Long Weekend's Journey Into Extended Working Holiday

So here I am, at home! No, not Tahoe and the Sierras where you are used to me writing from, but home, the home where my heart and soul lives - the Rocky Mountains! Specifically I am in Denver, where my bestest of best friends live.

A week ago I pulled an all-nighter to wrap up a myriad of little projects I had going in Tahoe so I could catch a plane to Denver for a long weekend get-a-way. GinGirl, one of my oldest and dearest friends, cashed in some of her business miles largess to fly me out from Tahoe for a reunion of the Sick Twisted & Wrong, and as a surprise gift for NatureGoob's 40th birthday. Actually his 40th + ONE birthday if you are counting, because peoples, things, and schedules all conspired to nullify any birthday party plans last year for his real 40th birthday.

Not that this year was completely devoid of conspiracy and deceit ... oh no! once they got me here they sprang the trap! "Oh MeeesterBeeelll" ... as long as you're here ... how would you like to work on this project? ... and maybe this one?? Oh and by the way, Carol needs you look at this and fix that, and ... Hey! just how long can you stay???

So here I sit, with the Garden Guarding Gargoyle nearby, pondering "How Long" ... ummm ... well ... luckily I'm rather footloose and fancy-free these days ... seeing as how GinGirl has a firm grip on my return ticket, and it's a thousand mile walk back home to Tahoe, I will be in Denver with my favourite friends, in my home of homes, until the middle of November on, shall we call it, an extended working holiday.

P.S. My captors have agreed to give me access to Gather ... 15 minutes twice a day ... this limited access will impact publishing as will the lack of access to my files and images back in Tahoe; however, I will try to get the Weekend Qwiki Quiz back online for this weekend and post what I can when I can!

P.S.s. Those of you that were planning to Trick or Treat at my Tahoe place, sorry I won't be there to pass out the candy bars; likewise, to any who are scheming to TP and egg my house for Halloween ... I may be gone, but my neighbors the bears and coyotes are still there!

... ghost story ...

Ghost Story

... Mac Abre wiped his brow, it was getting late.
The sun was slipping beyond the trees, and in the
twilight the shadows danced as the evening breeze
rustled about the graveyard. He had finished the
hole, the final resting spot. It would be filled
tomorrow with a coffin, but this evening, it was
a gaping gash in the earth, a wound that would not
heal 'til filled with a body in the 'morrow.

Mac Abre stepped up close to the edge to admire
his handiwork. He blinked his tired eyes. Had
something moved in the darkness of the pit?

Mac peered deep into the waiting grave ...
suddenly! a fluttering specter rose up from the
bowels of the earth and flying past him escaped
into the dancing shadows of the surrounding woods.
Mac clutched his chest & ducked his head in fright
... and then ...
old Mac fell head long into the grave he had dug
...

... one spirit leaves, making room
for the internment of the next ...
- such is the life of a ghost.

I am a Monkey’s Uncle

~* I am a Monkey’s Uncle *~

That’s right folks; I am a Monkey’s Uncle. Truth be told, I am really a Monkeys’ Uncle three times fold! I have three monkeys. There is firstly my oldest niece, my biggest Monkey. Then lastly youngest niece, my littlest Monkey. This leaves, well, my nephew in the middle, who of course is my middlest Monkey! My brother and sis-in-law have bestowed on me two beautiful nieces, the bookends of my monkeys, and an energetic and inquisitive nephew in the middle. To brag a bit, I am their favourite Uncle (ok ok, so I’m their only uncle…let me enjoy my celebrity) and they love being my monkeys. So much so that they take pride in introducing themselves as “hi, I'm [their name] … and I’m UncaBill’s Biggest/Middlest/Littlest Monkey!”

We have played lots of games, but the Monkeys longtime favourite is Hop on UncaBill . This game’s origin begins with their grandmother, yes that would be my Mother. One time when I came out to Tahoe from Colorado to visit, their grandmother told the Biggest Monkey, at that time my only Monkey, to run down the hall and wake me up for breakfast. Monkey #1 took this to mean she should fling open the door, bound across the room in three giant Monkey steps, launch herself into the air and belly flop onto a still slumbering UncaBill. Oh yes, it worked. UncaBill was definitely wakened! … my Mother possesses an uncanny wisdom, though I’m often left to ponder the madness of her methods … This game has grown as more Monkeys became players, and as the Monkeys themselves have grown. Together, the Monkeys can now pull a sleep deprived UncaBill out of bed and half carry, half drag him to the breakfast room.

A couple years ago during one of my journeys, I was staying in Lamai on Koh Samui in the Gulf of Siam. One rainy afternoon I ventured up island to the village of Chaweng. In Chaweng I stumbled across this cute little café/bar just off the beach. I really had to go inside and check it out, if for no other reason than the café’s name – The Three Monkeys – and to see if they had any t-shirts for sale.

It was getting to be around Happy Hour time (well yeah, in Koh Samui Thailand it is pretty much "happy hour" all the time) so as long as I was there, I grabbed a seat at the bar. I order a plate of Monkeys in Bed and a Tiger beer, while the waitress checked on the shirts for me. No, Monkeys in Bed is not made out of monkey meat! It is stalks of celery stuffed with a mixture of spiced chopped prawns. I also had a Sack Full of Monkeys and some Flying Monkeys , the sacks being like Dim Sum and the flying monkeys are the Thai version of Buffalo Wings. The Tiger beer is one of the local Thai beers, medium colour and flavour, it was good with the hors d'œuvres. While all my monkey snacks were being prepared the waitress and I shuffled through the cafe's t-shirts for me to take home as gifts for "my" Three Monkeys. After sorting through almost all the shirts the two of us were able to piece together three different sizes, three different colours, and each with a different saying printed on the back ('cause each of my monkeys is different and unique!).

Here are my three Monkeys:

See No Evil,
Hear No Evil,
Speak No Evil

All wearing their Three Monkeys t-shirts from Koh Samui.