MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! I hope today is the best!

Busted (literally)

Slow motion; it was all in slow motion. Our car sliding into the other lane; Kate saying ‘Oh God please help us’; the car hitting the back; me flinging my arms around Kate; us sitting in the car with Phil running towards us; grabbing at the door handle trying to open it to no avail. It was all a really bad dream that I wanted to erase. Wipe it out. I don’t want to dream that. I wish it never happened, but it did. It did. One moment I’m riding home from a fantastic day with grandma, grandpa, Phil and Kate, and the next I’m sitting in a totaled car, my ears ringing, heart pounding, knee throbbing and my neck snapped with whiplash. The turn of events was the strangest thing.
Kate and I got in a wreck. I held in my tears, cried them at home, and applied mascara when I heard the police were coming. Why is it that we try to hide the obvious dreadful things in life with little cover-ups to prove to our already knowing selves that all is well? Somehow when I took my mind of the slow sliding of our car and the exploding noise of the mini-van barely missing my door and barreling into the passenger side backseat door by applying mascara, it made me feel like everything was ok. I can apply mascara; I’m ok. Weird.
Somehow when I’m in a situation (i. e. a car wreck) like this, my mind and body instantly switches into action mode. What can I do to help? How can I help out? When I’m left alone with nothing to do I go over the event in my head and I start breaking down; the shock jars me then. I think my body tells me, “Ellie, you’re okay. Don’t think about it now, or you’re a goner. People need help right now; you need to focus on them. You can let it sink in later.” And I obey that voice. Somehow I’m able to focus through a situation like that. If I can do something to help, I want to help. When there was nothing to do but stand in the cold flurry of snow, I picked up the pieces of the two cars that had busted off during the crash; a hubcap; orange reflector; grayish-purple plastic from the mini van; metallic dark green from our car. I needed something to do.
It’s a strange thing when you think about it. There could have been so many more things that went wrong that could have injured both Kate and I so much worse. If Kate hadn’t done whatever she did, the car probably wouldn’t have hit the back seat, but my door. I would have been hurt a lot worse. If we would have been hit head on who knows! But I’m not going to dwell on something like that.
I’m alive. Kate’s alive. We got whiplash. We’re okay. We’re going to live. Merry Christmas.

Holiday Upgrade

Yeehaw! Check out the new colors! I've also added new videos to my "youtube" video clip thing, and added a section about my favorite Christmassy things. Please take a look. I was feeling like the blog was becoming a little... blah. So I've made everything more exciting, even my text! :D

I hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas break! May it be the best of the best! ;)

Ice Creatures

These photos are part of a series I took on Thanksgiving Day. I've titled them "Ice Creatures" because... uhh, because I thought the name was cool. :D

What is it that you value most? Why?

I found myself asking myself these questions a lot lately. Wondering, pondering over my priorities. What is my top priority at this moment? Well, If I were to honestly put down (in descending order) my top priorities, I think they would be pretty screwed up. Therefore, I think it's time I set them straight. Although, it's harder to do then say. For example, it's very easy for the first two:

1. God
2. Family

But after that... I don't know. What should be next? School? Friends? I don't know. Although, I do think that if I focus on putting God at the top, everything else will kind of fall into place, so to speak.

Kate and Phil have finally come home to the United States!! They are (at the moment) up in Portland, but they will be coming down on the 15th and staying until the 22nd with us! I'm SO excited to see them! It's going to be a blast! You can tell I'm excited, I have an exclamation mark at the end of every sentence. :D Hee hee...

I'm going to leave this as it is, and get back to school (one of my top priorities... I think).

Thanksgiving last week

I never ended up writing about my Thanksgiving, because I was to busy relishing "my" time. But here a few photos to give you a feel for what it was like.

Fooood glorious foooooodddd, I'm willing to try it! (That's a song, by the way.)

I am a Human

I met Mr. Wits End today. I saw him coming. I even saw the sour red-faced look he so clearly aimed at my face, but I didn’t try to avoid him. In fact, I gladly collided with him, and his provoking sneer transferred readily onto my pained face. He’s not a very pleasant sort of character to be around. His sudden outbursts follow with a stream of unheard-of remarks that were never meant to be put into words and shot recklessly at opponents. His constant rolling eyes and stabbing comments confuse, bewilder and scare me, even though I know it is not he, but I who am saying such awful things.

I finally flew off my hinges today. Audrey and Will were infuriating me, teasing, and fighting, rolling their eyes and exchanging looks and smirks whenever I’d say something utterly ridicules in my rage. I wanted so badly to hurt them somehow. If not physically, then emotionally, or something that made them sit back stunned and think about what they were doing and for what reasons they were doing it.

I don’t know why my nature is when someone hurts me, I instantly want to hurt them back, so as to make them feel my excruciating pain. I guess I'm just human. Bad excuse.

I want to cry right now. I want to let out all the frustration that’s been building up behind my carefully white-painted brick walls. Focus. Focus on the good. Focus Ellie. You can do it. You can defeat Mr. Wit’s End and pull out of this dank grave you’ve so readily flopped yourself into. You’re not hopeless. You have a life. You have friends. You have talent. Even if you don’t know where it will be used, you have it. I run these things through my head; like an Espionage memorizing every step and number of information crucial to his life; cramming it into my head; forcing myself to believe the false tasting words off my acerbic tongue.

This is not a rant, nor a rave, but rather a beseeching petition to no one in particular; a thorny problem thrown out into a cosmic world, full of confusing questions that one day, I believe, will be eternally answered.

Thank you, you’ve been my tyro who probably knows more about me and the world then I’ll ever know.

Oh Ellie, Oh Ellie! Where art thou Ellie?!

!Warning!: Complaining ahead

Do you ever sit at the computer and stare at your blog, or something you just wrote? I do. All the time. I sit and I re-read every stinking entry I ever made, and then I critique it until I find that every lame sentence I wrote makes for one humongous trashy post! Awful grammar, spelling, punctuation, and worst of all, awful writing! It's depressing. Especially since all of my older siblings have this knack for writing highly amusing, quality and (at times) wise posts. Yeah I know, they're older, but somehow that doesn't help. Boy, being negative really doesn't help either, does it?

Okay I admit, I read a whole book last night. I was awake until 4:30 AM.

You know what I just realized? I realized that this is one of those posts that will look like I'm complaining, because I am. Sorry, don't worry, life is a whole lot better then I make it out to be. Journals and blogs are just the places I go to lament about my life. You know the complaining debut. Feels good. Sometimes. No response needed. :)

Another Poem

Night

She grabs and she gropes for the radiance before her,

Her fingernails scrape valleys of dark,

Throwing sinister strands of gloom about her,

The presence of light sends her reeling with curse,

Sneering and spitting her spiteful ballads,

She hoists herself up between mountains she's stable,

Casting ebony shadows she bellows at the sun,

Bragging her dark bitter song,

Living things stand frozen with fear,

Until no more one sees the lights gentle sway,

She'll not stop till it's done.

I really need some prayer for me and my school work, right now. I have a deadline of November 2nd to get done every overdue lesson I have. Before that day, have 4 papers to write. Getting them done is one thing, but doing them well --which I'm a stickler about, I hate not doing something to the best of my abilities-- is quite another.

Besides the never ending amount of school, life is good. Dance and Swimming keep me active and busy, and nice days keep me driving in the drivers seat into town. I'm still waiting for the day when God's gonna be like, "Okay, Ellie, I'm going to drop a load of snow, so get off the road."

I hope all is well with everyone, and may your Halloween be bright and cheery. ;) What's everybody doing for Halloween?

Yours until the snow drops,

Ellie May

Eye games

I've always thought Eye Games were quite fun, so I found a few for you.

Try to count the number of black dots on the image below...





Look at the image below for a while. Look's like it's moving, doesn't it?

You are likely to see that the top row of circles appear as "bumps" followed by "holes" and so on in an alternating pattern.

Can you try and see the opposite? Have a good hard look and try to see the first row as holes and the second as bumps. Difficult?

Try to read the color of the word, NOT the word, as fast as you can.

Look at this for a while, and then glance at the wall or your hand. Trippy, eh?

What do you see, an old women, or a young women?

My Weekend

Stress: the physical pressure, pull, or other force exerted on one thing by another; strain.

Stress literally controls my life at times. I do things that I normally wouldn't if I wasn't under an amount of stress. It's not that I'm blaming my bad choices, moods, or problems on stress, but I'm certain it adds a bit of it's own tasteless opinions to my life a little to often. I find that most often school work brings on the best (or the worst) of stress. It's like you can't get your mind off it. Even the weekends don't prove to be very enjoyable, because if you're behind constantly, (like me) then you're always telling yourself to "go finish this", or "oh wait, I forgot about that". It's an ongoing struggle. Thankfully, this weekend proved that statement wrong.

Earlier in the week, Tyler had asked me to come sing at his church with him and his selected worship team on Sunday. I've never sang with so many people on stage before. There was Me, Ty, Andy, Jake and his wife Wendy, Jonathan, Jared,a mom of one of the girls who I danced with one year and a girl who played Bass, named Jamie. So overall there were 8 people up there. Wendy, Andy, Tyler and I sang, and everybody including Ty and Andy played an instrument. So anyways, we practiced on Friday, smoothed out the few glitches in the sound system and our voices, and around 8:15 PM we started packing up and heading for home. I ended up spending the night in Tyler and Kelsey's living room.

On Saturday, Ty and Kelse and I headed out for Grandma and Grandpas house (although Grandpa wasn't there, unfortunately, because he was at a show) to do yet another annual labeling. Mom, Papa, Audrey, Will, Carrie, Jeremy and Andy (Carrie, Jeremy and Andy had come from Portland the night before) all arrived a bit after us, and while Jeremy and I kept a heated "who's gone through the most brochure boxes" race, Ty and Andy dinked around on their instruments and recording equipment in the bedroom. I won by the way. Ha Jeremy, take that! :D Our evening was spent between watching the Colorado Rockie's lose a World Series game, nursing our raw label-dried fingers, and eating the fabulous snacks Grandma so generously provided. Good food always makes life easier. :)

Sunday dawned bright and early. A little to early, actually. Andy and I headed into town around 8:45 AM (or around there) from the house and reached our destination (the church) in time for another run through of the songs. The real thing went much better then our initial practices and we were pretty happy about the finishing product. After sitting down, Steve, gave a mediocre sermon while Ty and I played an exciting game of hangman which led to a man with a top-hat and the finishing word, "hello". I stumped 'em. ;) We wandered around the lobby, visiting with random people and enjoying the content buzzing of people's conversations. Soon we found our appetites were becoming overpowering and we must give into them. Unfortunately, as Ty, Andy, Kelse and I lay sprawled across their (Ty and Kelsey's) living room, we found we couldn't decide on which restaurant to go to. We ambled, actually no, Andy's driving would not be called ambling; we shuddered and jolted our way across town and ended up a the "Lucky Panda". It's a modernized version of a Chinese restaurant with an almost full-to-the-bursting-point atmosphere. Every ones, but Kelsey's, lunch was practically dripping with MSG. Full, "in a weird kind of way" Kelse and I agreed, we headed to the Brain's (my) house. Evening dawned an orange and purple sky and brought a foot ball game and a one-card away-from-winning Speed card game. Ty and Kelsey soon left for Kelsey's parents anniversary, and that left us "little" brain kids, Mom and Papa and Andy to enjoy the evening.

Sometimes you have to make yourself forget about things and make yourself have fun, but it's sure nice when you don't have to and it just comes naturally. For instance, like this weekend.

With highest regards, and frustratingly good Speed skills,
Your,
Ellie May

P.S. For any who don't know, "Speed" is a card game.

Choke Cherries: Looks Can Be Decieveing

I wrote a poem for my school today. The object, or lesson the poem was trying to portray was that, looks can be decieveing.

Chokecherry

Glossy and blushing,
Alluring and delectable at sight,
Frothed in bottle green foliage,
Sighs of seductive resonance entice a passerby,

Beneath the placid scarlet,
Lay embedded in a bitter sap,
Hard as a rock,
A heart of stilted stone,

Betrayed and swindled,
Appearance the attention focused,
Tricked by beauty,
Looks can be deceiving.

Rain, rain go away...

I suppose you'll be hearing quite a bit about my new driving "skills", since I just got my permit so... please, just bare with me. :)

I went to town today (I drove, of course). Mom was leery about letting me drive since it was raining and this is my... third day to drive, but I did rather well, if I may say so. I drove a little slowly. Alright REALLY slowly, 50-55, but I didn't feel confidant driving 60 on a rainy highway. Yeah, I had some major car build-ups. :) Hee hee!

I love rain. I love it when the clouds form brows of grey, that parted only for periwinkle strips of sky.

Sorry, I'm rather tired and I need to get some sleep.

Regards,
Ellie May

I got...

...My PERMIT! I'm so excited about it! Mom and I went in on Friday, after I jam packed the last half of the manual into my head, (I also took TONs of practice tests) and we settled our selves down into the carpeted DMV seats, and people watched until #84 was called. After filling in a sheet of information for them, a lady sat me down at computer 2, and I started the test. Thankfully, all those practice tests were very helpful, so it made the test fairly easy. I went in while a girl was still doing her test, finished all the questions, (I only missed 2 which made for a 93% score (you had to have at least 80%) and came out before she did. I was impressed with myself (if I may say so). Again, I'm so impeccably modest.:) Heh heh. Anyway, I’ve been pushing my driving privileges to the limit, with Mom. Heh, and if you know Mom (she FREAKS out about people driving), you know exactly how much she wants you to drive (which would be nothing if she had the choice) and how badly she scares you when she freaks out. :)

MISC NOTE:
It's interesting; a writer said if you make yourself write everyday, soon the good days writing will be just as good as the bad. I sure hope that's true. :)

Hunting for "the" Deer

The other week, Tyler and Papa, went out hunting, to shoot a deer. (No?! Ya don't say?!) They started off early in the morning around four. Taking a long drive up in the Cascades, around Dead Indian road, they stopped and hiked into the woods, only to come out with two deer strewn between them, on a wheelbarrow/cot. (I actually don't know what it looked like, they just described it to me. Heh.) We went through the process of skinning, salvaging the meat, cutting off the heads and all the necessary miscellanious operations. It was, as some of you might take note of, a very messy operation, NOT for the light-hearted. :) Although, if I may say so, I proudly skinned half of Tyler's deer (which papa actually shot, not Ty's fault) and papa approved that it was "nicely done" after I proudly announced that it was "beautifully and artfully" skinned. (I know, I'm impeccably modest.)

Here, are some amusing, gross, and well... (you'll see. :)) pictures.

Capture the Flag

Future tales of a vigorous Capture the Flag game await you. :)

A Question

Tyler and Audrey and I were in Goodwill today browsing for nothing, but enjoying it. Ty came across a Robert Frost book filled with his various poems. While we were waiting in the car for Kelsey, (who had been watching kids for 6 hours, while their (the kids') parents attended the Parenting Seminar, Current Life hosted) I flipped through the book, and mused at his various works. I really like his work. It's thought provoking, comes easy off the tongue, and leaves a good lasting impression. I was flipping through the book when I came to a page with about 5 short poems scattered on it. One of them, was the poem, "A Question ". This is how it read:

A voice said, Look me in the stars
And tell me truly, men of earth,
If all the soul-and-body scars
Were not too much to pay for birth.

I thought about it for a while. First musing over the choice of words, then over the meaning. I won't try to explain how I heard the poem, because it does that itself quite well. It amazed me though, how thought provoking and profound even a small four stanza poem as this could be. I've questioned what a real writer is. What makes a writer a classic? How come Shakespeare is such a legendary play write? Somehow, I got my answer within A Question.

September 27th, 2007

I thought I'd put the date in as the title, because I don't feel like I have anything important to say today. Or, in other words, maybe I just need to write, but I don't have a topic or a thought that has been going through my head so I put the date down. I don’t know. Yesterday I got quite a bit of my school work done. Today... well lets just say I’m not really on a roll, but right in the middle. I want to get it done, but I don't want to have to sit at the computer for and hour and write up an essay. You know what I mean?



Dance classes have started up. Dance, as usual, is fun and hard. When you don't dance over the summer, you gain weight (not good weight, by the way) and you lose your turn out and your strength. So a lot of the first month and a half, you're working back into shape and sort of re-learning the movements and technique, in a way. It's a good feeling to be dancing, though. It's a very physical (and mental, actually) Art/Sport. It's not an endurance test physically, more like an endurance test mentally. Physically, it's not endurance, because you stop between combos and so your body heats up, cools down, heats up, cools down etc.



I've also started up Swim Team. So far, it's proved enjoyable! I've only gone three times, so I haven't quite caught on to the program yet, but that comes with time, I guess. The last time I went was on Tuesday and in we did an exercise where I swim on my back with my arms at my side, and pretty much every time, I would forget where the wall was and I hit my head on it! The first time it was like, "ohhh", the second, "ahh ahhhahhaahaa" the third I was just about to cry, and the fourth, if you would have looked hard you could have seem tears mixed with the pools chlorine water. It was so stupid! you would have though by the first, or even the second time I would be cautious enough to put out my hand, but no. It really hurt. When I hit it, it made this big thumping sound and I thought I had dented my head. (I probably did) Hee hee. yeah you may think I'm being a little over dramatic about it, but you try running into a concrete wall 4 times with your head at 5 miles per hour, (I was wearing flippers, so I propelled myself even faster!) then tell me if you think it's funny! (if you can! ha!) Otherwise, the coach is very encouraging, he said I have a lot of power in my legs, (which makes sense since Carla, [my dance teacher] said I'm a good jumper) and that it's coming along. Well, ta ta for now! -EMB

P.S. This is a failed attempt at pasteing a picture. Didn't work so well.

Starry Night

Go to this link to hear Don McLean's "Starry Starry Night".
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nkvLq0TYiwI&mode=related&search=

As I write, I look out into the night sky and think, "This is the place where scientists stop, and God takes over." It's amazing; a vast, immense cosmic sky, filled with glitter, spattered in a swirled milky way. And right in the center, sits a pool of light, reflecting silver streams of light onto a softly spinning Earth.

Brilliant scientists of the day look up at the cosmic wonder, and instead of racking their brains to shape hypothesis's and make conclusions about it, they just enjoy it as it is. I bask in the knowledge that the sky is the one thing no one can touch, and that's how it should stay. I wonder if anybody appreciates the sky as we do money material. It seems to me that every time I look up, I become aware that it's not whats around me physically that matters in the long run, but what's around me mentally, that truly matters.

Goodnight*
Ellie May

Goodbye

Carrie (my sister) and Jeremy (her husband, my brother-in-law) lest for Portland today. They are going to live there for the next 2 years so they can finish college. It was hard to watch them go. It seems like my whole life someones always going away and I've had so many times to rehearse my crying da'bue (is that how you spell that?) that even if it wasn't real (which it is, I assure you) everyone would believe me.

Last night I stayed the night at the Peters, and we (Heather, Audrey and I) stayed up until the wee hours of the night... morning. Yeah, it was around 3:30 when our heads hit the pillows. Its amazing, even though we got nine hours of sleep, (we woke up at 12:00) you still don't feel like it was very fitful sleep.

Well, must return to that "work". You might hear from me later in the evening, but for now, adios, and - Bye.

-EM (Ellie May [May's my middle name])

School, school school... and more school

School takes a lot of time and thought out of your younger life, and only so in your older life you can be successful. Kinda dumb. It really takes the fun part out of being a kid. Ignorance is bliss. Never were words so true. Honestly, some of the stuff they teach you in school is very beneficial, but some of it feels like its just there to cram down your throat, stress you out and make you lose those 10 hours of needed sleep. (Yeah, I know they say 8 hours, but I need more.) I think there's a pride issue that goes with the whole "learning" thing. When you know more, can do more, and look more than others you feel more... successful, I guess. It's awful actually, were really selfish, ya know that?

I guess the reason I'm writing this now and on this subject, is because at this moment I'm doing my school work, and in just about every subject I have an essay or some portfolio item to finish today or over the weekend. I guess it can be somewhat worth it though. (working through your school work and trying to get all A's, that is.)

I just got a letter from the People to People Student Ambassador Program, where they take you on a 20 day school trip to Italy, Greece and France. The only reason I was invited to go, was because I am a Honor Role student in Connections Academy. (And yes, I'm proud of it) It sounds sooo amazing, touring Europe with a bunch of highschoolers. Thankfully, I figure, if the people who are invited are all Honor Role students, (which they are) there won't be a bunch of immature kids going on the trip, and that makes it ten times better. I was pretty excited when I saw the letter today; because throughout the whole thing the people addressed me as "Ellie May", using my middle name. I liked it. (My middle name, that is)

I was reading a GL (girls life) magazine, and in it they had a list of things to do before you turn 16. One of them, was to buy some really expensive piece of clothing. Why is that? I mean honestly, that's probably the stupidest thing you could do, because there's no guarantee that you're gunna fit that peice of clothing in a year, or half a year. Unless, of course, it's something like a Prada Tote or Gucci Sunglasses, but those aren't all that expensive, anyway. So maybe I'm just saying this because there's no way I could afford a billion trillion dollar fur coat... I don't actually like fur coats. Anyway, getting off subject, I would rather save up about 10,000 dollars and go to Scotland, Greece, Italy and France for the summer, catching the trip with a high quality camera (Nikon something) and blogging it with a high tech lap-top. Yes. That would be nice.

Anyway, I guess I should get back to my unending list of school work and... Argh.

I need a real job.

Random Thoughts of The Day

Sometimes I wonder. Why is there war? Why does God encourage it in the Bible? Why are there abortions? Why do wonderful people have to die? Why is there pain? Why is there hurt? Why do people hate one another? Why do people laugh at others pain? Why do people cry? Why do people live? Why do people yell? Scream? Laugh? Dance? Love? Why? Why? Why? Doesn't everybody wonder these things? They discuss and force their thinking's and philosophy's on other people, and then stand back and refuse to join the race until everyone agrees with him/her.

There is a quote that says, "A word is not the same with one writer as with another. One tears it from his guts. The other pulls it out of his overcoat pocket." (~Charles Peguy) It's so true. Some people,(such as me) have to work at making their writing sound fluid and believable. Others, its simply natural, like breathing. My question is, is it the ones who work hard, or the ones who it comes naturally to, that are the greatest writers of all time? Who decides whats a classic and whats not, anyway? who decides whats a good book or not? What are they basing the decisions on?

These are just some random words I had to put on the blog. You may find I think randomly. I say things that maybe don't make a lot of sense, but I do think. Believe me.

Thoughts On a Stormy Day

The wind and rain outside are fierce and cold. They bite at the fingers and ears and cover the world in a wet bitter breeze that reaches across the ocean and pours onto the land. Fall is coming in Oregon. The turning of color in the trees, the yellowing of the tall grasses that populate the hill. Its when you feel warmer in the water then out of it. When you walk outside in the morning in bare feet and find that each wisp of grass is enclosed in a crystal water casing that froze overnight. When the trees lose their pine needles, and you spend half of fall trying to keep them raked up. The time when the sunflowers, heavy and round, hang their heads with the weight. It's when you wake up and you can't see the sun, only a pallid grey sky that holds heavy clouds that settle all day. The creaking and slamming of the barn door as the wind pulls and pushes it. It's fall in Oregon.

The Ring Of Fire and The Perfect Kiss

Here's one of my random stories I recently wrote, that I thought I'd share. Enjoy

I grabbed his had and pressed my lips and eyes closed. My stomach protested each time the ride hung precariously in mid air. I cracked my eyes as he squeezed my hand reassuringly; I glanced at the people below me, my hair waving in mid air. Ah!!! Not up again, no!
“How the heck did I get persuaded into this terrifying ride?!” I whimpered to the attractive, grinning boy next to me. He laughed outright as we went swooping down backwards. Finally the ride slowed to a stop, and I dropped my head back on the red cushioned seat.
“Man, I knew I despised this ride!” I grinned dizzily at the young man, which I had just realized I didn’t even know.
“Wow, I am really sorry! I…uhh… heh, sorry.” I quickly dropped his hand.
“It’s okay, it happens all the time!” He teased and gave a half smile.
“Why are you on this ride if you hate it so much?” He cocked an eyebrow.
Sheepishly and a little mad, “I was dared.”
“Mmm, that’s the worst.”
I sighed the ride’s butterflies out of my stomach and we both climbed out onto the metal tire print walkway and out of the exit.
He stopped out side the fence, “I’d love to come along with you and be your nerve reliever, but I’ve got some stuff I’ve got to do.”
“Well thanks! And I hope I didn’t hurt your hand to bad.” He looked at his hand,
“We’re good.” He gave me a wave, and we both turned to go.
Now what? I thought. I gazed around at the colorful booths that clustered on the yellow and green splotched grass. Kids screamed on the twirling airplane ride, gold glinting of the small crafts. Parents stood on the spinning Carousel platform, hands on the backs of their small 2 yr olds; the proud horses with wind in their manes, fiery red horses with flared nostrils and turned necks, periwinkle horses with flowers behind their ears and on their pink tails. There were couples holding hands on the Fares Wheel and gazing out over the fairgrounds at the small Oregon town Klamath Falls. Mmm…, what was that smell? I turned in a circle to discover the source. Ah ha, Cotton Candy! Oh shoot! Mom was waiting for me over at the U.S. Cellular booth. But first, some of that cotton candy… I walked up to the booth and got in line behind a father two small daughters in little blue and green sundresses.
“No, I want the blue!” The little girl in green protested, as she frowned, hands on hips, at her opponent (her sister). The older one took charge.
“Okay Abbigale Marie Foster, you listen! I have a blue dress on, right?” Her little sister pouted a slow nod as she stole a look at the dress.
“So I should have the cotton candy that’s blue, shouldn’t I?"
“I guess” she mumbled as her father handed her the cotton candy on a stick. Little Abbigale, walked away with a swirl of blue fluff on a cardboard stick, a triumphant smile and a horrified sister.
“Papa Foster, that was not very nice…” The older sister’s voice died out into the fair concert.
“Hi, what can I get you?” The overly eye lined girl questioned me.
“Hi, uh, I think I’ll get the pink Cotton Candy on a stick.”
“Yeah, coming up.” She drawled, obviously indifferent.
After getting my Cotton Candy I made my way slowly to Moms booth.
Di-dida-lee-da-doo-di-da-lee , my cell phone rang.
“Hello? Yeah Mom, I’m almost there. Any sales? Oh, one guy might buy one? ‘K, I’ll be there in sec. Bye”
Where was Jessamine and Eric? They were the ones that dared me to even go on the Ring of Fire. I only go ten bucks out of the stupid bet, and at the moment I didn’t even have that, ‘cause after the first few spins they realized I wasn’t going to throw-up and they snuck away. Not that they had to be very secretive sneakers, since my eyes were squeezed shut and spinning in their sockets. Man that was really embarrassing; I didn’t even know the poor guy I sat with, he probably thinks I’m really weird! Heh, now that I think about it, he was really nice about it, though. Cutting through the crowd of people wafting back and forth on the hot pavement, I spotted my mom under a US Cellular printed canopy. She was talking to some guy - wait, the guy – Oh no! Mom saw me and motioned for me to come over there. Dragging my feet, I tried to lick off the pink cotton candy from my lips and off my fingers.
“Hey, Hun! Can you get the Razor 201 in Silver from the back?”
I glance at him, smiled and turned to the back of the canopy. The Razor 201, huh? I thought looking at him as I grabbed the new box threw away the Cotton candy stick and headed back. Does he know who I am? I wondered.
Just as I go there,
“Planning on going on anymore rides today?”
Smiling, I handed him the box.
“Maybe. You?”
“I was thinking about it, but I went on a few more rides after you left, and I found I quite enjoyed your company.” His eyes glanced up mischievously from his wallet. I laughed,
“You did, did you? So you want me to permanently damage your hand?” He handed me the bills,
“Something like that.” He reminded me of Michael Buble; he had charismatic looks and mysterious smiles that he let out as though he couldn’t help them. I got side tracked on a display as he put away the change,
“Okay” I said, “We’ll see how long you and your hand lasts.” “When do you stop helping out here?” He asked. I checked one of the display cell phones,
“Around two hours.”
“M’ kay. You want to meet me by the Fares Wheel?” He inquired.
“Yeah, that’ll work. Oh by the way, what’s your name?” I asked.
“George. George Washington.” I snorted and he laughed as he turned.
“See you then!” George Washington tossed over his shoulder.


“Ready?” We handed our tickets to the supervisor and climbed into the #8 seat. The man barred us in and pulled the control handle back. The wheel instantly pulsed backwards and up. And as we slowly descended around the curve the breeze played in my hair and I caught my breath; the sky was a brilliant peach pink and orange, with golden yellow fringing the mountains and a grey/purple backlighting the silver lined clouds.
“So what’s your real name, George Washington?” I asked without breaking my gaze from the view. I turned my head to him when I didn’t hear an answer.
“Uh, sorry, what did you say?” Looking apologetic, he scanned my face.
“I was just wondering what you real name was, unless of course, it really is George Washington.” I repeated.
“It’s Jonah Asher.”
“I like it.” I said matter of factly.
He chuckled,
“Glad you consent!”
Seeing it was my turn at the introduction, I thought, and then snickered to myself. I could tease him and say I’m Brittany Spears. Heh, somehow I think not. He looked puzzled at my quiet snicker.
“I’m Talli Davis.” I held out my hand to shake his. Instead he took it and kissed the top saying,
“Mademoiselle Talli, I’m simply enraptured, so pleased to make your acquaintance.” I played along in a characteristic Pride and Prejudice voice,
“Mousier Asher, you are too kind! I too can hardly believe the circumstances, yet here we are!” He let go of my hand and we altered our voices.
“So, Ms.Davi-“
“Oh, no you don’t! I am Talli and Talli alone! Unless you want to add the middle name, “Marie”.” “Okay. Now that we have the overall scope, what ride next? Maybe the delectable Ring of Fire? I know how much you adore that ride!”
“Are you kidding me?! If you even go near that ride, I’m skid addling!” I added.
“How about the Zipper?” He suggested. I looked at him skeptically,
“As long as you go with me.”
“Don’t worry I’m right behind you, or beside you, or however they position you on that ride.” He laughed, which made me laugh after we stopped chuckling we both observed the various rides until the ride ended. We headed towards the Zipper after that, then the Bumper cars,
the Gravity, Strawberry and last but not least, (at least in his opinion) the Ring of Fire. By the end of the evening I was stuffed with Fair food and dizzy from the rides, but inside sat a happy feeling I hadn’t felt for a while. We walked towards the Fairs entrance gate and walked towards my car.
“Well wad-do-ya-know,” he started “I’m entirely together, even the infamous hand is fully pieced together and sound.” His brilliant russet/jade eyes sparkled a in the fading light.
He opened my car door for me after I unlocked it.
“Good luck, girl. And drive safely, there’re a lot of dumb drunk people out at night.” He
smiled one of those notorious smiles. I got in, but still held the door open,
“Thanks. You’re fun to hang out with.”
“Good.” He said.
We looked at eachother, and for a moment I thought he wanted to kiss me, and I wanted him to, but then he stopped leaning, and he looked into my eyes for a moment more, smiled, and leaned back again.
"It's perfect, I said."
And I think he knew just what I meant.