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Caff, Sam and I decided to head off to the beach on base – we found another deserted one – for a little romp while we waited for Dave to get home. He was running late, trying to close out all his business for the week. While it rained in town, we watched the clouds roll past us. We never got wet. It was fun to see Caffrey playing and chasing her stick. Sam was really good about listening to me and not running into the water while I played with Caff. You can see all the sand on her tongue! We also saw a big, fat, dead puffer fish. Caff almost took a big bite before I figured out what in the world it was (aren’t you glad I didn’t post that picture?).

Sam and I mountain biked over to this beach yesterday – we went over a bunch of tank tracks (cool!) that were part of the Swamp Romp course. Sam really wanted me to go “mudding” – splash through the mud on the bike. There were huge puddles still. (My friend Amy and I went mudding once in CT in a friend’s Jeep – it was so cool! I just heard from her the other day – she has gone mudding in the Durango with the two kids in back squealing as the mud flies! Too cool!) I think I might get in trouble if our bright yellow Xterra came back covered in mud, so I’ll stick with mountain biking through it for now 🙂 I proposed a mountain biking fun ride on base right after the Swamp Romp – we’ll see if the race organizer thinks it’s a cool idea or if I’m just a freaky crack-head of a mom 🙂

Sam loves to watch movies of himself. Today I told him as we were driving home that I took lots of pictures on the beach so he could see his doggie playing in the photos. He said “atch oovies?” (he doesn’t say the first letter). So I thought about it for a minute, not wanting to disappoint him (I hadn’t taken movies this time). I said that’s what memories are for – they’re like little movies in your head. I felt very poetic, like the perfect mom with the right answer at the right time. It’s a rare feeling. I do have other little poems I’ve stored up for some moment…perhaps when I have enough of them I’ll do a silly cross-stitch (you know, the long ones Grandma made that hang on the wall?). Here they are…

Snow is the sand of winter. (We lived in CT at the time – before Sam – and I knew Caff was missing playing in the sand, so I told her that as I tossed a stick in the snow. Again, feeling like such an uber-mom!)

Scotch is mouthwash for the soul.  (Dave and I were sitting on a deck in Durango drinking some very new Scotch out of a sampler tin (of Scotch, yes, that’s right!) we’d purchased at the local gas station. It was sitting high on a shelf, rusty and dusty. We worked our way up to the 25 yr old stuff, which was pretty good. I will never forget the crisp air and the bright stars – very little light contamination. Dave’s brother Tim lives there now…we’re jealous! Haaallllooooo Tim!)