Summer Fun, Treasures and Trivia

isn't it amazing how the sun comes back and everything gets a million times better, like fireworks, like quenching your thirst, like orange poppies or fizz or a hug. suddenly i can't wipe the smile off my face; i'm sweaty and working hard on various projects, and doing this every chance i get:

yep, i found myself a mini trampoline for $5 at hospice.

oh and the dress? i have a story about the dress. i found this baby a couple months ago at a little gem of a thrift store, U-Turn-For-Christ (kid you not) up the hill in Pollock Pines. the thing about U Turn is it's a bunch of rehabbing dudes working there and they are very well intentioned and fun to visit with, but it is the dirtiest thrift store in the world. i hold everything out in front of me pinched between two fingers that later tingle until i finally get to wash them. twice, with soap and scalding water. anyway i occasionally do find some good stuff there, randomly squished between the old navy sweatshirts with dribbles down the front. this dress was in the kids clothes and was FILTHY. i'm talking, yellowed allover like from old sweat. i had the saddest image of a heavyset preteen wearing it back in the 80s, walking to and from school, playing dodgeball and stuff, and she didn't have a mom who washed her clothes, so it just gathered up all this old musty dirt. sorry, i know, i shouldn't be telling you this rather long and disgusting train of thought. anyhoo, i really liked the cut of it and the floral 80's vibe, a la Desperately Seeking Susan, and so i worked a miracle on it! after taking it home and washing it the normal way and finding it still dingy and grayish, i soaked it in my new best friend: seventh generation chlorine-free bleach along with some nice organic detergent, then wrung it out and washed it again. although she's got some pilling, the dress is kinda clean and sparkly now. and very, very swishy and swirly the way i like them!

that was a really long story that told very little. okay! i'll keep the rest short...

the day the sun finally returned, i got a treat in the mail:

sugar sweet blossoms of the earth, like heaven's candy,

 and a vintage photograph from mary.

em and i recently scored matching vintage Camino Logging Days 1988 tank tops at the thrift store for 50 cents.

summer is the time for change.

haircuts and new tattoos...

don't worry, he's not as nervous as he looks. as long as i've got two beers in me, he's in good hands :)

time to come together.

doing voice-over work for darin's films,

or singing Ol' 55 together...

fact: if one of a male deer's testicles gets injured he will only grow one antler.

darin learned this from a strange little Quay Brothers short film and has been quite interested in the idea.

the very next day while checking the mail he found this lovely shed antler in our yard, a gift from the universe.

more animal trivia:

the pupil of an octopus' eye is rectangular

cats have 32 muscles in their ear

a pregnant goldfish is called a twit

an elephant can be pregnant for up to two years

the bones of a pigeon weigh less than its feathers

pops came over to help me put together a new shelf, i've been reorganizing like mad till 1 a.m. and also i got a new blow-up pool for my backyard. guess that really means summer's here! now if i can just get the dang pump to work (or call dad!)

cats can hear ultrasound.

hummingbirds are the only animals that can fly backwards.

a dragonfly has a lifespan of 24 hours.

it is physically impossible for a pig to look up into the sky.

the muzzle of a lion is like a fingerprint - no two lions share the same pattern of whiskers.

the leg bones of a bat are so thin that no bat can walk.

a group of unicorns is called a blessing.