The finest of Literature

I found myself this morning, as per the usual, staring at an empty blogger screen trying to noodle up something witty, beautiful, or at the very least existant.

When suddenly, our eldest and fattest cat Aimee, who was vigorously crunching away into her food bowl, got a little too ahead of herself and started gacking up her barely chewed food back into her dish.

Perfect I thought to myself, just write that down.

Montana Weather

Well at least we had a beautiful Winter this Spring.

Line in the sand

When asked to take sides, to declare one or the other 'right' or 'wrong,' you must draw a line in the sand and put yourself on either end.  In a not so perfect world I would draw not a line, but a circle.  I would then stand in the circle and announce my decision that there are no sides, but rather I am 'right' and everything else is 'total bullcrap.'

Stacking Coincidences

Whilst shooting the breeze with a new coworker of mine last night, we got upon the topic of birthdays. As it turns out, we share the same date of birth, which happens to be May 15th.  I was born in 1986, and he in 1987 putting me exactly one year older than him.

Now it gets a little interesting.

We then began discussing relationships and quickly revealed to each other that we are both in long term bonds with our female counterparts.  I have been with Melissa for 8 years, he has been with his old lady for 7.  I felt it prudent to note that Melissa's birthday is the day after mine on May 16th, putting me exactly one day older than her.

My coworker said something to the extent of 'get the fuck out,' because apparently his girlfriend's birthday is also on May 16th, with him being precisely one day older than her.

Weird.

East Helena

As I approach a nexus in my life where I will be moving back to my odd little hometown of East Helena, I can't help but think of how I've changed from my near decade in Missoula and how that change will contrast with the populace of East Helena.

I ride my bicycle as much as I can when the weather permits, do other people in East Helena even own bicycles?

Do I own enough flannels?

You can take the East Helena out of a St. Clair, but you can't take the St. Clair out of East Helena.

Death's warm embrace

Without sounding too morbid, I know someone who I'm relieved just died.

This person did not have the best life.  She was constantly isolated and impregnated by her partner.  He would stay demandingly close to her at all times, both keeping her pregnancy safe as well as denying her contact with anyone else in her environment.  His intentions were not cruel, simply driven by nature.

The worst of it all was that when her pregnancy came full term, all of her offspring were instantly consumed in a feeding frenzy by the others which he tried so hard to protect her from.  For this he made a better lover than a father.  The couple, not knowing where to procede from this disaster, simply attempted again to procreated and repeated the cycle.

This happened no less than 3 times.

She finally succumbed to whatever it is that fish succumb to, and sunk glossy-eyed to the bottom of our tank.

The male, now without a partner to school with or mate with, swims alone by the heating element.

Do I go get another female platy to appease the male, saving him from a life without purpose yet dooming the female to a tormented cycle of pregnancy and infanticide?

Nature is an interesting dynamo, even the little 10 gallon portion of it I tend to in my apartment.

Springtime

The warm sunny weather this morning has left me bursting with life like a hand shooting out of the ground ready to sieze a new year.  The populace of Missoula has a tendency to slouch about with their hands in their pockets during the abysmally grey winter months we have.  Friends become stand-offish, deep ruts are dug, and a thick blanket of complacency falls over our fair city.  Every year around this time however, the sun will come in full force, if even for just a few days, and rejuvenate the tired masses.

The car is washed of all its wintery sludge, vacuumed, and covered in ArmorAll.  My favorite band 'Clutch' has come and gone leaving me with a cache of wonderful, albeit drunken, memories.  Bicycle tuned up and ready to roll.  House cleaned, windows wide open letting the fragrant air of the Garden City stir up and wash out the stuffiness of last season.  Looking forward to an upcoming birthday party hosted by my friend and mentor Mitch Hegman in Helena next weekend.  Not to mention the wedding, bachelor party, honeymoon, and life relocation all due in the coming months.

Springtime in Missoula is a wonderful thing, and I shall enjoy this, my very last one.