The Oil Change

     When I drove to Colorado

a few weeks ago,

I knew my truck was due an oil change.

Growing up in the sparsely populated desert

I know how important keeping your vehicle in

PROPER working order

with regular maintenance is.

It can mean

life

 or

death.

Literally.

I could drive a stick shift,

4 on the floor

by the time I was 8,

and living in the country

I drove every chance I got,

so I have learned this lesson

many

many

many

times.

Take care of your vessel!

anyway,

I called down to DJ's to ask if they could

change the oil

 and

get to me today.

"Yes, if you can come on down now,

 he has one up on the rack

 and he is almost done."

I get to town

and park my truck

and go in the front office

of the garage.

There sat Brittany holding her

precious little boy. He is probably a year old.

Just a baby.

Now,

let me set this up .....

Brit has written a history for herself

 here in

E town.

I don't mean to talk

 ugly

 about anyone,

we all  have written our history in

 E town.

Anyway,

she has been one of my

massage clients,

she was BFF to my niece,

 Fave.

She was and still is beautiful.

I have always liked her a lot.

Several years ago

she took a wrong turn in her life

and did some things that had all of

us spinning.

She stepped out with Fave's man.

Now, I could talk all day about

the "man" in this, but we will leave that for later.

Britt also got in trouble with the law,

doing just what, I don't know,

but I know it involved

money,

my money,

 your money,

everyones money

became her money.

I don't think you are supposed to do that.

I think she was working at the bank here in

 E town.

We all learn our lessons,

one way

or

the

other.

So, I know Fave was

deeply hurt and

a life long friendship was

destroyed.

I don't know if B had to go to jail,

but it was a bad deal.

Years have passed,

and now she has a job

as receptionist at DJ's Tires and Oil Change.

As it is in small towns,

I never mentioned her troubles

 when we crossed paths

at the store or post office or wherever

 I would just be polite and say hi.

She knows how close Fave and I are.

She knows Fave

 tells me everything

and

 I know

 just

 what

 she

 did.

Snake in the grass she was.

Ok, so someone disappoints you,

lets you down,

 hurts you.

You forgive them and

you move on.

Being raised a Christian girl,

forgiveness is taught as one of the most

important

things

we

do

or

don't

do

in

thisb

life.

It was always stressed that

forgiveness

doesn't have to mean

forgetfulness.

I forgave B

 along time ago

 for what she did to

Fave and her babies.

I never really forgot about it,

but I don't sit around thinking about it either.

Let it go.

Brittany has worked here for a while.

Joann and DJ are owners of this gas station

and have been for many years.

 They recently sold the cafe

and small grocery/gas part,

 and now just do tires and oil change.

Joann and I have grown up together

 and

 I played drums

 for

 her

sister

in a country band

 years ago.

Anyway,

Once again, small town,

 E town

history.

Joann came in shortly after I arrived

and we started "catching up"

The mainstay topic for everyone anymore

is "How is your Mom and Dad doing?"

The conversation takes its course and she ends up sharing with me

the struggles she and her sisters are having with her parents.

Her parents and mine have been friends for years, and are about the same age as M & D. Maybe not quite as old, but they are getting there.

Joann has several sisters

 and they each take a day

 to take care of their folks.

My thoughts crept into jealousy.    What a bone.

"They pick a day"    wow

"They take turns"    wow

Its always my turn.

I have always wanted a sister.

 Brothers are brothers.

The thought of having someone to share the rollercoaster with thrills me!

Then its gone.

Not going to happen, never has, never will.

Ok, bla bla bla,

B's little boy had been so good, but he was getting

tired and restless so I reached for him and he reached his

precious little arms up to me.

What a thrill,

What a joy,

what perfect love.

perfect

perfect

perfect

boy.

He was so sweet, but tired

so I kinda started giving him a little back rub

and swaying back and forth

and within a minute or so

he was getting heavy and his little eyes

were taking

 L o n g     s l e e p y    b l i n k s.

He laid his little head down,

and BOOM

I'm in love again.

Completely emersed in the joy of this precious child.

All of a sudden 

Brittany looked at me and said,

"Since I have my savior here with me

(referring to Joann)

I feel brave enough to say this to you.

I couldn't do it alone.

I want you to know how sorry I am

for what I did to  Fave .

I wouldn't wish that on anyone,

and I did it to my

 best friend.

You will never know how bad I feel about it.

I wish I could take it back. I was so wrong

and it was so bad, the things I did.

I am so sorry,

 and I hope you can forgive me.

I don't know if I will ever be strong enough to say this to Fave.

I hope I can someday.

Like I said, I don't know if I could have been brave enough without Joann."

Her tears were flowing

 and Joann and I looked at each other and smiled.

"Babe, there is not one of us on this earth

who has not made our mistakes.

  I forgave you along time ago.

The hardest part sometimes is

forgiving yourself."  I said.

"I hope and really do want to say this to

 Fave,

 but I dont know if I will ever be able to.

 Please tell her for me ok?"

"Of course I will." I said.

The baby slept thru the whole thing,

my truck was done,

and the whole thing ended at the same time.

What an oil change.

I fell in love,

I got full on a big bone of jealously & forgiveness,

and my favorite toy is ready to run.

I

have

it

all.

:-)

[Image]Oil and Gas

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Traveling Bones

I made my trek to Virginia!
It was a good day
except for the
" coughing girl"
sitting right behind me on the plane.
Every few minutes....
hack hack hack.
I felt like Adrian Monk.
It was bothering me greatly.
What are you gonna do but get uncomfortable.

uncomfortable bone

I was so happy to see W and we went and ate lunch at a cool place called

The Great American Resturant.

(T was at work and Chico was at home waiting patiently for me.)

We ate crab fritters, and I swear, it was the best thing I have ever eaten in my life.

The sauce and crab was just undescribable.

I have no words but 

happy happy bone!

I wish I would have taken a picture to show you.

They looked wild with this angel hair pasta fried around the crab cake.

It looked like Rumpelstilskins angry hair wig in the Shrek movie! 

We got to the house and Chico

was so excited to see me

he peed on me.

Not to cause a panic, he only weighs 4 lbs.

 He is tiny.

His pee is tiny.

I thought it was just fine, and his way of showing his affection for me.

Verdell will pee on me when I get home, because he will be so happy to see me,

and I will be happy too, but I have to kinda dodge Verdells affection,

 if ya know what I mean.

T came home and fixed us a great dinner.

She is so awesome.

I could not be happier for her and W.

They make a wonderful family, and I know someday it will 

grow....

but for now we have each other and 

Chico.

 Chico Ramsis

We didn't stay up too late, we were all tired.

We did play a-little Lady GaGa on the keyboard.

It was fun.  I love to play the piano.

Heck, I love to play everything.

Chico slept with me.

It was a good night.

ma

Little Red is Gone

            I want to think that he is on an
 adventure bone
 to town
and that he will be back.

Little Red

Little Red 

sitting on the 

" hole in the rock " 

rock.

After tonight, I don't think he will be back.  

Big sad bone.

Little Reds father

Wolfy

 was almost killed tonight by coyotes.

Wolfy

Father and Son

This wasn't the first time Little Red

 had tangled with the coyotes,

but it is

the last.

Our little Snickers Bean, aka Nick-Nock,

 was killed and taken right out of our driveway a while back. 

Hop-Sing and Porsha 

were both hurt in the same attack.

I think I need to shoot 

the damn coyotes.

 I think if I killed a couple of them

they would not come so close to our house. 

      Wolfy, Hop Sing , Bonnie, Clydee, Sha-Marie and Spur

 were all outside in the front yard and they 

had gone across the street like they always do,

 and I heard the attack, or

 fight

 as I'm sure they would say.

 I was outside watering the Monarch Square Garden.

 The screaming sounds like children screaming in pain and agony. 

 It makes your skin crawl.

  It is so eery. 

It's creepy.

  It's scary.

  I knew one or more of my dogs had got it.

I didn't know which ones.

What a horrible thing.  

What a horrible feeling.

I went in the house and sat the eggs down that I had in my hand.

I learned that Bonnie will eat the eggs if I set them down anywhere.

I went back outside and started calling everyone home.

"Hoppy!  Wolfy!  Sha-Marie!  Bonnie!  Clydee!"

I yelled their names and they came running home.

Everyone came except Wolfy.

The coyotes were still howling and screaming.

I started towards the crime scene and I saw Wolfy

limping home.

He collapsed at the corner of the Monarch Square.

Clydee was still pacing back and forth on the road,

but all the other dogs ran over to Wolfy and were sniffing and  being very excitable. 

I wasn't sure if Porsha was outside or not, so I started to call for her.

I tried to assess Wolfys condition.

I could see he was bleeding, but not terribly.

I tried to pick him up and he cried.

I realized I had my good pineapple shirt

 on and I didn't want to get any blood on it,

 but I couldn 't leave Wolfy  to go change it,

 because he would go hide if I let him go.

I picked him up and tried to not get blood on me.

His eyes were dilated fully and he was breathing very hard.

It made me so sad for him and for my Little Red.  

Poor baby.

I hope he didn't suffer long.

Then,

I get a mad bone.

Stupid little shits,

I have tried and tried to keep them from chasing rabbits and fighting coyotes, but they are just like kids...

They have to find out for themselves....

.....

and really......

they are dogs.

 They chase things.

The problem is when they catch it, or

when it catches them.  

I got Wolfy on the front porch, and went in to tell J 

and see if Porsha was in the house.

She was.

She was asleep with J.

It took a minute or so for J to wake up and  deal.

I put water and milk in two little saucers and put some pork chop in a little bowl.

I put  Wolfys crate on the floor by him.

He crawled under J's stitching horse.(its a chair he made to lace things on)

I put some water on Wolfys little mouth and he licked slowly.

I could see 4 holes, 2 on each side of him. They were pretty far apart.

It was either 2 bites, or one big damn coyote.

At this point, 

you either go and call the vet,

and plan on spending a whole lot of money,

or

you don't.

I didn't.

I know that may sound awful, 

and it is.

I really think he will be ok without a trip to the vet.

Believe me when I tell you,

we go to the vet plenty.

Little Red was injured much worse and he got well.

Hop-sing healed without the vet too. I nurse and doctor them 

the best I can.

Little Red-you crazy little dog.  I miss you.

Wolfy has been very sad since Little Red has been gone.

  Its been a few days now.

I had them both trained to get in their crates at night. 

They would just run right in and wait for me to shut the door and give them their treat.

Now, Wolfy doesn't want to get in the crate at all.

 The pack of 11 is now down to

10.

10 dogs.

Thats nuts.

Thats me!

                          The Pack:

"Spur"

aka "Spurbee", "Spurglur", "Spurs"

Oldest at 12 years old.

Deaf, missing a few teeth.

 Former Pack Leader

Blue Heeler

"Verdell"

aka "Harley Verdell"  "Verdell Verdell" " Verd"

"V dog" "The big white dog"

6 years old

Accused of being spoiled, and he is not.

He is perfect.

Pack Leader

White German Shepard

Hop-Sing

aka "Hoppy" "The Happy Hop" "Hoppy Hoppy"

"Hoppittee" "The Happy Little Guy"

5 years old

Hoppy doesn't mind anyone

and is happy doing just what he wants.

Looks like a greyhound/chihuahua cross

Fastest dog on the planet.

Sha-Marie

aka "Sha-ta-ta" "The Ta of the Poo and Ta"

"Sha-Marie Sha-Marie"  "Psyco"

7 years old

Twin to Porsha Poo. Verdells buddy.

Demands affection.

Reigns supreme over Porsha at all times.

Chihuahua

Porsha Poo

aka "The Poo of the Poo and Ta" 

"PorshaPorshaPorshaPorshaPorsha"

Twin sister to Sha-Marie

7 years old

The referee and whistler of all activities. Eater of dead things.

Hates the crate. The last one in the kitchen, everytime.

Can't jump.

Chihuahua

Bonnie

aka "Bo---nnie"

3 years old

Twin sister to Clydee.  Street kid.

Does not mind me, yet she is graceful about disobeying.

 The hunter and eater of dead things.

Car and coyote chaser.

Alpha Female

Bird Dog

Clydee

aka "Clydee"

3 years old

Twin to Bonnie. Guard of Outside the fence.

Fierce fighter and protector. In love with Verdell.

Sits in water trough to cool off.

Don't mess around with Clydee,  or you will have Verdell to answer too!

Red Healer

Shaggy

aka "Shag-a -roo" "Shaggy damnit"

"Shaggy stop it"

True age unknown.

 Abandoned at a young age,

and has never mentally recovered.

Known as the troublemaker.

Breed unknown.

Phoebe Feona

aka "Feona"

Probably about 2 years old

My friend Virgil found Phoebe Feona

Abandoned and took her in.

He later died and I took her home.

It has taken her some time, but

she is now happily in the pack.

Likes to climb up on the house.

She is a very moody dog.

Breed unknown

Wolfy, Chico Ramsis, and the late Little Red.

Chico is our Granddog.

He is a visiting member of the pack.

He loves to come to New Mexico

to see his big family.

Chico was born in Hawaii just like President Barack Obama.

He now lives in Virginia

with his mom and dad, W & T,

where he counts the days until we are together again.

Good-bye Little Red

Enjoy your heaven bones.

ma

No it didn't

RAIN.
Damnit.
I went outside and

nothing.

I have to say the smell was wonderful,
the let-down bone was HUGE,
the disappointment was and still is great.
 I'm still chewing on a fat one.

Not Today

ma

It's Raining!

I am just crazy.
Its raining!
Yeah!
It has been 10 months since it has rained!
I've got to go out and get in it!
Great big happy bone!

ma

Alot

has been going on!
Busy bones.
Good grief, I've been busy.
Mom and Dad are doing ok.
Mom thinks she's eating too much and Dad
says he is not hungry at all.
He doesn't forget to have me get him some
fried pies tho...
he is hungry for those, and Oreo's.
He broke another tooth the other day while we were eating lunch.
He giggled, showed it to all of us at the table and then put it on his plate
 and kept eating.
He is something else.
He started singing the original song he wrote again.
The first time I ever heard this song,
 we (he, mom and I )
were in KFC in Lovington.
He was finished with his chicken dinner,
so as he waited for mom and I to finish,
he burst into song.
He tapped his fingers on the table in a steady beat.
"come home my boy, come home
come home my boy, come home
come home my boy, come home
come home my boy come home."
Mom and I looked at each other as
everyone else in KFC looked at us.
It was a pretty catchy little tune.
I asked him if he had finished it,
and he said no.
He had dropped his cassette tape recorder
and thought he broke it , but I got it to work today.
I want him to be sure and record all the words to this song.
I want to hear the rest of it!
It is pretty good.
Pretty good times.


This is a picture of an oil well in west Texas.
 I went to work with my brother. He is a Pumper. He keeps everything running and producing.

"Smells like money to me"

(common local quote)

We saw 2 snakes!

Diamond Back Rattlesnake

This is a rattlesnake, but not sure what kind.

Neither snake "rattled"

It's strange they didn't.

Roadrunner

New Mexico State Bird

This one is a Texan however.

I had a roadrunner once, that would chase my chihuahua!

They are very fast and  very mean/hungry.(the roadrunner!)

"Run Chico Run"

Blooming Cactus

The wind Never stops!

My thoughts and prayers go out to those left devastated by the natural disasters that seem to be wild all over the earth. Earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, drought. It makes my wind seem trivial.

Love thy neighbor bones and share your toys!

Sandy Sunset

:-)

ma

More Scorpion Karma

Pay backs are hell in this desert.

I knew better than torment that damn creature.

I had ANOTHER live scorpion in the sink today.

I even stuck my hand in and was just lucky enough to not get bit.

ooohhhhooohhhooh

I can't stand them....

The one in the window was only about 3 feet from my bed.

I am having the creeps

bad.

Today at the barn, I looked down and there were a BUNCH of big black ants.  I am highly allergic to them.  I can't stand to poison anything,  but I may have to kill this ant bed.  They were everywhere.

I wonder if my chickens would eat them...??

There was a baby bird in the chicken pen today.

I expected the girls to kill it promply, since they were so mean to Jane,

but they seem to let it be and even shared water and food and I didn't see any aggression at all.
It was another windy day,
another great sunset.

Shaggy

Sunset moon above

There are some thunderstorms in the area.

none near me so far....

damn it.