The Agrinautica

   So yeah, I left Davis around 6pm yesterday (Sunday), my and my two little girls, and I come rolling in here about 26 hours later with the addition of some pond water, some polywogs, a whole bunch of frogs, and a woman old enough to be my mother!!

   Okay so it was my mother. And by two little girls I mean the rats Leia and Delilah. When I left I was worried they'd be too hot so I put a bunch of icecubes in their cage with them. By the time I stopped at Merced for In-N-Out I was worried they'd be too cold, but upon examination they had piled all the icecubes into one pile in the corner of their cage, crafty girls!

   I took the 99 instead of the Five, because there are more towns along it and I figured there was a pretty good chance my car would explode. About two hours out I realized the first thing I'd forgotten: the two bottles of wine made by Coleman that I was going to give to my parents. Later I'd realize I forgot my flipflops as well (rainbows!) )=
   Anyway I think it was about 1am when I finally reached the gate into Tweedy, but then I had to deal with a riddle of sorts. The key to the gate was "locked with a combination lock to a chain around a post -- it'll be obvious," so in the moonlight I searched the base of every pole until finally I found out with a lock and chain. Fifteen minutes of fiddling with the combination lock later I finally got that open and managed to get through the gate. Finally the last part of the quest was before me, the part I'd been dreading the entire way: the final ascension up to the cabin.
   On the first attempt the car began sliding backwards and stalled. Several attempts to restart it ended in stalling and sliding further backwards. As there was a deep rut behind me (the road curved at that point on the steep hill), if this could continue the car could end up in very precarious straights indeed. Finally I tried one last time, giving the engine a mighty wallop of gas, and successfully charged up the hill.
   Later I was told it was probably a good thing I didn't try to walk in from the gate, as there are mountain lions about.

   The next day we (maternal grandparents, mother, myself) bollocksed about for awhile. Myself and mother went down to the lake, where there were millions of little frogs. Then we saw a 3 and a half foot gopher snake, which mother proceeded to pick up by the tail like that Australian guy (Crickey!). We waited around to avoid coming back through LA during rush hour traffic, and then returned. As mentioned, mother had decided to bring back some polywogs and frogs.

   This evening I stopped by Diedrichs Coffee and found Villem, and friends from HS, Russel Renzas and Kerry Wilcox.


   Also the demolition of the wooden structure at Little Big People Park in Davis began today. Inexorably society continues to move from interesting and unique things to prefabricated plastic. )=


Previously on Emosnail
   Two Years Ago Today: Leaving Apt for First Time in Week - hung out with Ben and Garian
   Year Ago Today: 6, 7 & 8 of 30 - 11 Hours on Amtrak, Controversial Political Statement, & Interviewing shid - "The Sexual Confessions of Shid W."


Pictures to come!