Bardleys Journal

8:51pm: Attention FRIENDS OF BRAD
Hey everyone. This is Erin, Brad's soon to be wife.

Because Brad has been so busy working all summer I decided to confiscate his computer in hopes of attaining vital information I need to get you all invites to our upcoming wedding.

Please email your address to kissagoldfish@hotmail.com or comment and leave it here. You can also leave a comment on my livejournal at http://www.livejournal.com/users/arimethia

If you do not recieve an invite or have not recieved one yet, it is because I do not have your information, so as soon as you send me your mailing information a much coveted invitation will be in the united states postal service with your name on it on its way to your door.

Thank you and goodnight.

(P.S. It's okay with me if you add me as a friend, because, chances are, I'll be adding all of you soon. Love from Grass Valley- Erin)

4:40pm: Addresses
Anybody not on JediJawa that wants to come to my wedding please send me your address, either to my email or else just post it on here if you want to. It would be great to get them all within the next week.

10:19pm: Life is good
So life lately has consisted of going to school, hanging out with Erin, and kayaking.

School has been good, I like my classes and for the most part I think I am doing very well. Calc is really hard, and my other classes arent bad, I am actually working on physics right now (printing stuff out.)

Erin and I are doing great, I really enjoy being around her, and we are really looking forward to the wedding (october 1st, I expect yuo all to be there). Planning is going well, and we are just having a great time. It is really nice.

Kayaking has been great as well. My skills are improving, and I am getting quite a group to go with on a regular basis, about two days a week. It is a lot of fun and I am looking forward to the spring season.

Love you all
Brad

2:53pm: Phone numbers
Hey all, I am in Yuma, AZ right now, and planning on going down to phoenix on the 30th (thursday). I accidentally left all my phone numbers in california though, so if you want to hang out with me you need to leave me your phone number. If you dont want to leave it here, or on JJ (I made a post there too) then email it to me at n o t p m o c 8 4 @ h o t m a i l . c o m. Please respond be wednesday.

7:02pm: Finals
So today I had my only final, for english 1B. We got there on time, and started last minute studying and whatnot, waiting for the teacher to arrive. After about ten minutes we were still waiting. We started to think maybe she wasnt going to show up. She had to. Afterall, she was a real stickler for attendance, as well as tardies. So we waited, hoping she didnt get in an accident, rationalizing that maybe she was stuck in traffic. At 1230, a half hour after we got there, somebody went to the office. They hadnt heard from her, and told us to come back at 1245 if she hadnt shown up, and we would figure something out. 1245 came around, and we all wrote our names and phone numbers on a piece of paper, and all went to the office as a group. They tried calling her and got the message machine. We all left, final not taken.

When I got home there was a message on the machine from none other than my english teacher. I called back. She apologized profusely, and explained that she had written down the wrong time for when we were taking the final, and showed up two hours late. We ended up not having to take it, as today was the last day of the semester. She just waived the final gradealltogether.

11:11am: Christmas, Jeff, and Katakuris.
Erin and I watched "The Happiness of the Katakuris", a musical by Takeshi Miike. It was awesome. It is about a family in the mountains by Mount Fuji who own a hotel where people keep dying. Oh yea, and people sing and stuff. It was bizarre and very funny. My favorite part were the graphic claymation scenes at the beginning, middle, and end. The songs were hilariously bad, but I think they were supposed to be. Definately reccomended, especially to Sean, Jeff, and Jarod.

I have done some of my christmas shopping, but not all of it. Hopefully tomorrow. I have some stuff I need to do anyways, so hopefully it will get done.

Jeff is coming into town today, and I have my english final. I am excited about Jeff, and I guess the final too, because it means the horrid class is over. It was bad. That is all.

6:28pm: Forever
is how long it takes to process an order online, or at least where I am trying to process it. I am getting slightly frustrated. Anyways, I pruned trees today, which is a good job, kind of artistic in a way. I often feel like I am taking too much off, I hack a lot. They turn out really well though. Tonight I dont have plans, just to sit in front of the computer until my order goes through. I dont want to risk it not working, and somehow losing my money. I have waited for like a half hour though, it really sucks.

6:31pm: KAYAKING!!!
So yesterday I went kayaking, after almost two days of trying and failing. On Tuesday night it poured down rain, so I called my friend rorie and asked if she wanted to go boating. She said yes. So wednesday I drove up to her place, and the rivers were very high, so we decided to do a side creek that I had never done before, but were worried about it being too high as well. Well, once we got to put in we realized it was not too high at all, but rather the opposite. Optomistic, we set off down stream in the tiny creek with not much water in it. This went well for about 50 feet or so, when we hit our first rapid. At the low flow the only option was to use our hands to pull ourselves over the rocks. Rorie was in an inflatable kayak, she got stuck. The next rapid went pretty much the same. Finally with rapid three though, it looked like the creek was a bit more channelized, and we woouldnt get stuck. Rorie wrapped. For those of you (most of you) who dont know what that means, I shall explain. Her boat hit a rock and water started to pour over the side of it, filling it with water, and plastering it to the rock with tremendous force. She was out of the boat at this point, so we resolved to make a plan to get the boat unstuck (it is decievingly difficult, and standing in freezing cold water doesnt make it easier). After about fifteen minutes of us both tugging on it we got it loose, and decided that it wasnt worth it so we hiked back to the car and didnt go boating that day. The wasted gas impoverished me, and I still didnt get to go, it was a shame. So Rorie and I resolved to try again the next day. We met at 11, and set our shuttle, but them Rorie realized she forgot her life jacket. So we drove to a friends house, got her a jacket, and were back on the water at about 2:30. Let me note that it gets dark at four thirty, and the canyon walls prevented any direct sunlight from coming down, so we didnt have all that much time. Fortunately, we made very good time, and were able to cover the 4 miles to the take out in just over an hour, which is good time. The river was fun, the canyon was beautiful, we saw a rainbow, and there was a blanket of fog about ten feet above our heads the whole time. It was a wonderful kayaking experience.

Also, I got a job now, so although I am still broke I have some income.

3:51pm: Dear Dad,
Are you really such a self centered ass that you actually think what you are doing is for the best? Or is it just that this is the best way to handle the situation while having the least possible affect on your life, while still being "right". Either way do you really know what you are doing? Scott is a person, not a pawn. do you view him as an extension of my mom, that you can somehow take her down by messing with him, or is it that you care so much about hurting my mom that you dont care who else you hurt in the process? Did you sleep well last night? I am guessing that you didn't get a call at four in the morning from your son. Saying through tears that you are leaving, that you have to go back to the boot camp. Why didnt you tell him, why didnt you get him yourself? Is it because you couldnt take time out of your busy schedule to come up here, or is it because you couldnt bear to look at his face and tell him that its for his own good? Or possibly because you couldnt bear to see me, how I am living now, definately not in your parameters of "success"? Thanks for the birthday card, oh wait... nevermind, I didnt get one. Nor a call or an email in the past year or so without prompting one first. Is it solely my ressponsibility to keep in contact with you, cause I am almost done with that. For the longest time I tried to hold on to the view that you cared, that maybe there is more to what is going on than what I see, and you really want what is best for us. Naivity? I guess since I am over 18 now you dont have to care. What about Scott then, just take care of him until he is 18 too, get rid of him, hide him away cause you cant handle him? 7 months and then all you have to care about is your new wife, who is really all you wanted to care about in the first place. Finally, no more distractions, rretirement from fatherhood. Have fun, good luck.

Love (I still mean it even now, really),
Brad

9:54pm: new stuff
Well, I didnt get the job at the empire mine, which is a big bummer. The person who got it was way over qualified, so I dont feel too bad about it, but it would have been nice. Today I blew a tire driving to go kayaking, that sucked. I didnt even get to go. Oh well, at least it is warranteed, so I am in good shape there. I saw Team America the other night, it was funny but sick and wrong. I found like 85 bucks in my glove compartment, I dont know what it is from...

10:46pm: Nuclear Winter
So I woke up this smorning to nuclear winter. There was ash falling from the sky, it was overcast, and the sun was blood red... literally. This was from a fire that was taking plaace a little ways from where we live, and it really put a surreal feel over the whole day. It also made it hard to breath. So yea, thats about all for that. It really looked like it was snowing, but it was hot out.

Also, we went to this record shop in auburn that had a 3 dollar cd bin. Most of the bands I had never heard of, but I did buy two cd's. The first was the forces of evil, for 3 bucks!! And then I chose one based solely on the name, and cover art. the name of the band was "the Kite Eating Tree" and the cd was called "Method: Fail, Repeat" but the cover led me to beleive that it could be hardcore if it wasnt terrible terrible emo. Those were the only two choices of course. It ended up being just like indie guitar rock, like stereotyperider or something. Slightly emo, but the music isnt near as emo as the lyrics would suggest. It isnt bad, but it isnt very good.

10:01pm: ehhhh
I have been fighting with my mom for the past two days. It sucks. She got back from visiting Scott in Florida, and we havent had a good conversation since, and I know she will hold a grudge for at least a week, maybe forever. Oh well, pray for me. Talked to Stacie today, that was nice. Got an interview on wednesday for the empire mine state park, I hope it goes well. Thats about it.

12:17am: Tim, and update
So the past week or so has been pretty cool overall. The feather weekend was a lot of fun, we all had a good time. An old kayaking buddy named tim has come over and is staying with us for a while. He lives in his van, which is currently outside our house, and is a pretty fun guy to hang out with. The other day we jammed for like two hours, it was fun. He has a DJ box which is really cool, plus this electric guitar that is really awesome, it has buttons on the neck instead of strings, and it makes all sorts of cool noise. Add to that a few distortion pedals, hook it all together and you have a good time.

So that is cool, he is fun to have around for a while, and life is going really well otherwise. Erin turned twentyone, I got her a pair of earrings as well as the first season of futurama on dvd, which we have been watching quite a bit. It is funny. I just learned Sealab is on DVD, and I want it!. Pray for Erin's little brother. He has been having seizures, and is currrently in the hospital. We went to visit him tonight.

9:54pm: Resident Evil: Apocalypse
So I saw it, but went to the matinee, so I would not have to pay full price for such a film. The first thing to note is that we went to the dollar store beforehand, and bought lots of candy. As the movie started I had a bag of Laffy Taffy, a large box of bottlecaps, and a large coke, no ice. By about halfway through the movie I began to feel like a little kid after haloween, and had to stop eating candy or risk diabetes right there on the spot. It was pretty brutal, especially since it was the only food I had all day, literally.

The movie was slightly better than I expected, but reminded me of 28 days later enough to almost be called a rip off, only it was completely silly and they never leave the city, and there are big monsters and ok it was totally different but there were specific scenes that were very very similar. Lots of zombies, and killing zombies, and people becoming zombies, and whatnot, it was quite fun. I liked it better than the first one simply because of the higher deathcount and more violence. Lets be honest, that is about all this movie has going for it, so they might as well go all out.

On the other hand, it was very predictable, the plot was virtually nonexistant, which were both to be expected, but also I did not like the fight scenes, they were all very closeup, quick cuts, you never could tell what was going on and it just didnt really work too well. It was way cooler when they shot the zombies, or when like a million zombies attacked and ate somebody, than the one on one fights were.

So yes, it was crap, but I enjoyed it, because I love zombie movies, as most of you know.

I dont like my english teacher, she rambles on about nothing, then expects us to know all she was supposed to be talking about while she was rambling. Also, she will make a statement, stop, then ask us to answer her question...
"So with regerds to style, young goodman brown was a very similar book to rose for emily"
"..................."
"Well, that wasnt a rhetorical question"
it is at this point that somebody will raise their hand and ask her to repeat the question, and as a result she looks at us like we are idiots. Fun stuff.

12:14am: cold cold day, and thrift stores
So sunday up here felt like november, it was about 60 degrees outside, and it rained all day long. It was an awesome day to sit inside, sip hot cocoa, and watch movies. Unfortunately, that is not what I did. I had to work... rafting... on the longest day trip we run. Yes, on the coldest day in the last five months or so I was out in the frigid water for about 6 hours. It was a pretty miserable day, we were all shivering uncontrollably by our lunch break, and I literally couldnt feel my feet, they were simply blocks of ice stapled to my legs. Our shuttle drivers were awesome though, and brought hot cocoa to the takeout so we could have it when we got done. It was a rad idea.I got home, took a bath, had some soup, and put on cozy clothes, it was sweet.

Anyways, on to topic number two. Thrift stores rock. Lately I have gotten an old james bond book, a millencolin cd, a bowling shirt, a sweet leather jacket, and a clipboard that is big enough to put a poster on. I go pretty often, just to look for random stuff, tapes for my car, and clothes. Most of the time you only find crap, but there is also some really rad stuff to be found, at really cheap prices.The millencolin cd, pennybridge pioneers, which is a pretty good cd, was only two dollars. Clothes are a dollar to five dollars, more for suits and stuff, but still...

But yea, there are a lot of odd people in there, and you might feel like a scenester, but go in with an open mind, not to feel all punk, but simply to look for some cool stuff other people call junk. Some of my favorite clothes are from thrift stores, but it doesnt stop at clothes. There is some awesome stuff there, and there is also stuff that just makes you want to go "what the hell". It can be a very fun experience, but if you go too often to the same you will start striking out, and not find anything.

11:08pm: Wow, updating
So the past few days we have been working on our irrigation system, and it still is having issues. We have no water pressure up at the house, but at the pump we have 100 lbs of pressure, so there is a problem along the way... we think the pipes are clogged. That means we either have to replace all the pipes, or else get a holding tank to make up for the lack of volume. Either way it shall be expensive. Oh well.

Next weekend is the feather releases, so I shall be rafting and camping and having a great time up there with about two hundred boaters or so. It is a lot of fun, and I get to guide as well as kayak, so it will be cool.

Right after that is Erins birthday, which will also be awesome, because I love her, and like doing nice things for her, so it will be great.

Not much else going on, school is school, and yea, thats about it.

12:20pm: thinking of visiting
so all of you who arent on JJ, or dont ever post, I am thinking of going down to the phoenix areasometime in the next few months. Erin would come with me, and we would like to hang out with y'all. If y'all want to hang out that is. Would this be a good idea? Also, would october of december be a better time? Please comment, I really want to have some feedback on this.

11:20pm: Pretty generic, I miss you all
Well, I have been busy as usual, and so havent updated as usual, and so this might get long, but probably not. Erin and I had a wonderful time down in San Francisco for our 1 year, we spent the weekend in the city and even had a long walk on the beach. I love her and it was a good time.

On monday/tuesday I went kayaking for the first time since the incident. We went up north about six hours to the trinity river and spent two days running the section burnt ranch gorge. It was amazing. It is such an incredible place, and accessable only by boat. We saw osprey, salmon trying to swim up the falls, and even a bear swimming no more than 20 feet from us. The wildlife was incredible, as was the scenery. Vertical walled canyons, lush forest, and giant boulders, crystal clear water, almost indescribable. The whitewater is really fun, big but not too scary, good class V run. The second day we took Ben, it was his first time paddling class V and he had a great time. Things are definately different now, but this was a good trip to get back on track.

All my phoenix friends, I miss you a lot, and I look forward to seeing you all again, hopefully in the fall (will that work out?)

Thats all for now, bye.

11:35pm: Wacky few days
So my past few days have been pretty crazy... Tuesday night my manager calls me and tells me I have an overnight trip wed-thurs, so I say ok and hang up. The next day when I get there I realize that this overnighter is for 63 people, which is absolutely insane. This means we have to cook food and take care of over seventy people (we need to eat too). After dinner we had almost a whole coconut cream pie left, so of course Teresa actually suceeds at pieing Ben in the face. It was absolutely hilarious, and started a pie fight between a few of the guides.

That night there was a mardi gras party going on at one of the area bars, with basically the whole town going. We all show up as a group (five of us are underage) and while parking marty runs over a power line, sending sparks flying.

So we get there, learn it is a twenty one and over affair, and promptly walk over to the side gate and walk in. I had no plans of drinking (I was the DD anyways, because I dont drink) but I didnt want to sit in the car alone all night, so I decided to have some fun hanging out and dancing. Within two minutes of going in, Evelyn gets bounced. We walk in, she walks away, then we see her being escorted out. I just started laughing, cause she was being rowdy and deserved it.

I had an alright time, not really my thing, but there were some people I knew there, and the band was good, so whatever. There were lots of guys dressed as girls and girls dressed as skanks (it was a mardi gras party, so they werent necessarily skanks). Afterwards all the older people wanted to go to another bar, but they didnt have a ride home, so I offered to sleep in the van (its just as comfy as anywhere else I sleep there) and give them a ride home. I was in a good mood and I didnt want any of them driving home drunk, so I didnt care too much.

I am glad I offered, because the rest of the night was just as hilarious as the first. I drove all the underagers home, and drove back to the club and fell asleep. I was awoken at about one by Teresa, who was ready to go. Marty and Scott come out a minute later with two girls they met inside. They were other raft guides, and needed a ride to their camp, right next to ours. Fitz was still inside so I decided to give the girls a ride home and then come back for fitz. Scott (a rookie who thinks himself a ladies man) is hitting on these girls the whole way home.

I drive back, and marty goes into the bar to get Fitz. At this point Teresa is getting frustrated, and gives me seven dollars as "putting up with drunks" money. Marty comes back out with Fitz, who apparently kept getting hit on by a fifty year old lady, as well as one who was twenty one (he is thirty five). This is hilarious by itself, but is compounded by the fact that marty is being followed around by Kenna, who is the ranger at the middle fork (a river we run). Marty doesnt really like her ( she talks ALL THE TIME) but she can make life hell for the guides if she doesnt like them, and she has a crush on Marty.

We leave (all of us this time) and almost make it home before Fitz realizes he forgot his wallet. Once we turn around Scott decides to find the girls we gave a ride home to, so we let him off on the side of the road and just leave, allowing him to find his own way home (wwe knew he couldnt find their camp). We drive back, Fitz gets his wallet, but on the way out he invites Kenna to crash at the trib shack, and marty was pretty pissed about that. We drive home, and all I hear for the next tweny minutes is Kenna talking and talking and talking while marty is trying to sleep.

The rest of the trip went smooth, and I find it necessary to note that this was not a normal night for me. Almost always I try to avoid all situations involving alcohol, and I have never ever snuck into a bar before, but there were tons of people my age in there, and my friends needed help, so I helped em out.

I got home yesterday and found out that our dog died, which is really sad. We have had her since we moved here, and she somehow got into a car without anybody knowing and suffocated to death. They buried her in the flower garden. Its a real bummer.

Today we had a really funny trip. It was a group of sixty summer camping rich kids from the east coast who couldnt paddle worth a damn. So of course at Jaws (the biggest rapid) all sorts of interesting things happened. 8 out of the nine boats had people fall out, and everybody was pretty much out of control the whole way down. It was terrible but nobody was hurt, and I am happy to never see those kids again.

9:02am: too early
It is nine o clock, exactly 6 hours since I went to bed, and 3 hours since I first woke up. I cant seem to sleep past six lately, but sometimes I can get back to sleep after I wake up... doesnt matter though, I am awake now as I had to give Erin a ride to work at 830. Not complaining, just tired.

Yesterday we went to a street fair for just about the most rediculous thing ever. Cecession day for the town of Rough and Ready. That is right, a celebration of the day they ceceded from the union. this happened in the 1800's sometime, due to the fact that Californiaa wouldnt let them hang one of their criminals, so they became a foreign country so they could have their own laws... nobody cared. A few days later they went up to Grass Valley to buy beer (it is a really small town) but the grocer there said he didnt serve foreigners... So they did what anybody would do, lied and said they had rejoined the union. This facade was kept up until the 1970's, when they wanted to get a post office. The government didnt give post offices to foreign countries (obviously) so at that point they had to go through the paperwork to get back into the union. I swear I am not making any of this up, it is all true.

The street fair was cool though, they even had a giant folk band whose instruments included a fiddle and a washboard... yes, a wash board.

Also, there is a really good himilayan restaraunt in town now called didi bhai, kind of a buffet type thing, and they have nan bread, mmmmmmm. We went there yesterday, and I ate too much. They also have a really good drink made out of mango and yogurt, though it is somehow a liquid.

So life is pretty good over, but work has been light, dunno what to do about that. I can't wait till next weekend, our one year anniversary. That will be a lot of fun, we are going to go over to the coast for the weekend. I can't believe it has been a year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNA!!!!!!!!

Anyways, this is getting long, so I am going to stop now, love you all.

12:58am: ummm...
Alright, big news in my life, figure I should update. I am going to stop if people dont start commenting though.

This past week has been really stressful for me. Thursday I was kayaking down a class V creek called fordyce with a group of seven people, some I knew and some I had just met. We get down to just over half way, and one of our party lands upside down face first on a rock off a fifteen foot waterfall, cut his face up pretty bad. We bandaged him up and he hiked out with one other person to make sure he was ok.

Less than a quarter mile from take out I had to eject from my boat and swim... I made it to shore, but at that point another member of our party just disssapeared. She had pulled out into the current to go downstream and then with the chaos of my swim we all lost sight of her. We canvassed the shore for about twenty minutes before I spotted a patch of orange (the color of her boat) about a foot under the surface of the water in a really bad spot. At that point two of us went down to the lake to call the police (we had a cell phone) while the rest stayed to try to get her out of there. It was another hour before they got her out and by that point it was too late even for cpr. Her name was Deb Martin, and she was an excellent kayaker who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The next day I took off of work, slept a lot and hung out with my girlfriend, Erin. The weekend just added stress as we had an overnight trip with over fifty people on it (all of whom we have to cook for) which was just a nightmare. The moment I got home from that I had to get right back in my car so I could go to the memorial service for deb.

Anyways, Thats how things are going for me, still trying to work out my thoughts and whatnot, its a crappy situation no matter how you look at it. I dont really know how to convey the thoughts and emotions that I have been having, but it isnt a situation that I would want anybody to have to go through. So yea, thats about all for now.

11:45am: big update
Well, here it is, mid june, and I am finally updating again... crazy month been going on and the internet has been the least of my priorities. Sorry guys. Anyways, a lot has been going on. Life is really good.

I bought a car a little while ago, and that makes things easier. It is a 1992 audi 100 quattro, awd, climate control, all that good stuff. It looks new and is very cute. I love it. I drive far too much as a result though, and so I end up spending quite a bit in gas...

Soon after I bought it I put 500 miles on it with a super rad trip to sanfrancisco to see a concert. Erin and I went down there to see Death Cab for Cutie with Ben Kweller. Totally awesome show. Both bands were amazing. Great performers. Anyways we spent the night with my aunt and then hung around the city for the next day, (Jarod you would love sf, it is really a cool city) and I didnt get home until 5 in the morning. It was a really good time.

Work has been pretty busy lately as well, for a while I had two jobs, but I recently just stopped going to one of them, because I didnt like it. That is ok though, cause they fired my friend. During that time I went and kayaked some awesome stuff, I would like to get pictures up but have no scanner or webspace.

Happy summer everyone, I hope everybody is enjoying life, cause I sure am. I have been hanging out with Erin my wonderful girlfriend a lot, which has been awesome, I love her. We saw a really cool play last night, all the parts were played by one guy. On July first we will have been going out for a whole year, crazy. Got big plans for that weekend, but I cant say them here, she might be reading them.

All of my arizona friends, I miss you, and you need to come up to visit, every last one of you. If not, call me at least, it would be nice to hear from you (530) 274 1020. Call anytime, really.

That is pretty much all for now I think. The weather has been lovely, and I have been outside a whole bunch. Life is good, but I have no money. I love you all, and will try to update within the month.

2:04am: I am really tired (long day) and I have to be up in 4.5 hours. Bummer. And why cant things be as simple as I try to make them in my head? Why cant I be stronger? Why must the devil look so damn good?

Got the soundtrack for "The Ladykillers" and it is amazing. Southern gospel music, and hip hop remixes of southern gospel music. I LOVE IT!!!

Sorry I havent been updating, been busy with all sorts of stuff.

1:58pm: HAPPY EASTER EVERYBODY!!!!

Jha Jha has returned on this beautiful spring day

10:30pm: The most tragic love story ever written*
Once upon a time lived a beautiful peacock. His neck was as blue as the deepest ocean depths, and his tail as elegant as a princes robe. In his early life he had a friend that he would hang out with all the time. Though they would occasionally fight they were almost inseparable.

One day though his friend dissapeared. The peacock was crushed. He lost all his tail feathers (probably because it was winter) and was sad all the time. He didnt know what to do. A few weeks later his life changed though. Jha Jha entered the scene. Known to some as "the white beauty" this lovely peahen was pure white, but for a while would have nothing to do with our hero. Quite simply she was too good for him, and let him know by completely ignoring him all the time.

Well come spring time a change came about in our hero. In a short period of time his tail feathers grew back even better than before, over three feet long and all the colors of the rainbow. He was beautiful and Jha Jha began to take notice. He would fan his feathers and she would swoon... soon they were wed.

Their relationship was wonderful. They hung out together all the time, he protected her from the other animals in the yard, and they slept together in their quaint pine tree, on the same branch. It was a match made in heaven.

Every day his feathers got lovlier and lovier. He truly was a sight to behold. They seemed too have no cares. It was spring, the weather was nice, they were having fun, life was good.They were even planning on having little pea chicks this year, if they could manage them. Boy howdy, how exciting.

One day our hero seemed to be moving a bit slower than normal, his feathers not so bright. Jha Jha seemed troubled, but alas the narrator had things to do, so had to leave this situation until a more thourough investigation could be made.

We arrived home to the tormented screams of a sorrowed lover. Jha Jha was inconsolable. She brought us out to where her man was, screaming "can you help him? Can you help him?" He was hiding in a grove of bushes, Crying for his beloved. We advanced in upon him and he sensed us as a threat. Even so, his weakened state prevented him from putting up a fight.

Jha Jha stayed by his side this whole time, until we took him away. She ran off crying, wondering what was to become of her wounded soulmate.

He was in bad shape, and needed a doctor. At the surgeons table a more complete examination was possible, and the wounds looked fatal. He had fallen victim to many of the wandering bandits (dogs) of the area, and they hadnt left much of him. His leg was split, and the whole area under his wing was gone. His eyes were weak, and he was only kept alive by the thought of his friend, lifemate, and lover. He couldnt lose her. He couldnt let her go through life alone.

The surgeon decided to end it all. As the needle slipped in he flinched slightly, but then the "medicine" began to take effect. Our fair hero was no more.


*based on a true story

Yea, our peacock died today, and now Jha Jha ran away too, probably in mourning. All in all my day was pretty crappy, that was just the icing on the cake though.

On the bright side, Erin will be home in eight days.