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On the plane to Portland I sat by a woman who had a thick ham sandwich on dark rye bread. She was squirting little packets of mustard on to the sandwich when she asked, "Do you want half of this?" I thought it was a very sweet gesture but declined. Earlier, I was sitting in another seat when a large man sat by me. I started to sweat and had the closest thing to a panic attack that I ever hope to have. I thought I might have to get off the plane. After trading seats with the large man's son, I calmed down immediately. Whew.
Luke and I are in Portland working on our book, "Big Ten Co-Eds, Preppy Girls and The Lost Cheerleaders." We spent a few hours today laying the book out. It’s looking pretty good so far.



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180 degrees in the shade.

I just told Robert that his shorts are on backwards and he said, “Just 180 degree?” Yes. But then he said he doesn’t think they are made to do that.

Black-tailed rattlesnake maybe

AR0201_1m
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

I went for a hike yesterday and saw what I believe to be a Black-tailed rattlesnake. He was pretty aggressive though and my sources (enature.com) say the Black-tailed is not a particularly aggressive species. I told the gardener about my hike and he said, "It is okay to enjoy the mountains but not to trust the mountains. There are lots of black bear and they will eat you. You should bring a gun. A snake in the Gila (a national forest in southern New Mexico) ate a cow and her babies." He said the snake sucked the cattle up like a vacuum cleaner. He indicated the size with his arms in a circle (bigger than an anaconda) and said it was a serpent.

larvae

larva
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

There are hundreds of these larvae on my house. They look like ladybug larvae but larger and yellowish. They seem to barely move but if I put something out in front of the house the thing will have one on it almost immediately and maybe thirty or more if left overnight. Do you know what they are? I am waiting for them to turn into beetles to find out.

ants

ants
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

I moved into the barn in the back yard about a week ago. It had recently been renovated so it’s not very barn-like, unless you count bugs as barnyard animals. After a day or two of living in my little house the ants in the picture moved in. Actually they seemed more interested in using the floor to store dirt excavated from the tunnels they were building then actually living here. I vacuumed them up a few times and then caulked the tiny gap that was their entrance. It has worked so far.




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Why I loved Running

I loved to run. I wish I could write something that could express the feeling running gave me (before my knees rebelled). Running on a warm day especially – maybe even a hot one. Running in an old t-shirt and a pair of little shorts that say Dolphin on them. I never had “Dolphin” shorts but I did once have a pair of red “Sub 4” shorts until I had to dispose of them after they were contaminated with PCBs.
Here’s a story of a particularly eventful run:
Once I ran twenty-eight and three quarter miles, from Carson Pass to Ebbits Pass in Northern California. That was a beautiful run (much of which I walked). There is a lot of up and down as you might expect in the Sierra Nevada. At the top of every hill we overlooked a beautiful valley filled with wildflowers. It could have been every other hill. After a couple hours we stopped for lunch and a swim in one of the cold, alpine lakes. Toward the end of the run, which we started to anticipate about ten miles too soon, every hill we were sure was the last before reaching Ebbits pass. Only one hill turned out to be the last. Highway 4, where Ebbits pass was, looked more like a country lane than a highway. It wass a narrow, winding, two-lane road lined with forest. My running partner, Matt, and mostly I, were exhausted as we prepared to hitch hike on the edge of the road. Before any cars came, a cyclist sped by on his way down the pass. As he passed, he spat on Matt. I was immediately refreshed and my hand searched the ground for a rock to throw as I started to sprint after him. He was going 40, maybe 50 miles an hour and I hit a top speed of less than thirty – probably about 20 mph less than thirty. He got away. I vowed that the next SUV (I predicted that the first car to come would be an SUV) that came would give us a ride. The next care was a Ford Expedition, which came to a quick stop. I told the couple what happened and the driver said, “Get in.” We pursued the cyclist down the hill for maybe 15 miles and caught him. As we pulled up to him and I rolled down my window and calmly asked, “Did you spit on my friend on purpose?” to which he replied, “I sure did.” To which I replied, “Well, then fuck you, you fuckin’ cocksucker!” And then I apologized to the people in the front seat for my foul language. The cyclist said that Matt had threatened his life by “standing in the road.” My argument was that Matt’s life was equally in danger if cyclist/spitter had him. And what about wildlife - does he spit on deer crossing the road? And it is not as if there were sidewalks on these little mountain roads. The Man driving wanted to get out of the car and “have a talk” with the spitter. I wanted to disconnect (cut) his brakes so he would have to walk home. Matt advised leaving - turning the other cheek. The driver’s wife said, “Honey, let’s go. Forget about it.” We left but we did not forget about it. When the nice couple dropped us off Matt was singing a different tune. He said that if we find the guy he was going to stick his broom’s handle, which he really did have in his car, in his spokes. Fortunately, we never saw him again. And that’s why I love running - up until the spitting part.

lottery

lottery
Originally uploaded by Jonathansadler.

Recently I got an email telling me that I won 1.5 million Euros. It was a Packard Bell Lottery (that I never bought a ticket for but the ticket had my email address on it, the email said, so I guess I'm rich). This picture is a simulation of me and Robert when I get the money and convert it into dollars.
As you can tell, we are pretty excited.

Opinion

I have met a lot of nice pit bulls. In fact I have half a pit bull myself and she is quite friendly. I believe pit bulls are not bad dogs - it’s just that somehow we have to work on breeding out their tendency to eat children.



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