[175] Screed City

[175]

08/05/2022 Friday. Milk Crate. Stabbin' Cabin. Worlando Beach, Wyoming.

Today started much like yesterday and the day before. I got up about 8a, made some coffee, looked at some things. At some point PegLeg came in. She took the day off from work to clean the garage. I was supposed to help her. I mean, I kind of did. I mean, we ended up having a screed-off between us. A real diatribe on diatribe debate. At one point she was yelling at me to shush! Waving a hairbrush in my face. Because I wouldn't let her finish her screed. I mean, it was all in good fun. It was just a little bit of a difference of opinion is all. I mean, if you want to know where I get it from, come meet my mom. I mean, this went on for two hours. Then it was suddenly 11:15a. I mean, maybe earlier, I just remember it being 11:15a when I needed to leave to go get G from TenSleep. I mean, we loaded the broken dishwasher into the back of PegLeg's truck and then it was time to go. We were supposed to go to the dump before then, but now it was too late. We instead decided to meet up for lunch at Ranchito's after I picked G up.

G was waiting for me inside of Dirty Sally's. Cousin A was working behind the counter. She made us two iced coffees. Then we left. We ran into Sister Megan and Little O on the street. They were heading to the post office to mail some letters. We talked about the camping trip tomorrow. Whether or not we would be rained out. It was supposed to rain all day today, but nothing doing. Tomorrow it is also supposed to rain all day. We decided to play it by ear. Then me and G drove back to Worland. We met up with PegLeg and Phyliss at Ranchito’s. Cheryl was our waitress. Who I have known since I was a kid. Who waited tables at Office Lounge when I worked there. As a teenager. As a dishwasher. I mean, she seems happy in her waitressing. I imagine she makes good money. I mean, what the hell do I know? But she doesn't seem miserable.

I ordered a smothered taco. An iced tea. Unsweetened. G ordered a cheeseburger and fries and a lemonade. PegLeg ordered a beef taco salad and an iced tea. Unsweetened. Phyliss ordered a chicken taco salad and an Arnold Palmer. Which is an iced tea mixed with lemonade. I mean, the food was the same as always. Comfort food, I guess. For Worland. The place is basically the only place left from the before times. Maggies is closed. Crossbow has been long gone. I mean, aside from Taco John's, I guess. But still people go here. And the food has remained the exact same for 30 years. They will "Smother" anything you want smothered. In green chili. The green chili is quite good. They have a very good breakfast thing. A Super Dan? Is that the breakfast burrito smothered? Hash browns, eggs, bacon wrapped up and smothered in green chili. I mean, lunch took two hours. The conversation was very pleasant. We talked about G going out to Phyliss's ranch to pet the horses at some point. About PegLeg and Phyliss coming out to Vermont to sugar with us next Spring. About other stuff. Then we split ways. Went back to PegLeg's.

I yawned so much that PegLeg forced me to take a nap. I took a nap. Then it was time to go into town to visit with Brother Jade and family. To have dinner. I mean, we stopped at the ACE Hardware store to get a set screw for a door handle, a different door handle for the front door and some other stuff. Then we went to Blair's to get chips and buns for dinner. Then we went to Brother Jade's. He was still working. The kids and Sister Athena were there. All five kids. I mean, we went inside. Jack, the dog was eating his dinner behind the door when we went inside. We sat around and drew and talked. Sister Athena was making dinner. Pulled pork with cold slaw and zucchini salad. Things were going great until suddenly there was some drama outside. The dog Jack was not doing so well. He had laid down on the grass. He was not breathing so well. The two older kids were crying. Jade got called and was suddenly home very fast. There was a discussion of what to do. The dog is very old. A Chocolate Lab. 15 years old. He is living on borrowed time. For a while there we all thought he was dead. It was very tragic. We all just kind of stood there not knowing what to do. Eventually we called the vet. He said to bring the dog out. So Jade and I loaded the poor dog into their Sprinter van. The thing was hardly breathing. The older children looked very worried. As well as they should be. We drove off. The conversation that followed was kind of intense. Jade said:

"That poor dog, it's days are numbered. I keep hoping he will die over night and we will wake up to a dead dog. I wonder if it is best just to take it out to the hills and end it's misery."

I said: "Do you have a fire arm in the van?"

He said: "No."

I said: "Well, there is Kevin's house, we could stop and borrow a pistol. Either that or we could just take Jack to PegLeg's and leave it under a tree for some shade."

Brother Jade said: "No, they are expecting us." After that was a discussion of the logistics of having a sick dog that is almost dead. A very practical discussion. I mean, I don't want to give the impression that we were being heartless, just the opposite. There really wasn't much to be done. And prolonging the misery seemed cruel. Especially if it also created a financial misery on top of it all.

I mean, we got to the vet. Jack was not doing so bad anymore. He was sitting up and looking at things. Brother Jade picked him up and carried him inside. I held the door. Then he put the dog on the examination table. The nurse helped us out. Soon the very boisterous and uncouth Tharpe showed up. He seemed like something out of a noir novel. He seemed drunk. He was full of one liners. He had a puck of chewing tobacco in his shirt pocket. A chaw in his lower lip. He diagnosed the dog as being old. And overheated. And his flaps weren't working very good. Which made it hard to breath. And the harder he tried to breath the more his flaps got swollen. He made all sorts of small talk with Jade. His nurse was attractive for Worland. She was younger, like late 30's. Had nice hair and cool glasses. She shaved one of Jack's legs. Tharpe shot two syringes into the dying dog. Then Brother Jade carried the dog to the back to get some rest. Tharpe sent us away. Said he would call in a while to check in.

We drove back to Brother Jade's house. Talking about Tharpe the whole way. Brother Jade said that when he worked on his house a few years ago, during lunch they would sit inside and Tharpe would join them. Pouring full cup of gin on ice for lunch. And then I said something about the nurse and Brother Jade said: "His wife, you mean?" I mean, whoa! I was not expecting that. She seemed weird and kind of cool, but not, marry an old uncouth drunk 30 years her senior cool. I mean, that just sent my mind reeling. I mean, we went inside. Told everyone what happened. Brother Jade offered me a Busch. I took it. We hung out for not very long before the phone call came in. The next thing I knew we were driving back to the vet. I mean, things were different now. Brother Jade went into the back. He came back out with jack in tow. Who was now acting like a very young dog. Or an old dog on drugs. I mean, he was super curious, looking around, smelling things. The opposite of the dog we dropped off. Tharpe was sitting down. He had a Styrofoam cup filled with ice and what I assumed was gin. He asked us what was for dinner and other small talk. What was going for the weekend. Then Jack pissed on the rug by the front door. Brother Jade yelled: "Jack! No!" The nurse, Erin said: "Oh, don't worry about it." Brother Jade let Jack outside. Tharpe yelled: "We'll send you a ticket! And if I don't my phone ringing this weekend I will assume your not calling me." Brother Jade said: "Thanks!" Then we went outside. Jack was literally running circles around the van. He really was a new dog. Brother Jade cleaned out this wooden box in the back of the van for Jack to ride in. He hopped in just fine. Then we drove back to Brother Jade's house.

When we parked and opened the back doors and the crate door, Jack wouldn't come out. I yelled for Little B to come out to help. He was the one the most upset about Jack. He came out, then one by one the other kids came out. Nobody could get Jack out of the crate. And nobody was willing to just grab him and get him out because he liked to bite people that man-handled him. I mean, it turned into a peanut gallery of children making suggestions on how to get the dog out. It was very cute. But it took forever. Eventually Jack got down. And he ran inside and drank about a gallon of water. And that was the end of the dog drama.

We had dinner. Pulled pork with cold slaw and zucchini salad and chips and buns and cheese. And barbeque sauce. I mean it was very tasty. Then we sat around and talked and what not. Then Brother Jade showed me his 3D printer. And his toothpaste dispenser invention that he was working on. I mean, I was a little confused as to why Brother Jade had a 3D printer, but after he showed me his prototype I remembered he loved inventing things. And it all made sense. It was very cute. He also showed me this nut he printed for his bathroom sink. I mean, when all you got is a 3D printer everything looks like a thing printed by a 3D printer ATBMS. I mean, he turned it on and started printing out a fan blade that he had made for a job he was working on. He called it a "Fart Fan." Which was pretty funny. Then I noticed some printed paper about how to adjust your gun's trigger. And I said: "You got a heavy trigger, do you?" And he said: "Yeah, it's like six pounds at the moment." Then he did some slap stick about trying to use the gun and his finger getting really tired and getting out of breath from it. It was pretty funny. Then Cousin A came and picked G up and they drove to PegLeg's and me and PegLeg stuck around for a little while more. Then we left.

When we got back to PegLeg's it had started raining. G and Cousin A were in the kitchen. G was getting ready to dye their hair. Cousin A was getting ready to make marshmallow squares. PegLeg started to get ready for bed, and I came out to the Stabbin' Cabin to write.

I mean, there was a moment when me and G and Cousin A were going to go to Basin. The fair was tonight. Shane, the guy that read Donkey [Italics] BOT [Book On Tape] his band was playing there. Opening for the main event. But it got too late. And the rain was menacing. And Cousin A changed her mind for some reason. I mean, I would have liked to have gone. But I would have missed Shane's set, so what was the point? I mean, Wyoming fairs are the whose-whom of local pricks. I mean, at least they were when I was growing up. Butwhatever. I have plans to meet with Shane at some point to do an interview. That G will film. I am thinking we do like a canoe trip on the river or something, like Fishing With John, or maybe something a little more "Wyoming" like shooting guns or looking for arrowheads or something else I can't quite think of yet. Maybe just driving around in the hills. Out by the pits or something. Maybe we could get G on top of a horse and film the thing from that angle? I think Shane's wife has a few horses. And now that I think about it, he lives by those cliffs by the river that you can jump off of. Maybe we could do the thing there? I mean, there are a few ideas. We will just have to do it after work at some point because Shane runs the lumberyard in Worland. I mean, maybe we could get Johnny involved with one of his tractors? I mean, the ideas are endless.

I mean, tomorrow is supposed to be camping. We will see. I guess I need to get up and get ready, whatever that means. I don't have anything. I will need to borrow a coat and a tent and a pad and a sleeping bag and maybe even boots. Although I don't think the hike will be strenuous. But if it is raining it will be cold and wet. I mean, we will see. Is all I can say about it. If if doesn't happen I suppose I will help PegLeg clean. I mean, the dump is open tomorrow. I mean, I guess that is it. I mean, last night I forced myself to quit writing because there was just too much to get out, and I was exhausted. Tonight I have the opposite problem. I feel like I am missing something. But alas, I got nothing. I suppose I can just pace around for a while until I am tired. Maybe make a list of things I need to do.

[Insert Jack Photo]