Monday 8 August 2005
8:18 a.m.

There she waits, patiently, for me to come out. There is no sneaking off, for me. She loves our walks. If I am outside she won't leave me to go with anyone else, even when the kids or Scott try to entice her away. She must think I might go somewhere without her.

I get such a kick out of her as we wander over the fields. She runs full tilt after gophers, sticks her nose in their holes and digs, jumps up at butterflies and birds as if she stands a chance at catching them. You can almost see her smiling, she is so happy out there.

The other day she yelped in pain as she tried to run through a barbed wire fence and got caught on the lowest wire. I called "Wait, I'm coming!" and trotted over to untangle her before she hurt herself more. She quieted but by the time I got there she'd untangled herself without damage.

***

We had a movie night with the boys last night, watched Roger Rabbit. It wasn't quite 11 o'clock when it was over so I made Everett get his jacket and shoes on, amid great protest, and accompany me to see if the northern lights were putting on a show. They weren't, but as we headed out to the road a shooting star raced across the sky in front of us. He was thrilled. It was his first one.

Oh, and now he's the biker king. He rides beside me and says, with this sweet look of incredulity on his face, "I can't believe I'm riding a bike -- and on the road!"

Sunday 7 August 2005
4:09 p.m.

The northern lights were out the other night. It's not the first time this summer, but I rarely go out after dark. Obviously it would be a good idea not to miss such stunning beauty as they display, and get my butt out there! Things that inspire such awe are worth a few swats at mosquitoes.

Mars -- is it? -- was glaring brightly in the west.

Hot day. Too warm to do anything. Too warm to sit in this room.