my G'ville expat friends now living in Mexico showed up the other day. They are like human tumbleweeds...
that blow in from the Sonora Desert enroute to the Black Rock Desert where they do the Hokey Pokey Consortium
then blow back to Mexico. As usual, I'm not attending. I have no interest in hanging out on a wind ravaged desert playa for a week even with The Spectacle. Is that so wrong?
Anyway, September 1 we leave for Florida then Costa Rica, in all for a month and a half. And yes. We are still waiting for Baby.
a renown mystery guest blogger aka the Itinerant Mathematician I encountered wandering in a desert dust storm on the Black Rock playa or was it somewhere outside of Las Vegas?, aka my brother (not the guy on the bike), combines the pure art and science of poetry and mathematics in this brilliant proof showing that indeed patience IS virtue, virtue IS grace and put TOGETHER make a very pretty face + Dinosaur Plant in bottom right-hand corner. Thank you Itinerant Mathematician.
“Patience is a virtue, Virtue is a grace; Both put together Make a very pretty face” ~ Anonymous
Anita recently graduated from the University of Montana with a Masters in Accounting so it seems fitting, given that we are still waiting for her to go into labor, some math is in order. My brother is a scientist so I asked him if he would kindly provide us with a tidy little equation for the occasion. As always, he graciously agreed. Thanks, lil' bro. It's great having a scientist in the family.
Okay. Here's the deal. This morning Kristiana noticed that her Dinosaur Plant was dry. Now, the box says that the Dinosaur Plant represents the coming of new life and Baby Thea was born the day she put the Dinosaur Plant in water. Coincidence or science? Seems like science to me.
Anyway, at this point, we've got nothing to lose so Kristiana re-hydrated the Dinosaur Plant and Brother Jim will soon be sending in an equation weaving together the power of patience, virtue, Anita's lovely face and the magic of the Dinosaurs.
As we are still waiting for the New Baby to make her/his appearance, here are a few photos from the Alberta to help pass the time. The Alberta is the quirky place we stayed last week while in Montana waiting for the baby to arrive. We had reserved one of the Alberta's tiny studio apartments but ended up swapping places with Baby Thea and her Mom as the room they had turned out to be a baby death trap caboose.
We lucked out. We got the Burlington Northern at the Annex across the street. Okay it's a death trap but, that aside, for $35 a night (kitchen included!), it is the best deal in town. Plus Swami and Pete the Mule loved the window seat. (You can barely see Swami in this photo but, trust me, he can see you).
The Annex is the Great Falls version of Wonderland. It's funky as hell, but there is method in the madness, that is if being an "RV" park beats the building codes. In any case, it's a fun place in spite of also being a disaster waiting to happen, whether in the form of a big building code violations bust, someone breaks their neck slipping in the mud or the whole place just burns to the ground due to faulty wiring.
It looks like these truck cabs might even be available soon, unless the mattresses inside are just extra. But a word to the wise... if you want to stay at the Annex, schedule that Great Falls vacation sooner than later. No telling how long the magic will last.
However, I don't recommend the Burlington Northern if you are a baby or you plan to do the kind of drinking that leaves you crawling around the floor like one. One slip on these sharp metal stairs and you may lose a toe, a few teeth, or perhaps your head.
The Burlington Northern. Treacherous but cheap fun. Hell, that should be our motto wherever we go.
Detail of fine decor.
Views from the front deck. I wished I could have peeked inside the other places but the Annex residents didn't seem the "howdy neighbor" type.
The lady in the Sweetheart Suite was especially standoffish. There is tinfoil on her window although clearly she has fashioned a few peep holes in it. Whenever I went out to the car for something she opened her door, looked around, then quickly shut it again all without making eye contact.
All in all, the Annex is a work in progress. I'm not sure the fire engine is quite ready for anyone to call it home but the old U Haul truck is.
This cabin is currently under construction. Judging by the truck load of logs they just dumped in front of it, we're guessing it will be transformed into an Abe Lincoln cabin on wheels.
Compared to the hairy bed Motel 6 in Ely, the Annex was a dream although Motel 6 really wasn't that bad. After spending the night there, I can happily report that it was quiet and, within reason, quiet trumps hairy.
The baby is now a full week "late". If she/he doesn't come by next Sunday, the doctor will induce labor. Unfortunately, we had to leave today as did Yasna and Vinko, Anita's sister and brother. They, and their mother, came all the way from Norway for the birth but, though she will stay a few more weeks, they were out of time. Bummer. Of course, what matters is that everything goes well and the baby is healthy but damn. We all really wanted to be there.
Mr. Lee and I made it to Elko Nevada this evening after 12 hours on the road and are spending the night at the Motel 6. It's a nasty place. The sheets are rumpled with hairs on them left from the last occupants or series of occupants. Who knows how many people have slept on them before us? Lovely, eh?
On the upside, I finished reading the Pisan Cantos aloud this afternoon as we drove south through Idaho on Hwy 93. At the same time we were roughly due west of Hailey, Pound's birthplace. Coincidence?
Excerpt from Ezra Pound's "Pisan Cantos," section LXXXI, read by the poet
"What thou lovest well remains, the rest is dross What thou lov'st well shall not be reft from thee What thou lov'st well is thy true heritage Whose world, or mine or theirs or is it of none? First came the seen, then thus the palpable Elysium, though it were in the halls of hell, What thou lovest well is thy true heritage What thou lov'st well shall not be reft from thee"
Still no baby. I thought maybe he/she was waiting for Friday the 13th but no such luck. We did have a helluva rain storm though and Gpa Lee and I got to babysit Baby Thea while everyone else (maternal grandma and grandpa, aunties and uncle, new mom and dad) went to the world famous Sip-n-dip Lounge, home of the Great Falls merman. We leave in the morning... baby or not :(
But the maternal grandparents are staying so at least there's that.
Kooskia Idaho, wide spot in the road between a mountain and a river.
We left home about 7 am this morning. It's a two day drive from where we live in Nevada to Great Falls Montana. Mr. Lee is driving and I am reading Pound's Pisan Cantos to us over the engine and road noise. The combination is mind altering. I nearly finished them before we got to Kooskia where we are staying the night in the town's only motel. Our youngest son and his wife are expecting their first child any day and, if we're lucky, we'll get to Great Falls before the Big Event.
Kooskia was very lovely this evening. Twilight made it seem more like a stage set than a "real" place.
We ate at the China Cafe, one of Kooskia's two restaurants. I highly recommend it. We had a surprisingly good vegetarian dinner there. Even the fortune cookies were delicious.
My fortune read: "A pleasant surprise is in store for you in the near future."
Happy Birthday Baby! 
