tragic

When I was a kid my parents would take my brother and me to Six Flags instead of the county fair. It was a sweet deal. The fair never had anything to compare with the Flags. I spoke with my parents this morning about my recent Six Flags visit on Friday. They told me that a young boy had climbed over a fence in a restricted area and got his head cut off by a roller coaster on Saturday, the day after we had gone to the Flags. Story here. It is terrible to imagine the devastation that that boy's family is going through.
I've got the week off but no major travel plans. We might go tour a dam today but the plans are sketchy. Tomorrow we're going to drop down to Atlanta to visit Fernbank. Fernbank has giganotosaurus, the world's largest meat-eating dinosaur. Now who wouldn't want to see that. It's great having a family. We're not officially a family yet. We'll be married soon enough though. Yesterday we went to see Wall-E. It's a funny movie.

six flags

Today we go to Six Flags. Her son suggested we go. I love Six Flags. I've been plenty of times by myself. This will be the first time that I've had a family in tow. It's unique; the forty-five year old bachelor gets an instant family. She says that she thinks I'll be a good dad. She's just saying that because she wants my body so bad, but it's still good to hear. I'll drive out to her house in about an hour. Last night her son was "very excited." He went once before when he was very young. This will be his first time that he will remember. He talked about it all day yesterday. He cooked us pancakes yesterday. Not bad for a ten year old. He's a beautiful kid, full of energy and curiosity, and a lifetime us experiences that no kid should have to endure. He's started to imitate me. That's new and strange and funny to me.
We've only known each other for two weeks tomorrow. It's fast and exciting and right. There's a slight possibility that we might get married next weekend. Yep, crazy. There's only one way to live life. No mater how cautious and prudent one moves through life, there will always be regrets. Just go, baby! Last night, she whipped up a salad for us. Watching her move in that kitchen ignited my heart and excited my body. She doesn't fit many categorized definitions and each moment is a door into new experiences. She's got a fire that makes all the others seem dull and unfocused. Her wit is sharp and quick. It's fantastic being with her and I can't get enough, even with a ten year old crawling all over me.

good strange

Golly, life is beautiful. My girl rocks like thunder, smiles like lightening, and sings like an angel. She's the rivers and trees across my landscape memory. She's Occam's razor cutting deep across my every action. There's no time to waste and no waste to deal at America's flea market experience. My Supergirl, my Wonder Woman, my free-spirited hippie-chic, my karate Mom living clear and waking populations by the hour. Hearing her laughter is similar to the experience felt when tasting hand picked blackberries in the woods behind my great-grandmother's house. Yeah, my girl is primed, primal, and pure. One ounce of her and I was addicted. One hour away from her and I'm jonesing serious. I think of her and smile from ear to ear while strange things happen to my body. It's a good strange. Yep.
Her best friend advised her that we should have a fight before we get married. We tried to think of something to fight about. We came up empty.
I love you, Gorgeous.

the edge

I just kept believing that somewhere, somehow, there was someone on this green earth who loved life more than money and truth more than ritual who could love me and whom I could love without being related to me by blood. Family is enough to get through this life, yet it seemed the possibility for wonderful with another such human being was a slight enough dream that I never stopped believing in it to keep waking up alive. I walked right up to the edge of not believing to a place where I wouldn't ever wake up again. Right there at the edge, when hope was beginning to unravel, becoming less than a thread, our eyes met and looked upon one another with a disbelieving curiosity that we had actually found that one human being we were reluctantly, slowly beginning to quite believing existed.
Walking a path that screamed insanity, I woke up one morning still believing that another day would be worth living and that my wealth, my ability to see beauty, could sustain me through a few more spins on this green earth. We found each other in the nick of time. As thin as that moment was, it will always be the best moment of my life. It was only nine earth days ago and I just had the best weekend of my life. She takes my breath away and gives it back again better than it was before. We ate delicious food, skinny dipped in a state park, rescued a turtle, laughed like the insane, saw the perfect diamond ring, looked deeply into our souls, and never took our hands off one another for very long. She loves me, I love her and everything in life is more than it was ten days ago.
Never, ever, ever give up.
I love you, Gorgeous.
Together we've fallen over the edge and the rush of the air past our mouths and eyes is exhilarating.

bananas foster

The evening air was sweet. We ate a delicious tomato soup with a fancy name that I can't remember, tenderloin appetizer with champagne applesauce, mountain trout accented with almond and bananas foster for desert. The meal was truly scrumptious. She was splendid and beautiful and engaging. She called her silky black dress a "hippie" dress. Her eyes have a sparkle when she smiles that will always own my heart. She told me about a young girl who she pulled from the bottom of a pool who wasn't breathing and how she breathed into the young girl's mouth to bring her back.
pause

learning

She told me tonight that she was going to teach me how to kiss. I've never been the best student. I have to go over things over and over and over and over again very slowly. My little body's percolating with a hurricane backdrop and a tsunami vista over all those little things that I don't understand so well. She's the pantheon of nature goddesses that we all see when we skinny dip in rivers and creeks on this green earth. Slightly tilted, laughing eyes, multi-colored hair, toe rings, hips made for rockin and lips made for lockin. She's as country as the moon over a hayfield. A cave boy's dream. Her cheeks are unique and prominent, her smile sparkles brighter than Connecticut handcuffs. Study hard.

when she smiles

Two Fridays ago, I met a female on a river. It would be more accurate to say that I spotted a female on a river. She was wearing a cowboy hat and a green bikini. She and some friends frolicked on the water and they were a delight to watch. Something about her fascinated me. She was smooth without pretense, calm without distance, Beauty in every sense of my imagination. In the past, I had contemplated the existence of such a female. While I believed that such a female existed, I doubted that the opportunity to interact with her would ever be a reality. Our first encounter on that specific Friday was very brief. I went back to the same place one week and one day later. She was wearing an orange baseball cap this time that said something about bass fishing. She watched me eat a steak and some shrimp. I told her about my name that made her laugh. She told me about her three sons. She told me about her grief over losing one of them. I told her about working out and riding a bicycle. She told me about how long it had been since she had dated. I asked her for a date. She laughed some more about my name. She hugged me. Life makes sense. The universe has meaning and everything is cool.

goofy

Watched The Happening, last night. The beginning was interesting, but despite two fantastic performances by Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, the movie just didn't have enough of a storyline to make it enjoyable.

Rode nine miles on a bike out to the state park this morning.

A somewhat funny thing happened at work yesterday. At break time, one of the workers looked out of the plant and saw guy run out of the woods with his arms full of something. Last week, a guy had been caught attempting to steal some tools from our plant. We thought there might be a connection and immediately called the police about the "guy in the woods."

I'm not feeling goofy right now and that's very troubling. Feeling goofy is a comfortable and exciting way to feel and when I'm not in it, it just seems like something is wrong.

WCWS 2008

Whew. What a bunch of great athletes. The NCAA softball tournament and WCWS was a delight to watch, even if it was only through a television. Nothing makes you feel more alive than competing in a sporting event. Watching Division I athletes compete against each other can be very exciting. The objective in most sporting events is to win. That's a good thing. Of course, a lot of fantastic performances can be experienced in losing efforts. My heart went out to Angela Tincher as her Virginia Tech Hokies were defeated in a grueling nine inning battle with #1 Florida. Florida has a bunch of talented players and most of that talent is young. Another great competitor who finished her collegiate career is Taryne Mowatt from Arizona. Mowatt played on two national championship teams during her career. If you mention competitor, better include Megan Gibson from Texas A&M. She did so much to get A&M into the championship game. On the way, she was named Big 12 pitcher of the year and player of the year. Unfortunately for A&M, Arizona State was between them and a national championship. I've mentioned State several times this season: here, here, here, and here.
Arizona State defeated Texas A&M in two games to claim the national softball championship. Katie Burkhart was just too strong for the A&M batters, giving up just six hits and recording 24 strike outs in two games. Though Arizona State will lose five seniors, including Burkhart, they have some power returning in Krista Donnenwirth and Caitlin Cochran. In game one, Donnenwith got 3 rbi's and a home run. In game two, Cochran hit a three run homer in the fifth inning that broke A&M's back.
game one
Arizona State 3-0

game two
Arizona State 11-0