STIRRING!

man,

these creatures are stirred the F* up.

what?

oh, c'mon.

i know you know what it's the night before, neighbors.

...so there's not supposed to be any stirs,

not even from a mouse.

except,

there's one of those little gray A*-holes running around in the walls

scritching his dumb face exxxtra loudly an' that 

right here at the Folk Life & Liberty Fortress;

and, 

there's this damned dog who just happens to be going stir crazy in the snow.

yup.

and the snow is perfectly the worst kind.

heavy?

ice-crusted?

wet?

LOTS?

alllll of that-

and the sleet runoff has the bottom inch of slick sludge hibernating in the cut,

waiting to trip and slip you up whilst you shovel.

y'like that?

yeah.

me too.

i returned home to the woodsly goodness under dire and dastardly road conditions.

it never got very bright,

it sure as sh!t wasn't tight (although my much-whitened knuckles told a different story),

and while i made it home safely,

it took a helluva lot longer, 

and was appreciably more demanding than the taxing and unrelaxing drive 

TO my hometown the day before...

yuuuuuck.

i spanned most of the past two days in the car,

under a falling sky of snow and ice,

having a pretty non-expert time.

yup.

going and coming, there and back again, 

all in an effort to make ensure that my daughter knows

that she's more valuable to me than my physical safety, 

comfort, convenience, or well-being.

y'feel me?

that's what you do when you do the right thing, doctor.

just ask ossie davis (you'll need a ouija board).

ANYway,

the creatures are ASTIR.

from one end of town to the other,

every last last minute monster is crawling and clogging the whole spot.

and while that's happening,

i'm over here thinking about ravioli.

mmhmm.

i mean,

traditionally,

i think those of us who grew up italian-american style had to sniff a lot of fishy fish stinks

on christmas eve.

personally,

i'd much rather munch up some sort of stuffed pasta, 

and forego, forever and ever, the dead ocean denizens.

but that's just me,

and that's just the thing....

it's just me and the crab-man tonight,

which makes him the only one of the magnificent seven who is in attendance.

if you get it, you've got it.

if not,

get ready,

because your boy is sans famiglia,

and also sans any F*'s to give.

that makes it the perfect opportunity to rav my oli,

and i think that's precisely what i'm gonna do.

it was a half day at the studio,

everything is wrapped up,

and me and the little milky boi are gonna hang tough,

and most likely sleep tight,

although i presume we'll be in bed late,

because we don't have any reason to get up early....

(we still will, believe me)

i'll like as not also spring from my bed to see what's the matter,

since trees and sh!t have been snappin' and poppin'; their limbs at me since i got home.

sweet.

i've got a danger mouse in the house,

and i've got bark and barks within and without.

it's all really happening,

and it won't really be a thing until XI-mas.

i guess that's how it goes;

never silent, never night.....