Mountain Girl

25 Things about Me

I wrote this for something that was going around Facebook. I haven’t written anything in several months, so I thought I’d post it here, too. It was kind of a fun exercise. So, here you are: 25 random facts about me.

1. When I was a little girl, I dreamed I would grow up to be a wide receiver in the NFL. Also, I wanted to be a writer, but not a sports writer.

2. When I was nine or so, I got a bad concussion when a steer stepped on my head in the Fortuna Rodeo. I threw up for a couple of days.

3. I am an adventurous eater, but I hate Canadian bacon on pizza, yams, sweet potatoes, and peas (out of the pod). I love anchovies, brussel sprouts, and fruitcake.

4. I avoided eating eggs for nearly 30 years after being offered an explanation of the food chain in first grade that went something like “chickens eat bugs and worms, turn them into eggs, and we eat ‘em.” I realize this is somewhat contrary to my idea of myself as an adventurous eater.

5. I’m a strong believer in “the road to hell is paved with good intentions,” but I usually only remember this after the fact.

6. Too much candy makes me feel high (and a little mean). I am also a bit of a sour candy expert.

7. I once tried to kill a deer with my bare hands, but I meant well. (Please see #5)

8. I love the way old men tell stories.

9. Living in an unfinished house has miraculously turned me from a slob into a clean freak late in life.

10. I enjoy climbing hills more than going down them.

11. I constantly covet ridiculously high-heeled shoes in which I couldn’t walk more than a few feet. And yet I am steadfast in my belief that I have exceptionally good balance.

12. I prefer Heathcliff to Mr. Darcy. I have tried several times to read Pride and Prejudice, but have never finished it.

13. I am afraid of mice, heights, and fast-moving water.

14. I am terrified of public speaking, but secretly love the attention. I was once told to get off stage, but refused because the crowd really did seem to adore me. No, really.

15. I don’t have a TV, but it’s not because I hate television—it’s that I love it too much.

16. In college, I waited until the night before my senior thesis was due to start writing it—well, really even to begin researching it. I believe that it’s exactly this type of procrastination (and its consequences) that primed me for employment at Internet startups.

17. I made myself start taking my coffee black because I grew tired of being disappointed when there wasn’t any milk in the house. I’m a lot happier now.

18. I wish I was better at swimming, putting on makeup, and backing up a trailer.

19. I was once accused of throwing a spelling bee.

20. I have a reputation for being a fast driver and yet people complain about how slow I go when they are in the car with me.

21. The happiest day of my life was in eighth grade when I made a hook shot over a six-foot-tall girl who had dominated me and the rest of the little kids in the league for two basketball seasons. I had practiced for that moment for more than a year and can still remember the collective gasp of the crowd after I did it. Nevertheless, we lost.

22. I like playing sports, but I don’t really enjoy watching them on TV anymore.

23. For about a year, I had a terrible crush on the actor Walton Goggins, who plays “Shane” on “The Shield.”

24. I love to make polenta with my 92-year-old Italian grandma, but it really bothers me that she can stir the pot for much, much longer than I can. I am convinced she has some secret technique she’s not sharing—like it’s all in the wrists or the hips or something.

25. I am a descendant of Israel Putnam, who famously said, “Don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes” before the battle of Bunker Hill. Also among the Putnams was Ann, who played a prominent finger-pointing role in the Salem Witch Trials.

Posted by Kristin on 01/31/09 at 10:23 AM
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Some Notes from Wednesday

The following is a list of events that occurred yesterday during my trip to town to have a mechanic fix the short in the headlights switch on my pickup.

1. Tried out new French press travel mug. Makes good, strong coffee and the cap stays on when the mug itself is violently jostled from the holder as I drive the obstacle course known as the Alderpoint Road. The cup holder in mid-1990s Dodge pickups is located at the top of the dashboard, which gives beverages a poor center of gravity. I have noticed in the newer models that Dodge moved the holder to the floor, which is apparently where my drinks want to be anyway. Until now, my efforts to hydrate myself while driving have almost always ended in soaked clothing and cuss words.

2. Dropped off pickup. Waited for friend to pick me up.

3. From the back seat, I silently questioned the wisdom of pulling a pickup and stock trailer across two lanes of traffic so a guy could tow a hay clipper across Fernbridge. As the sole occupant of this parked vehicle, I felt slightly panicked when things started to go awry (looks of indignant disbelief from other drivers), and then relief when my traveling companions returned and it all worked out OK.

4. Enjoyed a very fine cheeseburger at the sale yard cafe.

5. Made my way through most of this week’s New Yorker while waiting for the cowboys to return with herds of various animals throughout the day. I didn’t enjoy this issue as much as last week’s.

6. It was a spectacular day at the ocean and yet I did not take any photos.

7. Pondered and then argued about whether water accumulating under the trees was due to “fog drip” or a leak in the water line. No resolution.

8. Fretted over a crippled calf.

9. Moments later watched a sick coyote pup make its way through the tall grass.

10. Began to worry that a very cute dog and I might be thrown from an open window of the pickup as the driver tried to make his way up a hill covered in dry, slick grass while pulling a stock trailer with a horse in it. After four-wheel drive failed and we started sliding, and especially after the other passenger cautioned the driver, “What you don’t want is to get over on this side hill and flip this sonuvabitch, “ I began to wonder about the origins of the many dents already in the body of this pickup. Leaping out the window seemed like it might be a better option than patiently awaiting the inevitable. And then a small miracle happened. The driver’s face suddenly became red with anger and he let loose with a fierce string of expletives (much the same as those I reserve for my goddamn drink holder). He shoved the accelerator to the floor, and somehow, he managed to power us and the horse up the hill with sheer willpower. I like that driver. He’s alright.

11. Exhausted and thirsty from a day of watching other people work, returned to my pickup. Drove home with lights. Yay!

Posted by Kristin on 08/07/08 at 07:27 AM
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Surprise House Guest

When I went down to my neighbor’s place to feed his dogs last week, I had the unfortunate luck of finding a fawn that wasn’t more than a day or two old. Or more accurately, he found me as he teetered up on wobbly legs, desperately looking for a bite to eat. He was a little scraped up, pretty hungry, and hanging out under the porch with a couple of dogs and a rooster that mysteriously appeared one day last fall, much like this deer had just done. The older dog, Cindy, is kind of a crank (or at the very least, tragically misunderstood) and doesn’t care much for anyone besides the other dog, Daisy, and, as it turns out, this rooster. I guess Daisy decided she also needed a pet of her own because she had already adopted this little fawn. As she licked it clean, I pondered what to do.

If I had found this fawn in the woods or out in a field, I would have left it alone because its mother would probably be somewhere nearby. This was a little different, though, because I couldn’t come up with any reasons why a doe would leave her baby with the motley band of fowl and canines. I decided to let it be for the day. Maybe the mom would come back? If the baby was still there that night, I’d decide what to do then.

When I came back, it was curled up under the steps, so I fed it some canned milk mixed with water in a baby bottle and then loaded it in the pickup and brought it home. Three days passed with me feeding it every four hours or so. Everyone kept telling me I only needed to feed it every six hours, but if it didn’t get the bottle more frequently, it would make this awful high-pitched EEP! sound that would wake me from a very sound sleep--even when it was outside. I desperately tried to find a home for it. Since it was a buck, I figured that once it got old enough it would return into the wild on its own. Lots of people suggested other neighbors they knew who’d raised fawns before. This turned out to be a bit of red herring because I soon realized that anyone who’d done it once had already learned their lesson and didn’t want to do it again.

I called Fish and Game and talked to a guy who was knowledgeable and very nice, but wasn’t terribly interested in helping me. He basically said that a lot of fawns die every year and that’s just how nature works. This wasn’t news to me, of course, but I also couldn’t stand back and watch it die slowly under the porch from dehydration or starvation. Finally, some of my neighbors agreed to take the little critter, who, after three days was doing pretty darn well on the canned milk. They kept it for a couple nights, and then became worried they were getting too attached. After all, it was a male and when it grew up, there was a good chance somebody might shoot it. They made some phone calls and found it a home at a wildlife rescue place in town.

Posted by Kristin on 07/21/08 at 12:36 PM
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New Boots!

Remember that second pair of boots I was supposed to be making with the bootmaker over in Manton? You may not because I started them three or four years ago and haven’t done a thing with them since. Up until now that is. I’ve skipped straight past all that cumbersome cutting and skiving and stitching and gone straight on to strutting around in them. How, you say? Well, the bootmaker finished them for me in trade for help with a how-to DVD he’s making. Isn’t bartering cool?

Posted by Kristin on 05/01/08 at 10:47 AM
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