Off the off-the-beaten-path

Saturday afternoon my son and I walked from here to the top of Pilot Butte and back. It's six miles round-trip. It took us 3 1/2 hours — but that's because we stopped twice (once to buy food and once to buy books).

Blake talked the whole way. The whole way. He isn't much of a talker generally so I considered it a rare treat. He explained his theory about life, the universe and everything: a fascinating synthesis of the world views espoused in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole books, the Septimus Heap books, the TV series Through the Wormhole, the video games he plays and, of course, everyday life. His theories are not very similar to my own, which is in itself interesting and a wee bit dismaying; but I must say, after listening to his monologue I am convinced that I, too, may be reincarnated as a snow leopard. Wouldn't that be lovely?

I can't say that I'd like to walk from here to Pilot Butte on a regular basis. It's not very scenic. I do love exploring other parts of town, though; I love looking through the in-between spaces. My sister calls that walking off the off-the-beaten-path.

Next weekend maybe we'll walk three miles to the north. I'll have to look at a map; I'm not sure where that would take us!

My daughter made this for me

The book fits in the envelope, which (as you can see) is about one staple's width by two.