Obsessions

This morning: "Tah-ms oosfl gin, Uh HUH!"
Trans: "Thomas [the Tank Engine] is a useful engine, uh huh."

The train obsession shows no sign of abating. Iain asked me to read the Richard Scarry dictionary Charles checked out of the library. I opened the book to "P" and began to read: "P is for Paint! P is for Park!"

P is for Please. Iain grabbed the pages and whipped onward toward "T." Because, you know, T is for TRAIN.

Above, the shuttle bus/train at the This is the Place State Monument in Salt Lake City. Yes, I know I'll be taking Iain there.

Obsession #2 is with Kipper the Dog. I can't find an embed, but this video on YouTube gives you a good idea of the appeal. Basically, Kipper is British, Kipper is nice, Kipper has two best friends (Pig, who is a...pig, and Tiger, who is a Scottish terrier), and Kipper is often funny. I like Kipper because there's almost nothing mean-spirited about it.

In other news, Charles has gone down with a cold, Iain's nose is running, and I have some kind of sneezing disease. It's 50 during the day, though, and my bulbs are definitely coming up. They're about 4 inches taller than they were last weekend. The buds on my pear and redbud trees are fit to burst, the dogwood and cherry are uncurling their leaves, and I can see that I'll be enjoying fresh herbs quite soon. The moment I've got a tulip, I'll be out there firing away with my camera, don't you worry.