I haven't been south as much as is normal lately. The owl and the events have kept me quite busy...I am somewhat worried about everyone, the latest group of aftershocks have caused some serious mudslides, and the thought that one of the deeper tubes might be ruptured...

Will write more soon...I have to sleep and dream.

August 29, The year of the Stars

It has been difficult to write so often, Uncle Greg.  A lot of the letters that I sent to you came back opened, and marked "not the correct address". Did you move?
   I am hoping that this one finds you safe and sound, and aware of your surroundings...things down here have gone from bad to worse.
   I did get to go down to Mexico, and swim in the ocean. Everyone was worried because I didn't show up for a few days.  Did see some nice sharks, and a really beautiful octopus that reminded me of you!
   May start writing a book about it...do you think it would be notable?

   Miss you terribly, please come and visit soon. SOON.

February letter

Winter. Feb/2011

Sorry I haven’t written much lately, Uncle Greg. I hope you got my thank you card for the lovely present at Christmas.  I’ve never owned an octopus encased in Lucite before.  I took it to show and tell at the school, and talked a lot about your studies of the Little Brown Octopus in Mexico.  I didn’t mention the other things.

It is a little warmer here now. Not much, but even a little is good. The creek actually had ice on it last week !

Sis is in a bad mood. I think her boyfriend broke up with her or something. She spends a lot of time smashing things in her room. Please don’t tell her I said that.

We didn’t get any snow here, but you could see it up on the peaks. I don’t really like snow that much, so when the other kids went sledding, I wandered down to the pipes and whistled into them.  I think I am starting to understand a bit more of what you have talked  about.

Well, I have to go back to my stupid history class. We are studying the Anasazi.  I guess they all died out or something.

I’ll write you soon.

Cold

Rambling

   The vents have closed down for the winter. At least, that is what Uncle says.  No more steam, no more whistling until it gets a bit warmer.

   We had frost on the shingles of the shed the other day, but no snow. It never snows here. Uncle says we had black snow once, but that it was different. It had something to do with the nuclear testing site nearby, I think.  He only talks about it when he has been drinking.

   I miss being up north, but understand that I have to stay here for the time being. Near the water.  I sure hope the problems in Mexico clear up soon, I loved being able to swim with the fishes. The fishes of the ocean. Oh, Tracy.

   It is awfully quiet now. Except for my stomach.  I think the lasagna may have had just a bit too much garlic in it. Hmmm. My teeth are growing longer.

The  Mud Mounds

   Hey Uncle Greg.  Hope it is cooling down up there, I know you had a hot long summer ! It is getting better here day by day, and the whistling hasn’t been as loud as normal, which is nice.  Sometimes it makes my skin feel crawly.

   Out by the tubes, we started seeing some of those mud mounds you’d mentioned when you were down here last time. Oh yeah, Sis says to say “hi”.  She also asked to put a smiley face after it. Like this :  J

   They seem to show up more and more around the edge of the town, kind of by the tubes, but I am doing what you asked, and staying away from them.

   Some of the kids went to play over there the other day, and they weren’t in school yesterday. Maybe they fell down and got hurt or something?  Uncle just snarls at them at night, and has started carrying around a shotgun all of the time. He makes me nervous when he is like this.

   You know how he can be.

   Anyways, I have to get down to the creek and cool off. Miss you !

Neeker Breekers

Neeker Breekers

Hey Greg !  I hope it is starting to cool down where you are at. It is still really hot down here, and I spend a lot of time sleeping in the creek after the sun goes down.

I read a really cool book called “the lord of the rings”, and there is this bit in it about neekerbreekers.  They must be the same things I hear singing all night near the water down here. “Neek-Breek”. That’s all they sing, over and over and over. Uncle says they are cicadas, but I don’t know. How can such a little bug be so loud?

Sis is doing well, she getting ready to go back to college. I’ll miss her a lot, even though she blows in my ear and pulls my hair a lot.  Uncle says that is just something that sisters do.  I do like hearing the stories of the university though. They have fossils and everything there !

We have armed patrols nearby the house now, especially by the tubes. They say that they are here to protect us from the immigrants. I guess the governor of the state said that the people can’t come here anymore for work, and now I have to mow the lawn. I like riding the mower though, so that’s o.k.  Since the border patrols have started up, we also have to eat a lot more greens, so we put in a garden !  I have my own patch of melons, lettuce, and hot peppers. I love those hot peppers!  I’ve also started to learn to set snares for the rabbits that eat my lettuce. They taste just as good.  I kind of feel bad sometimes though, they look so nice.  Maybe I’ll make a coat or something out of a bunch of them.

Well, it’s about time for me to go swimming. I feel so much better in the water.

The Police and such...

Uncle Greg

Sorry it has been so long again. I broke my hand a month ago and had to have a cast put on it. I couldn’t type much, so I wrote longhand, but the letters kept on coming back “address unknown” in some girl’s handwriting. Do you know any girls?

Sis is back home again from the University. She says that I have to study harder if I ever want to get out of Basalt Falls. I don’t know if I want to, really.  I like it here. Yeah, I know it is hot, but the whistling tubes and the creek keep me cool. The house is nice and dark too.

Hey! I learned a new word !  Specter.  It is something like a ghost, but with more presence, according to the librarian in the town. You’d like her. She is trying to get me to read some other stories from the older people’s section, but I don’t understand all of the words. Maybe you could help me out?

Just exactly what does “gibbous” mean ? I get the swelling part, but I don’t understand how it works into the story line.  I still like “Misty  of Chincoteague” the best of all of the library books I’ve gotten this summer. I even wrote a report on it for next semester at school. I wish I was a horse now and again. Not now, though.

The Border Patrol has been around a lot lately. They even have a gun on one of their trucks that some people say is a “war gun”. I guess it is a Fifty Caliber or something, but the bullets are as big as my middle finger !  They aren’t too nice to us. They seem to think we are hiding something or helping the migrants.  The state passed a bill that allows the police to apprehend people if they think they are doing something bad. I thought the police were already supposed to do that? Sometimes I get confused.  I gave some water to one guy passing by from the hose while I was watering the mint out front, and the next door neighbors called the sheriffs.  They said I was a “collaborator” and would have to talk to my parents, but then they left when I said that they were dead.

I guess that they felt sorry for me. Either that, or the tubes were whistling again.