.
That evening i was huckelberry's little girl friend. And I didn't mind.

Besides, if I'm honest with myself. I only pretended to catch crawdads with my bare hands to impress my ultra tomboy best friend, danielle. I actually, just splashed the water really hard as my fingers went for them, hoping that they would be scared off before I was forced to pinch the back of their necks.

Its a very delicate illusion being a tom boy.

oh halloween

my two best friends. as a pilot, its good to have the force of mother nature and the cunning of zorro as your wingmen.