Alys: Good to get out, eh?
Tyra: Yes. None of us get out often enough.
A: I know. And I feel bad about this.
T: What gives?
A: What gives is that I have been really busy.
T: Doing what?
A: Working on book project stuff.
T: Is what you are doing more important than spending time with us?
A: No. This is why I am going to switch my priorities.

Alys and Tyra on 2019 trip

T: I’ve heard you say this before.
A: This time I mean it.
T: We’ll see.
A: Why are you so dubious?
T: Because a whole summer went by, and you didn’t get us out of the hood once.
A: Things are going to change. You know, now that Tinni is gone, I’ll have the time I spent with him, to spend with you all.
T: We all miss him.
A: I keep walking past the front area, expecting to see him there.
T: You need to look to the left of the compost station. That’s where he is.
A: No, Tinni isn’t there. Tinni’s body is there, but his spirit is elsewhere.
T: Where is his spirit?
A: I don’t know. I have no idea.
T: You mean there is something that you, as a human, don’t know?
A: I don’t know a lot of things.
T: Such as?
A: I’d be too embarrassed to say. Okay. I don’t know if the sun revolves around the earth or if the earth revolves around the sun.
T: You have got to be kidding.
A: I wish I was kidding.
T: What else?
A: I don’t know what’s on the far side of the moon.
T: You have got to be kidding.
A: I wish I was kidding.
T: What else?
A: I don’t know how to tie my shoelaces.
T: Why that explains why you are always tripping over your laces.
A: Actually, I found instructions on a differing way of tying my laces and this seems to work.
T: And how old are you?
A: I know, past my prime.
T: Raudi is now past her prime.
A: But I think that with more exercise, she will again be able to keep up with you youngers.
T: I’m not sure that she wants to.
A: What does she want?
T: To have a baby.
A: If she’s to have a baby, she’s going to have to have it soon.
T: But there are no suitable Icelandic stallions in our area.
A: There are some unsuitable ones.
T: Yeah, one has a parrot mouth.
A: And another is too forward.
T: We’ll just have to move elsewhere.
A: Or maybe I can breed her while we’re on a trip.
T: Maybe. We doing a trip next summer?
A: This is my plan.
T: Is it Pete’s plan?
A: He says so. But I think that he’d be content to stay here and watch his peaches ripen.
T: A lot of fun that’ll be.
A: Yeah, a lot of fun that’ll be.

Next: 288. 10/20/22: Home Sweet Home