Moonshiners, Smiley and Marti Edna, Rodent Queen and I spent Saturday night at Smiley and Ruabelle's cabin at the Tennessee Hamptons and, in a word, it was wonderful. I really didn't know how tired I was until I sat down looking into the thick, dense woods where all you could hear was chipmunks breathing and squirrels barking, which Rodent Girl was quite taken with. It was a lovely gift from our Nashville friends and much needed for Newscoma, who is undeniably tired. Many of us know Smiley and if you don't know Ruabelle, you need to rush to meet her. She is just wonderful. We ate, drank, talked about sports (you know, having Smiley and Rodent Girl talking football is a sight to behold) but Ruabelle and I are no slouches in our love for football either. And dang it all, we were floored that Vandy actually won a game. And I, of course, was delighted to see Florida lose. And the Titans. The world is tilting on its axis. They were gracious, lovely hosts and to top it off, they gave me a jar of birthday Nutella. Good times. We got the tour of the mountain and saw some very interesting graves. There were two favorites, one recently deceased soul was draped with a Confederate Flag with Hank Williams Jr.'s picture on it and a couple of dozen shot glasses with liquor still sitting in the bottom of the glasses. There was a stone with an etching of a guy next to his beloved moonshine still and the sentiments that he was obviously the best in his field in making corn in a jar according to the final words on his stone memorial. As we left, we realized that we had been privy to create some memories with these fine two people. I will most likely be writing about it for days until your sick of hearing about it. As we pulled onto the interstate coming home, we got a phone call from seven year-old Bear, who informed us that my sister's beloved dog had died yesterday morning. You must understand that at the commune, we all have several dogs, and she was the oldest. At sixteen years old, Marti was a staple for me and my sis. My mother gave her to her when she graduated college. When I got to the house after being on the road all day, we found my sister with the saddest look on her face, and the house seems sort of empty without her. I felt so bad. We all loved Marti, but she was the first child of my sister and her husband. She died of congestive heart failure and they had to make the call to let her go gently into the night. And one of our dogs is ailing. In the next few minutes, she will be going to the vet. Kirby is our oldest and she is also sick. I don't think she is long for this world either but we will see. Last night, we called the vet and he said minature schnauzers go through what she was going through usually as they are preparing to make the passage into the underworld. So, our weekend was wonderful. Meeting other bloggers throughout the state was such a joy, and ironically, all of us talked about dogs. Cuppa's beloved Groovy passed on last week, Smiley and Ruabelle offered a toast to their dog Priscilla and played with their new child, Nellie, who is beautiful and stoic. And we say a toast to Marti and will try to heal Kirby as best we can. Man (and Woman's) best friends, all of them.  ¶ 10/16/2006 07:06:00 AM