The little kids next door were out playing in their back yard with their parents. I was in the kitchen when I heard one of my kids scream, “Give me the ball, Buster!” My first thought was “At least there was no ‘fucking’ in front of the word ‘ball’”. And then I replayed the sentence and realized that the last two words had been run together and it was no wonder the parents were hustling their children inside before the teenager next door could further sully their ears.

This is the season for fire company-sponsored carnivals in these parts. The equipment usually starts to arrive a week or so before opening night and the fair runs for 5 or 6 days. There are funnel cakes and big stuffed animal prizes and the Dragon Wagon for younger kids (just *try* stuffing your adult bulk into one of those miniscule seats) and other rides that look as if they've been around since the days of snake oil salesmen and are held together with bobby pins and a fervent prayer for good liability insurance. The food is greasy, the lights are bright, and the fairways are filled with people even on the hottest nights.

Becca went to her second fair of the season last night and recounted her adventures to me this morning. (Imagine this in a single run-on, breathless sentence punctuated by frequent use of the word "like". All names have been changed, not that it matters.) It seems that sometime back Amanda had "hooked up" with Jared, who is Bethany's ex-boyfriend (and also one of Becca's prior flames - Jared has apparently made the rounds), without the foreknowledge or approval of Bethany (although Bethany and Jared broke up months ago, so permission would not seem to be needed for said hook-up). Bethany confronted Amanda about this liaison which surprised Amanda, but probably not as much as getting roughed up by two of Bethany's thug-like friends and ending up in the emergency room with bruises and some missing hair on her scalp where Bethany apparently decided to violently count the coup of her enemy. Bethany and her accomplices will likely also be astonished to learn that Amanda will be pressing assault charges against them.

The drama of teenage girls - it never ceases to astound me.