Thanks for your supportive comments and remonstrances, both were needed… Anyway, I am better now, so much so that today on the way back from a hike I stopped by a roadside BBQ place and had a pulled pork sandwich! Below you’ll see some photos from that hike where, atop a small mountain, stands an abandoned fire tower. The cool part is that it’s open, all the way to the top!

On another note, someone in the neighborhood has a little yappy dog; I’m not sure where this dog resides but I’m glad I don’t. At night, beginning at around 8, he will start his nightlong yap fest. It’s especially annoying because it is not a constant yap, but rather sporadic yet predictable, like a certain windshield wiper setting. Being that it is summer and my humble abode is without air conditioning, every now and then this high pitched “yap yap yap yap” comes floating into the apartment. I’m reminded of our late family dog, an Akita. Although he had his issues (bit multiple friends/relatives, etc.) he was never unnecessarily vocal; when Lucky barked you knew that something was up, usually a stranger approaching the front door.

Thus I’m lead to wonder about the apartment in which this little yappy thing resides. Do its owners find the nightly yapping an endearing trait? Or is it that they are all sitting in a circle engaging in the nightly 5 hour long “spin the dog” session, thus causing the poor thing to yelp anew in fear each time it is whirled among familiar yet cruel faces in the dizzying smoke filled candlelit room? Who knows? Seems like in this town, anything is possible; indeed I’ve found myself humming tunes from Twin Peaks while driving around. Still looking for the white lodge…