It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life…

Saturday, April 20, Sunday, April 21, & Monday April 22
Notes from the past few days…They’ve been very leisurely. 

Saturday we drove to Libby, Montana, about three hours north of here, to see an old umpiring comrade from Sin City who owns an outfitter shop up there…At first we were going to go by ourselves because you’d figure Her Majesty (HM) and company would have better things to do, but no, they wanted to come along, too…My fear they would drag me camping proved unfounded, as did my fear the trip would bore them to tears. 

Buddy’s doing OK…He’s getting up there in years now and the new knee he’s getting later this spring is really needed and he’s battling an illness or two, so maybe he’s not doing all that OK…We got into town around 1400 or so and stopped by the shop and then the kids went for a walk while we caught up and Buddy attended to customers and we met for dinner at his usual restaurant…Years ago, Buddy and I were working a high school game and we were an out away from a perfect game and ol’ Sparrow happened to be working the plate that game and if Providence gave us one game we could do again it would be that one…This will probably be the last time I see Buddy and we shared the great game and, well, it’s a bond you go out of your way to renew. 

The only problem was I got the hotels confused, somehow getting the Evergreen Motel confused with the Country Inn…This really isn’t that big a deal, tho check-in at the Evergreen took a half-hour…We got there right at 3pm and there was a sign on the door with a number to call, similar to a sign we put out at the hotel, and the gal must’ve been in Canada because it took her forever to get there. 

I am getting along famously with Baby Freya…I still stare in wonder at times because, again, this is the longest time I’ve spent with a toddler since my late brother was that age, plus to think that Her Majesty has reproduced, too, produces warm feelings…I bought Freya a stuffed animal, too…We were making a pit stop and the convenience store had a nice selection of Beanie Babies and there was a panda that was adorable so BOOM we bought it for her…Beanie Babies come with assigned names and this one’s was Ying which HM and I both thought was stupid and then Everett brilliantly noted that pandas eat bamboo and BOOM HM said Bamboo would be a good name and we concurred, pronouncing it BAM-boo…Baby Freya took to it in short order, but what 14-month old doesn’t immediately take to a new teddy bear???

Sunday morning we headed north to a dam that Buddy said produced a spectacular drive…He was right…The fly in the ointment was it was cool and very windy there so we  left soon enuff. 

We got home around 1330 Sunday and it was total leisure from there…Well, for ol’ Sparrow it was total leisure…HM and Everett were fussing around with unpacking (the loadout for an overnite trip with a toddler is enormous) and this and that…Then we were caught looking in the refrigerator for a snacky-poo before dinner and HM asked if a quesadilla sounded good and I admitted it did we were thinking throw some cheese on a tortilla and put it in the microwave…No, siree…Everett got wind of this and got a frying pan out and shredded some cheese and even threw some beans and other goodies in there and, honestly, we felt sort of guilty because the last we wanted to do was cause more work. 

Monday was a good day…HM, Freya, and I went to breakfast at a local pancake joint and a used bookstore was right next door and while it had too many new books to be in the same class as the used bookstores we visited in New Orleans and New York City last year, we did find a couple of things, key when you already have three years of unread books at home.

Then we went home and ol’ Sparrow took the new ride for an oil change while Freya napped and when she was up we headed out to a state park where the Lewis & Clark expedition stopped for a couple of nites, both on their way to the Pacific Ocean and on their way back…We are moderately well-read on Lewis & Clark and this was our first time seeing someplace where they’d actually been and it was a satisfactory experience…Also, we strongly suspect Freya pooped her diaper while we were there, so years from now HM and ol’ Sparrow can joke about how she had actually crapped at the official Lewis & Clark latrine…That wonderful roadside bar we had dinner at Friday is right there, too, and HM and I could see no reason not to have lunch there because that burger is all-time Top 5. 

We’re heading out tomorrow…Not heading home, but a bit farther west…This trip was worth it…The Dress Up Dinner was nice, of course, and one of the points of the trip, but we’ve fretted over HM everyday for eight years and it was good, and necessary, to see that she is building a good, happy life for herself…She married a good man, and she’s a good mom, and they are raising a good daughter, and that is good for ol’ Sparrow’s morale. 

Sparrow’s Sleep Log:
2100 Saturday until 0600 Sunday…9.0 hours for the nite and 56.5 hours for the week, one hell of a total considering time was spent on the road in strange beds. 

1900 Sunday until 0400 Monday…9.0 hours for the nite, an excellent start to the sleep week. 

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The Diary of a Nobody is a novel. All elements are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Anything else is a coincidence. 

The Diary of a Nobody was inspired by the 19th-century British novel of the same name. 

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It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life…

Wednesday, April 17
A good day today.

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