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3 April ~2009
To be successful with April Fool's jokes you have to do them early, before your target realizes what day it is. Leaving a phone message is good, like I tried to do with my daughter Alyssa. She caught me by surprise by being up at 8am and answering her phone. I could tell by her responses she wasn't going for my fantastic explanation, but was playing along to see what a fool her old Dad could be. I told her to stopit, that you know what's up.Its hard to pull one over on this kid. Her kindergarten teacher told you have a special child, that your daughter scored extremely high on the end of the year tests she gave all the children. I already knew that, since at 5 years old the little punk consistently trounced me at the memory game. (a game where you try to match pairs of like cards after glancing at them for a second or two). I guess it is a lot to expect for a five-year old to let her Dad win once in a while.
Alyssa graduated as a valedictorian at Wheat Ridge High School with a full scholarship to Colorado School Of Mines.
A few April 1st's ago I sent her email saying there is a message on the recorder at home, and she was supposed to call Myra Maines at the number I gave her. She googled the number and ruined my stupid joke. When I had tried this on her mother, Janet called the number and talked to the man at the funeral home, who kindly said 'I think someone is playihg a joke on you, but did you want Myra Maines or Ura Maines.?'
Amy is more like me and said she was really upset when I left a message on Wednesday that her cat got scared when all three of the dogs ganged up on her and chased her up the oak tree off the edge of the deck. I said Lena has been up there for three days, and I don't know what to do - was thinking I might try to lasso her but that might freak her out more.
Maybe this was believable because of the time I left a message for her to look in the dog kennel on the deck, where I had placed a 30 inch snapping turtle that I had lassoed on the greenbelt and brought home in a durlap bag, to show the girls. I left a hose running on him so he wouldn't dry out. His head was as big as my fist. Amy called me at work and said 'Dad, you're crazy.'
Which I took as a compliment. Crazy is good, if it means living more fully. Convention and comfort and money are crap, if they insulate and divert you from the same.
I am looking for another year of being crazy enough to go off alone and climb with my border collies to the edge of timberline, and be renewed from the mystery and beauty of wilderness night' - in Colorado until midsummer, and then up to Montana, where grizzlies roam after dark.
Sometimes I burn willow leaves in my pot and stand over the smoke, especially when I have cooked a trout dinner. Its much better to smell like smoke than a fish on a August Montana night, alone in the high country.
It may or may not be crazy, but for damn sure is a perfect way to live..
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