There was one woman who always asked us to pray for soap opera characters.

Heh. Great detail.

You have never tried so hard not to laugh during church than having to pray that Vicki gets the help she needs and can, in time, learn to forgive her father who gave her life.

Also, in the picture of my grandparents' there's a huge huckleberry thatch to the left you can't see.

I'm sure you'll suck less after your new haircut.

Now was that nice?

Now was that nice?

Was it Not!Nice? Everybody's better after a new haircut.

::shakes personal compass again::

No, that's what it says.

Hee.

Of course, since you haven't give me any advice yet, I'll probably end up with a mullet on one side and a buzz cut on the other.

Lest anyone forget I was horribly cute as a child.

Of course, since you haven't give me any advice yet, I'll probably end up with a mullet on one side and a buzz cut on the other.

Well, I have put some thought to it and will try to come up with some pictures tomorrow.

Lest anyone forget I was horribly cute as a child.

Yeah, but even better as an adult.

We had just moved to Reston, which is a "New Town" and it had just opened. There were only 100 or so families there--all of pioneering spirit and liberal bent. My parents had spent all the money they had on buying the house, so we were broke, although I didn't know that at the time. We lived three townhouses from the community pool, so my brothers and I went swiming every day. They were the two redheads wearing t-shirts in the pool to protect their fair skin from the sun. When I was waterlogged, I would run home barefoot, and gird myself for the blast of cold air as I slid open the glass doors onto the back deck and ran upstairs to change into a t-shirt and shorts.

I would bike to the Plaza [link] and wander around the hardware store, which was delightfully disorganized and overfull and had many bins of interesting nuts and bolts and racks of fishing lures and an ancient "test it yourself" display for TV tubes. (My mom now lives in a condo over the location of the old hardware, which is a thai restaurant) then across the Plaza to The Drugstore, where a vanilla coke could be had at the lunch counter.

Then home for a quick dinner and a night spent catching fireflies--a local lab was offering $1.00 per five of them, and we all thought we were going to get rich. Virginia has lots of firelfies and endless rolling heat lightning punctuating the crickets chirping.

Yeah, but even better as an adult.

Only occasionally.

Well, I have put some thought to it and will try to come up with some pictures tomorrow.

Yay! Thanks.