A Lubbock County Almanac (Introduction)

I dug out my old journal from basement purgatory.  23 years ago I wrote it, in an old spiral notebook.  It has rudimentary algebra scribbled on the back, and the cover–a racoon in a hollowed log–has long since vanished.  So as an ironic nod to this blog’s title, and in parody of a book my dad read to me long ago (A Sand County Almanac), I concluded that I would preserve the troubles of an adolescent by digitizing them.

True to this title, it chronicles approximately one year, from the fall of 1994 to 1995, with some sporadic entries thereafter.  To preserve its meanings, whatever they might have been, I intend to not edit it for grammar, although I will add asides for context.

–Simon

Wild Thing!

Liz was out landscaping, AKA planting bushes, and noticed this little guy back where the honeysuckle hedgerow had been ripped out:

It’s only a weed if you don’t want it.

–Simon

Perspective

My daughter, like any reasonably well-balanced child, holds a general concern for other living creatures.  She does not capture and flay squirrels a la Peter Wiggin, which is good, but she also takes issue with her dad threatening to shoot them.  The same goes for bunnies.

The she started her own garden.  After the bunnies worked their way through two of her plants, her sympathies quickly evaporated.  Now, she’s actively asking me to shoot them to save her plants.  Maybe I’ll get to teach her hunting after all.

–Simon