traditions.

neighbors,
this is the best!
yep.
i mean it.
my dear darling daughters, harvest and maple,
are right here in the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress,
with me,
enjoying all the expert activation that composes, constitutes, and comprises
the promises and surprises of this worthy warrior poetic life
in this mountain valley full of woodsly goodness.
that's great news.
also,
i shot a bear yesterday.
what?!
shuuuut up, and also, take it easy.
i pegged him with a bb, straight out of an air rifle,
and only after attempts to chase him off were met with absolute indifference
by the seed-seeeking little sh!thead.
guys.
he needs to know that human homes aren't his buffet table,
or he'll get into a LOT of trouble later on.
a sharp ball-bearing battle-blasted baby bullet stung him enough
to send him barrel-butt into the forest and away from the homes of the northern
necktards in the adjacent neighborhood.
i'm a jerk, i guess,
but i had to help a dude out with a sharp check
and a decent wariness-instilling sting.
plus,
the girls got to witness some old-timey bear-fighting nature jauns in full effect.
uh-huh.
real life,
and the overlaps of wild and tame,
rad and lame,
and hungry beasts indoors and out.
it's all really happening, and that's the whole point.
*
here's the thing, kids....
we do what we do,
days fade to weeks fade to months fade to years,
and there's nothing much more....
usually,
it's just work and work and eat and work.
but, yesterday, it was outdoor nature enjoyment,
and hammock swinging,
and treats and eats and climbing on the roof,
and checking out baby birds,
and baby bears,
and domestic errands,
and a long cruise through the woodsly out-of-the-ways......
we had one heck of a good day,
and i'll tell you what-
i am grateful for these people, and this place,
and for the time we've been given together.
it takes a whole lot of effort, over weeks of work,
to earn a day like yesterday.
and y'know something, friends?
it's worth it.
i took extra time to get expert from the moment i woke up, even.
that's real.
we have our routine up here, when family togetherness is underway,
and one of the things we do is have some fancy breakfast action
when there's time to doo-doo that sort of big brekkie business.
mmmmhmmmm.
this time,
we had hearts.
yep.
because we looooove each other so much.
awwwwwwwwwww.
check the teleport:

panniecakes!!!!
vegan buttermilk bombers,
with oat flour and coconut and soy yogurt,
real maple syrup (because we AREN'T A*-holes)
and a little powerful pow-pow-powdered sugar, too.
delicious.
we have a healthy, and maybe just slightly overdeveloped appreciation for food.
pancakes that take forever to make, in shapes,
with thick walls of well-browned battery buttery crispness?
yeah.
we're kind of all about that.
but,
it doesn't stop there.
how could it?
we want all the awesomeness, all the time, everywhere.
did you just ask if we stopped at chipotle on the way back up to new hampshire?\
OBviously, we did.
guys,
check this teleport really quickly:

boom.
so enormous,
they had to have the whole crew stop working,
just to try and attempt rolling it up.
ka-POW.
THAT'S how a man orders a flippin' burrito,
word up.
***********
everything is better with my kids around.
i mean it.
why do i work all the time at a place i'm not welcome nor appreciated?
oh, right.
for those movie checks.
what?
don't be dumb.
i want to give these two girls all the good stuff.
and a grand don't come for free.
a sh!t-salad situation seems easier to swallow,
especially when i'm eating dinner with my daughters afterwards,
and we're talking and laughing and sharing our thoughts on the day.
...
and why do i still live in an old busted manly mansion in the mountains,
that sits not-so prettily, and also mostly empty, and fairly dang cold all year long?
ah, yes.
because there's something grand about a haunted home in the north,
surrounded by trees and mountains.
it's a destination, and it's an imposing structure,
all sorts of big, and fancy, and unnecessary, but also super freaking dope....
we live in a fortress.
that's important-
especially when my daughters have been buried in suburbia their whole lives.
i just want the best for both of them.
that's not a pandering paean to parenthood.
nope.
it's my job.
and i do work.
and i work hard.
everything is better when they're here,
and it makes the work worth a sh!t,
more than anything else ever could.
this is it,
and that is all;
never quiet, never soft.....