Who would try to kiss us?

Post Title: Living in Tree Houses

Post Date: March 19, 2016

When I was 10, my girlfriends and I disappeared into the woods after school and climbed up the big oak tree to the shack it held in its branches. The tree and its wooden treasure were on the property belonging to three brothers who went to our school. They were close in age, half French and half English, as were many of my friends and neighbors in Montreal. The oldest of the three brothers was a bully, the next was a friendly clown, and the youngest, our age, was a heartbreaker.

We were most afraid of the bully, so after we removed the “No Girls” sign covering the miniature door and stepped in, at least one of us kept nervous watch. We only stayed long enough to paw through a pile in the corner and find what we needed — strike a match, light a cigarette, take a few woozy drags, and rifle through magazines hoping to find naked people, having grown bored with National Geographic. We were disappointed. Cars and sports. We were never caught, but a big part of the excitement was anticipating the possibility. Who would chase us around, who would joke, and who would try to kiss us?

We always scurried down and left quickly. But in our minds, we lingered, wishing we had our own tree house. I think we asked our fathers and were told it was dangerous or illegal. Funny how they had this vision of us girls being protected, and there we were outside in all our free hours, wandering for miles, finding hobo camps, crawling out over ponds on massive tree branches, hijacking rowboats, outrunning the security guards and the police and the weirdo who waved his wiener. “Keep them safe” was the motto, but the reality was, “Don’t think of them at all.” While we may not have been directed to the soccer field and cheered on, we were left to define ourselves.

Post Title: Animal Antics

Post Date: March 28, 2016

There is only so much work we can do in one sitting, only so much raunchy news and outright terror we can handle after a few minutes. And so we welcome the animals and their antics, no matter how silly. In fact, the sillier the better.

Cat videos outnumber all others (15 percent of internet traffic, according to one article). Traditionally, dogs have been more popular pets in the United States, but cats now surpass dogs. They are easier to care for and take up less time and space. They may be difficult to train or stuff in cat carriers, but not to capture on video.…

In the past week ALONE, here are the videos friends and family have emailed me or posted on Facebook:

• Cat plays with new puppies

• Cat plays with dolphin

• Cats steal dog beds; dogs shake out cats or steal cat beds

• Dog bounds into ocean for first time

• Dog plays ball with machine

• Dog greets owner after absence

• Three dogs left home alone (and caught on camera) jump from couch to couch in living room

• Dog plays with kangaroo. Kangaroo plays with dog.

• Bird pecks dog on ass

• Turtle plays ball with dog

• Wolves and hyenas hunt together, proving Middle East peace is possible

• Miniature horse and turtle munch on shared lettuce

• Parakeet shoots down tiny ramp on tiny skateboard

• Chicken rides on back of turtle

• Butterfly perches on lizard’s head

• Snails are pimped out with psychedelic designs to prevent getting squished.

• Naked (hairless) guinea pig poses with food (lettuce, grapes, strawberry, cupcake…)

• Baby goat with ADD runs around in a frenzy, jumps on other baby goats and knocks them down.

• Animals sniff flowers: cat, dog, fox, tiger, chipmunk, squirrel, gopher, rabbit, raccoon, owl, orangutans, lizard, donkey

• Animals yawn: hippo, kitten, monkey, turtle, porcupine, panda, koala, seal, donkey

[Posts edited for length]

Title: Head Wind Journal | Author: Linda Hutchinson | From: La Jolla | Blogging since: January 2013