Even on this birthday, Melanie remains trustworthy; cats are not wierd, they are normal
Thursday, February 3, 2011 at 2:05PM 
Those of us who were free gathered together to celebrate Melanie's birthday. I will not tell you what birthday it was, but I will note that when I was a young adult, we feared this birthday above all others. The belief among young people was that no matter how good a person was before they hit this birthday, once they reached it, the ways of the world would overtake them and they could not be trusted after that.
Hell.
Melanie can still be trusted.
Now I will move write along, writing very little, because I have already spent quite a bit of time editing, preparing and placing pictures and I do not have time to write much. So I won't. Because if I write words that I do not need to write, it will just eat up my time, so why should I write such words that waste time when I do not need to write them?
So I won't write much.
Just a little bit.
Not much at all.
Because it would waste time.
And I do not have time to waste.
So I will write very little today.
I will just show you the pictures.
And not worry about writing many words.
That would be a waste of time when all that you need to know is in the pictures.
Well, maybe are other things that should know, too - like how to do math, for example.
Math is a good skill for anyone to have.
Here is Lavina, making frybread.
Once must have some comprehension of math to make frybread.
Otherwise, one might make 100 frybreads, when one dozen would do.
Or use 6 teaspoons of salt when one would be just right.
Kalib entered carrying his spatula, but then laid it down. I picked it up. He did not quite know what to think about that.
Melanie prepares her Navajo/Apache taco.
The tacos were damn good.
The day before, Rex had submitted his entry for a grant to help him with a sculpture that he hopes to create and then display at Burning Man in Nevada this summer. Unfortunately, due to some computer shenanigans, much of his proposal did not get submitted. Only a piece of it.
Anyway, this is model of only a piece of what he hopes to create. In the real thing, this salmon skeleton will be five foot long and there will also be a whole salmon, concrete, five feet long and a number of other elements as well.
His sculpture will cover some significant space.
I hope he gets the damn grant.
Melanie was presented with two birthday cakes, not one. I am not sure why. I did not ask. I know Charlie made one of the cakes. I'm not sure who made the other.
Lisa made the frosting.
We ate the cakes with vanilla ice cream and they were damn good.
Afterward, she opened gifts.
All of the gifts were damned good.
Charlie gave her a damned good book titled "Cats Are Wierd." Not withstanding the fact that it is a damned good book, I take exception to the title.
Cats are not weird. As you can see, Diamond is as normal as normal can be.
Bear Meach is not weird.
Melanie observes Bear Meach being normal as Rex and Margie wash dishes.
Kalib studies Poof. "This cat is not weird," he would have proclaimed, had the proper words come to him to thus proclaim.
Perhaps it is little boys, not cats, who are weird.
Jobe goes for Poof, who is not weird.
The Three Musketeers showed up: Carl, Charlie and Bryce. They did not bring their swords. I was disappointed. I wanted to borrow a sword to cut the cake.
As the party drew towards its wild conclusion, Kalib crawled up to see his mom.
Two of my children, paired off. Lisa came late to the party, because she is carrying such a heavy load between being a full time student and full time job, and taking on extra tasks to help pay for it all.
She must deal with stress.
And then, as always happens, the time came to say goodbye, see you later.
Always this time comes.
What a fine thing it has been these past 30 years to have Melanie as my daughter.
An absolutely fine thing.
Oh, dear! I was not going to say, "30 years," but I did.
Even so, I trust her.
Reader Comments (14)
My kitties would not like that book at all! And Happy Birthday to Melanie. Those tacos sure looked good.
I hope Rex gets his grant, my son goes to Burning Man too. Happy B'day Melanie.
What a lovely post. The photo of Kalib through the spatula is delightful, well they all are.
Happy Birthday to Melanie and Happy Everyday to the rest of you....and to the cats, cheers of appreciation for them not giving a damn whether we think they're weird or not.
Happy Birthday Melanie!
Good luck Rex!
That's a mighty fine profile of Diamond.. Happy Birthday to Melanie :)
Happy birthday to Melanie (and 30 is a GREAT birthday!)
Sending positive energy for Rex.
Birthday wishes Melanie. I think this might be my favorite post so far. I like to see what the spatula is up to.
Happy Birthday to Melanie from St. George Island! Awesome party, looks fun!
30 is a fine age to be. Congratulations to Melanie for getting herself there.
Congratulations also to Lisa. Her hard work will take her places, and I congratulate her on her industriousness.
So who's Carl? I'm nosy. And over 30. But I can be trusted.
damn fine pictures
Fresh from my weekly Skype session with son and grands when I read this...
It's a wonderful thing- this business of trustworthy sons and daughters over 30, isn't it?!
Happy Birthday to Melanie and to a damned fine son next week !
Looking at your photo of Kalib and Poof sharing the cat stand, I am remembering , when small, son used to say cats were catly, kids were kidly...
Never did figure out what he meant by it but your photo says it too.
Happy Birthday Melanie, and thanks once again for sharing Bill! Loved the people, loved the cats and loved the photos of this high ceilinged dwelling with the shiny wood floors. Such a nice home! Ah, to be only 30 again!
This is really a good stuff,This sounds good. I like it.