Since I searched for the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon strip that Dean (Sam Elliott) referenced the other day, Calvin is suddenly everywhere on my computer. It’s a little unnerving. I think it was Facebook that brought a 2013 documentary about Bill Watterson, the creator of Calvin, to my attention so I looked to see if it was still available. Found ‘Dear Mr. Watterson’ on YouTube and I’ve been watching it at night while working on my snake. It’s an hour and a half long and even though it’s about the man behind the comic strip, he doesn’t make an appearance. It’s more about the brilliance and impact of the strip and the mystery of the man behind the art. Seems he’s very reclusive. At the time Watterson caught a lot of grief with his decision to NOT sell out the image of his characters, but it just might be one of the reasons that Calvin and Hobbes books remain so popular today. Well, that and the fact that it’s about a boy and his stuffed animal, which means it has context for each new generation. It’ll be forever relevant.
I think my introduction to Calvin and Hobbes came through the books, not
the newspaper comic strip. Tick received
some books as gifts and the books sat on my bookshelves for years. In the last year or two, Dylan and Clatyon
(aged 7 at the time) discovered them and if they ever got bored when at our
house, they’d reach for a Calvin and Hobbes book. Both were bummed when they discovered that
Uncle Tick had taken his books home to North Carolina, but, now Finley and
Leland are able to enjoy them. I’ll just have to get some more for my bookshelf.
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It’s become painfully obvious to both of us that the chairs we bought
for our new camper arrangement are not the most comfortable, even with the
extra cushions we bought. Since they’re the only thing we have available to sit
in, comfort is important. Hips, backs, butts…all were unhappy with those
chairs.
The other day while waiting at a
food truck, we sat at tables they had set up and marveled at how comfy the folding
chairs were. Last night, it was a different food truck but the same type of chairs.
It was all about the contour of the seat. We knew we had to make the upgrade; a tag
still stuck to one of the chairs let us know they were from Costco. “Note to self: next time we’re in Tucson
with the truck, stop at Costco.”
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Decided to make a return trip to Madera Canyon today. We visited there last year with my mom; there
is a gift shop that has various types of bird feeders and a wide variety of
birds that visit them. Very popular spot
for birders.
Madera Canyon is 85 miles away; I packed sandwiches for lunch, and we
hit the road. But first we made a stop at Costco. 😎
While the birds were not as plentiful as last year, they were fun to
watch. Two big ‘ol tom turkeys were
fanned out and strutting their stuff for the hens and the tourists. Mexican Jays
were flitting from feeder to feeder, their color more subdued than our Blue-jays.
There was a woodpecker who was more interested in what the trees had to offer
than what the feeders held. Someone nearby identified it as an Arizona woodpecker
and according to her, it is the only brown woodpecker in the United
States. Google confirmed that.
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We took US 19, the metric highway, to Madera Canyon. Saw two crested saguaros along the way; got a
sketchy picture of one of them. Sketchy because,
well, 75 mph on a busy highway.
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Not only did we buy new chairs
at Costco, but we bought a new table also…one that matches the chairs (not
really important), is sturdier (most important) and doesn’t have a crack in the
middle for the cards to fall through (mildly important). Our butts are very grateful we spent the
money.
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It’s taken some time for the clouds to clear off but at about 10 o’clock,
Kim wandered down to the telescope to get it set up to catch a little
nebulosity.
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Today marks 14 years since Jeff died. We were a part of each other’s lives for about
34 years, being married for almost 32 of ‘em. I have plenty of memories of him from
the age of 18 onward; Kim is one of the keepers of childhood memories of Jeff. Today, I asked him to share a memory of Jeff
that I didn’t already know. He asked if
I knew the snake bite story. No, I didn’t,
so he told me the tale of how they went down to the creek on their way to
school, saw a snake, and one thing led to another which resulted in the non-poisonous
snake raking its fangs along Jeff’s hand. Jeff didn’t want to go home because
his mom would get angry that they stopped at the creek, etc. The teacher saw the blood on his hand, heard
the words ‘snake bite’ and called his mom anyway. It was a memory that made both of us smile and it
was a good way to celebrate Jeff. 😊
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