saturday night i was sitting in my living room (in gg's recliner that had arrived the week before so now i actually have furniture in my living room and i've been spending quite a bit of time down there) reading my new book i just bought (an entry on this coming, well, after this entry) when i heard my neighbor, chris, talking on the phone on our "front porch," really too small for it to be an actual front porch but it is what it is and they have three chairs crammed out there, one of them not actually being on the front porch but more on the walk up to the front porch. anyhow, even through the door and walls, i not only could hear chris, but also bethany's side of the conversation. he was telling her about the movie "seven" and trying to explain the seven deadly sins, which he and she both were confusing with mortal sin and so me, being ever the know-it-all, couldn't resist and stuck my head out the door to relay maybe about four or five of the deadly sins.

bethany asks, "who is that?"

to which chris replies "the neighbor-lady"

bethany, "who?"

chris, "the neighbor-lady."

bethany, "you mean laurie?"

chris, "yeah, but she's the neighbor-lady."

justin (who lived with them at one time) told me once that "everyone needs a neighbor-lady" and apparently, i am she

bethany and chris are an unusual couple. anyone can see that she is soooooo much more "in love" with him than he with her and justin has confirmed this for me. but they are both nice enough, except chris thinks he knows everything and is a constant "teaser" he can deliver a line to you in the most serious, dead-pan, "i'm serious" way. much like the iceback (can we see where we're heading with this?)

chris is half-mexican, (his mom and dad own el mariachi in jacksonville if you're ever this way) which has caused problems with bethany's family, they don't approve. and i have to tell you, i get irritated when they tell me i don't know "real" mexican food, when i had mexican friends, been the only gringa invited into their inner circle and ruben would fix us authentic mexican food all the time, whether we wanted it or not.

regardless, they are both in their early twenties and bethany is a very social person (chris says she just likes to talk, which she does and will talk to anyone...we went to the store and were in there for twenty minutes just cause she was "chatting" with the guy who works there) and so they requested z-man come out and socialize.

bethany had never, apparently, been over to the river's bank on the property, so we all took off walking around the back of the property and towards the shore. both of us agree that we would so much like to have one of those apartments that butt up against the shore. i told her about the pics online of a nice, pristine dock, and she said her family has a dock and it is very expensive to fix (note to anyone looking for a decent career, apparently dock building and fixing is a lucrative business)

so the pic above is one i snapped as we were taking our stroll. it was kind of nice because bethany and i can talk that meaningless chatter--which i can do and don't mind in short bursts--- while chris (who has a full fledge sound studio in their tiny second bedroom) can talk music and mixing and all that stuff with z.

we even walked over to the neighboring public pier/boat ramp. by then my battery was running low and it was getting too dark (unfortunately, all the pics i took that night when i snapped the 4 horsemen needed too much "exposure" time and didn't really turn out too well, hence my need for a tripod)

on the way back, as we were coming to the little quickie store right next to the public pier, i noticed there were soooooooo many cats. the one count i got was 11, but i really think there were more. 11 cats! i see a cat here and there roaming, but 11? full grown cats too, not one or two with their little kittens....i noticed there were actual food bowls out for them so apparently (which is really kind of cool) the locals take care of the wandering pack (what is a pack of cats? a mini-pride maybe?) i have a feeling most of them are ferrel. it was quite a sight tho to see that many grown cats in one place, meowing, all sitting with those eyes looking back at you as if they can see into your soul.

i lived in the arkansas hills where a large pack of abandoned, ferrel dogs roamed, but we never saw them, we could only hear them at night (quite freaky in and of itself)and you could toss your rotted, nasty food out and in the morning, it would all be gone.

anyway, it was a nice enough night. they are very nice and friendly and helpful. but it's a bit depressing for me because i see too much of the iceback in him and too much of me in her.

but on the way plus side...z-man got out of his stinking room and socialized. i think chris might be good for him especially for what z wants to do, so maybe that will become a bigger help on the way to z's dream.

enjoy the pic!

;-)