Too tired to blog tonight, so here's a sleeping boy...

To all of my 789,000,018.24449 readers in every country on every continent on the globe and a few beyond it as well - I apologize. I am just too tired to blog tonight. To tired to even explain. Plus I've got a task I've been working on for awhile and I absolutely must finish it before I go to bed and I figure that will take another three hours, maybe four.

I am too tired to finish it, but it does not involve writing but working with photos, so I will play some music loud - maybe the Rolling Stones, Credence Clearwater Revival, The Doors, Beethoven, Bach, a little Mozart, Johnny Cash, Kurt Cobain and Nirvanna perhaps - that kind of stuff: loud, full of energy and heavy; current, up to date, cool and hip.

That should get me through it.

We bury our little Pistol-Yero, then celebrate Mother's Day

Readers who were with me then will recall that my ornery, sweet, loving, little buddy, Pistol-Yero, died unexpectedly while I was in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. I had wanted to bury him after I returned, but the snow was so deep, the ground so frozen and Melanie was working up north, would not be home for a month and it seemed that everybody should be here.

The snow is melted now. Melanie is back and everyone was coming out to the house Sunday. There is still a lot of frost in the upper layers of ground, but Rex is strong and so, using picaxe and shovel, he punched through it.

Muzzy and Akiak engaged in a long running contest to see who could keep the stick the longest.

In respect for the Navajo beliefs of their mother, Jobe, Kalib and Lynxton could not come near the body of Pistol-Yero and would have to stay inside for the funeral and burial.

It may be a small hole, but given the conditions of the earth here, it took a long time to dig - probably close to an hour. Charlie arrived and spelled Rex for bit. Akiak seemed to dominate the stick game.

I unwrapped Pistol-Yero, put him on a blanket that he had enjoyed in life and brushed his fur. Lisa came out as I finished and wanted to see him.

I then carried him to the back. Except for Lavina and the boys, everybody gathered around for the viewing and final pets.

Margie came out a little late, as she had been helping Lavina with the boys.

Then we headed toward the far reaches of the backyard, where, in the course of 30 years, we have buried a good many of our fur-clad family members - because that's what they are - family members.

Everyone told a favorite story about Pistol-Yero. Margie is talking here. She is saying how she always wanted to keep him off the bed and especially the pillows, but he always got on the bed and pillows anyway and she came to know that he really liked to have a nice, neat, clean bed and pillow to lie on. She also noted how Pistol had usually stayed away from her, because he always liked to hang with me and she would do things like chase him off of beds and pillows, but there were a few times when she had been sitting on the couch and he came to her and sat on her lap and let her pet him as he purred and that was special.

Melanie took her turn filling in the hole - first we did it by hand, then by shovel.

And finally, covered it with stones. Rex and Charlie had dug up this boulder during one of my forays into the house. Caleb placed it on the grave and we piled the smaller stones around it.

Lisa disappeared and then reappeared, carrying three blossoms from a Mother's Day bouquet Melanie had bought for her mom.

Rest in peace, sweet little Pistol-Yero... life is not the same around here without you. You would probably be sitting between me and my computer screen, right now, as I made a regular post about Mother's Day.

We then headed back up to the house. The boys came out and set a tire to rolling.

Kalib set the tire to rolling again as Lavina cooked. He scored a direct hit and knocked Rex down.

Kalib was very pleased, so he rolled the tire back up to the porch to see if he could down Uncle Rex again. He would succeed.

Jobe raked the house.

Corn, mushrooms and peppers were added to the grill. Soon, we would feast in celebration of Margie and Lavina; in celebration of mothers.

MOTHERS: new one and baby at Abby's; Elder mother and daughter who is also a mother at Metro Cafe - Happy Mother's Day, all

I walked to Abby's for breakfast this morning and was surprised to find Shelly there with her new baby boy, Colten. I hadn't seen Shelly since I left for Arizona-India and she went on maternity leave.

Baby and mom posed, as Amber looked on. Abby was not in. Perhaps she took Saturday morning to sleep in for once. Remember, Abby not only runs her own restaurant, but she is a mom, too - and a grandma. So she should sleep in now and then.

Shelly was taking orders, cooking, busing tables and mothering - all at once. And the omelette she fixed me was pretty damn good.

So please, if you should happen to see Shelly today, say "Happy Mother's Day" to her.

Colten, in line with dessert.

At the usual time, I headed to Metro Cafe for my afternoon coffee break. I had planned to ride my bike, but it was raining and I did not want to get my camera wet, so I drove. When I arrived, I found Carmen there with both her mom and dad. I had seen them all together at the ice rink, but never in Metro Cafe. So, naturally, we had to a do a Metro portrait.

Before we did, Carmen gussied her mom up a bit.

So here she is, Carmen with her dad and mom, Tony and Eva Villasenor, originally from a small village in Mexico. They did not move to Anchorage until Carmen was ten. Her early life was spent barefoot on dirt floors. They had no cameras and so Carmen has only one photo from her early childhood in Mexico.

So say happy "Mother's Day" to Eva today - should you happen to see her.

Oh, and don't forget to say "Happy Mother's Day," to Carmen. She's a mother, too, you know - Carmen and Branson, the six-year old hockey star and a bit of a young ruffian, all around. Young ruffians need good mothers and Branson's got one.

Probably, you won't see any of these mothers today - but I'll bet you will see other mothers, perhaps even your own.

So, please, say "Happy Mother's Day" to them, too.

Happy Mother's Day, all you mothers out there. It's a tough job you have, but most mothers are pretty tough and we sure do need you.

Damn dog comes running my way

I was out walking today when this damn dog suddenly came running my way.

This damn dog didn't stop to say, "hi."

No. This damn dog just ran on by.

Damn dog. He could have said, "hi."

I can't believe I'm seeing green; blue and orange train wreck at the window; poet tells me of the generation that grew up not reading comic books

I really can't believe it...

...yet there you have it...

Green!

I zipped into town tonight, grabbed Margie and zipped right back home. Just before we left Anchorage, Jobe caused a train wreck in the window.

Today, I had my at least-once weekly breakfast at Abby's, the breakfast Arlene picks up for me in exchange for shooting the December wedding of her daughter, Aurora. 

You will notice that Allie, the poet and advanced student who, at the age of 16, graduated from high school with high honors, is no longer a blonde, but a red head - a bright red head. If there is a ever a slow moment when I am at Abby's and Allie is there, she will tell me a story or two or three or four about being a teenager in today's world.

Today, she told me about going to Blockbuster all winter long to check out and watch movies, but now that the darkness is gone and we are definitely into the season of light, she doesn't check out so many movies anymore, because who wants to sit or lie around in the living room watching movies when it's light outside?

So I asked if she had seen The Avengers, because to watch a movie in the darkness of a theatre rather than a sun-lit living room is quite a different thing. Yes, she said, in 3D and she had loved it. Fun movie. She asked if I had seen it. I told her how Margie and I tried on Sunday, but got shut out because it was sold out. I told her we will try again. She said we would enjoy it.

I told her I was sure we would, but I also said I doubted that any comic book movie could ever surpass or even equal the experiences I had reading comic books as a kid growing up. It was absolute Magic. "My generation didn't read comic books," she told me. Instead, she explained, they grew up watching movies and reading Harry Potter - but not comic books.

Allie very recently turned 17. She was very pleased. She got to go to an "R" rated movie. She told me which one, but I can't remember. It wasn't that bad, she said, but still... a bit surprising...

Note: As I put together my Return to India series, I continued to make my regular stops at Metro Cafe and Abby's and I shot quite a few pictures. Sometime within the next week, I will catch up with a major post, maybe even two, on both Metro and Abby's.