The Scampering Horse

My cat, prince, has been cheating on me for the past two years. He has lived months at a time at the neighbor's house. We've had kittens, puppies, another male cat, all of which Prince did not like. Instead of working out his problems through talking, he took off. Occasionally we would catch him and bring him home where he would hiss at us for a few days, and then he would be off to the other woman's house. When he would return, he was thinner, smelled heavenly, and had remarkably shiny fur. Well, on Sunday, I finally met the other woman at a block party. And she is delightful! I kind of thought she would be, but my suspicions were confirmed. Prince has been home for several months now. We made the choice to take the other cats at our house to live on a Nebraska farm in a barn, and keep Prince happy. It's been working. He meows at our door, and no longer hisses, and sleeps on various beds at night. He hasn't smelled like the other woman for months. "Did y...

The evening before the solar eclipse I talked to a man who came from California to Nebraska to see it in totality. He told me about watching a solar eclipse in Hawaii next to the hot flowing lava of a volcano. "The lava was nothing compared to the totality of the eclipse. It is the single most spectacular event in nature I've ever seen." Oh, so I guess it's worth me driving an hour and a half to Alliance to see it? Let me get in my van and do this thing. Since we were going to Alliance, I really wanted to watch the solar event at Carhenge. Carhenge makes me laugh. And I like to think of the people who created Stonehenge and tracked the astronomical events, maybe even watching their own solar ecplise, and I feel connected to humanity in a tribal way. But the connection comes with satire, because, cars stacked in representation of gigantic pagan stones. It's funny, people. Turns out, I was one of many who thought watching the eclipse at this location would be...

I think there are going to be 20,000 extra in people in Sidney this weekend to watch the solar eclipse. We are in a good spot. 97-99% completion. I hear the sky gets dark. Will I see stars? I'm not teaching this year. I made the decision last year. It was a tough one. I love my students. I love researching, and getting dressed, and having fantastic discussions about interesting things. I love CNN student news, eating lunch in the cafeteria, and having the same work schedule as my children. But committing for a full year felt too much. There was also a lot of unknowns with teaching. I wasn't sure about the status of my husband's job with the Cabela's/Bass Pro merger. I knew the school I taught at would suffer if I had to break a contract for some reason. And, the fire in my belly for writing was burning. It all aligned. Write. Provo, Seattle, Park City, Sidney, Potter. These have been the location of my writing adventures this summer. Right now I am in Park City,...