Cactus and Convicts
Jul. 22nd, 2019 11:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asphaltcowgrrlOr, well, sort of anyway.
I walk into my boss’ office – one he shares with my co-worker, and our intern, Jakub. And I hear my boss saying something about ‘some good-looking cactus’.
That, alone, started an interesting conversation, which led me to talking about how, when I was a kid (about 8 or 10), my dad went into the desert area across from our house and dug up two cacti for our front yard. Note: this is illegal and punishable with jailtime and a fine, but I didn’t know this until many years later.
That story led to another story about being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night so that my mom could go into the shadiest damn part of town to visit a bail bondsman to get my dad out of jail for DUI (one of many times). She made my sister and I lie flat in the back of her station wagon, so no one saw us.
Why am I telling you this? Because, for the first time in my life, this shit is funny.
This story had come up several months ago and my 19-year-old said, “Man, I don’t have any cool family stories like that!” And I’m like, Taylor, this isn’t cool. LOL
When Troy was having his transplant surgery, my mom, my sister, her husband, and my niece were all there and this came up again (I think my dad’s trying to get to me from the other side LOL), and my sister didn’t remember any of it (she’s 3 years younger than I am). My mom was horrified, but I’ve never held his illness against her. She did what she thought she had to do to take care of her family, and I respect that.
I guess my point is that healing comes out of nowhere and damn, did I need that laugh today. I’m overstressed and really upset about something here at work and… wasn’t expecting to laugh so hard at my past. And to have my co-worker laugh along with me like ‘hell, you think that’s bad, let me tell you about my uncle…’
In other news, the talk about cactus made me think of this house near where my in-laws live. They have this HUGE, amazingly well-kept saguaro cactus in their front yard, and I smile whenever I see it because it makes me incredibly happy (you know you’re a desert rat when…). But, I also always wonder where the hell they got it and how because… saguaro cactus don’t grow in the Mojave Desert (Nevada, SW Cali, and bits of Utah). They grow in the Sonoran Desert (Arizona, Mexico, Baja California). Not that anyone cares but the Joshua Tree (something my dad hated, said they were ugly, LMAO),only grow in the Mojave.
So, suddenly, I feel ten times better than I did half an hour ago.
Are you bored yet? Thinking, ‘damn, Amy, TMI’? You’re in luck, I need to go back to work. Hahaha.
I walk into my boss’ office – one he shares with my co-worker, and our intern, Jakub. And I hear my boss saying something about ‘some good-looking cactus’.
That, alone, started an interesting conversation, which led me to talking about how, when I was a kid (about 8 or 10), my dad went into the desert area across from our house and dug up two cacti for our front yard. Note: this is illegal and punishable with jailtime and a fine, but I didn’t know this until many years later.
That story led to another story about being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night so that my mom could go into the shadiest damn part of town to visit a bail bondsman to get my dad out of jail for DUI (one of many times). She made my sister and I lie flat in the back of her station wagon, so no one saw us.
Why am I telling you this? Because, for the first time in my life, this shit is funny.
This story had come up several months ago and my 19-year-old said, “Man, I don’t have any cool family stories like that!” And I’m like, Taylor, this isn’t cool. LOL
When Troy was having his transplant surgery, my mom, my sister, her husband, and my niece were all there and this came up again (I think my dad’s trying to get to me from the other side LOL), and my sister didn’t remember any of it (she’s 3 years younger than I am). My mom was horrified, but I’ve never held his illness against her. She did what she thought she had to do to take care of her family, and I respect that.
I guess my point is that healing comes out of nowhere and damn, did I need that laugh today. I’m overstressed and really upset about something here at work and… wasn’t expecting to laugh so hard at my past. And to have my co-worker laugh along with me like ‘hell, you think that’s bad, let me tell you about my uncle…’
In other news, the talk about cactus made me think of this house near where my in-laws live. They have this HUGE, amazingly well-kept saguaro cactus in their front yard, and I smile whenever I see it because it makes me incredibly happy (you know you’re a desert rat when…). But, I also always wonder where the hell they got it and how because… saguaro cactus don’t grow in the Mojave Desert (Nevada, SW Cali, and bits of Utah). They grow in the Sonoran Desert (Arizona, Mexico, Baja California). Not that anyone cares but the Joshua Tree (something my dad hated, said they were ugly, LMAO),only grow in the Mojave.
So, suddenly, I feel ten times better than I did half an hour ago.
Are you bored yet? Thinking, ‘damn, Amy, TMI’? You’re in luck, I need to go back to work. Hahaha.
