and on the 12th floor of the ACME building, one man is still trying to find the answers to life's persistent questions

The boys were disappointed again this week when Carl Kasell announced that Peter Sagal was again on vacation. They live for the weekends and Car Talk, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me and Prarie Home Companion. If we were living in a stick house, I’m sure they’d know so much more of typical American kid pop culture, but instead of Pokemon or some TV show that I’m so removed from American pop culture that *I* don’t even know what is current, the boys love to listen to NPR’s finest. They recite the intro to each and every segment, the intro to each show, they “do” Carl Kasell and Peter Sagal and LOVE Guy Noir and The Life of the Cowboys and the Katsup advisory board. Jesse’s favorite part of “Wait Wait” is the lightning fill in the blank. I have no idea why; he rarely gets a question right and furthermore, I’d be astonished if he knew any of the answers. They both adore Guy Noir (and that man is ALWAYS finding some woman with pants so tight he can read the writing on the laundry instructions or something similar, but I doubt they “get” that part either) and have begun to love “The Life of the Cowboys”, both on PHC.

So, thanks to Jamie, who insisted on Sirius, each weekend the boys creep out of bed, switch the Sirius from Howard Stern to NPR and turn the radio on in their room to enjoy a day of their favorite programs. On Sunday they listen to them all again and somehow manage to enjoy them even more the second time around. Tonight they’re enjoying a lovely fire while I try to encourage Ellen to go to sleep. *I* need to get up early, so I’m so hoping she’ll go down before 11.

Ft. Davis continues to draw us in, Jamie is hoping to look at a piece of property tomorrow and Michael is going to visit the Alpine UU Church. It is quiet, it is peaceful and it is heavenly. I’m trying very hard to drop my negative stereotype of Texas.

They say that Montana is “Big Sky Country” and as I’ve never been, I can’t disagree. I would be hard pressed, however, to find bigger sky than that which we’ve seen in Texas. This must be cloud season and throughout each day, they seem to try to outdo each other. The depth and range of color in the clouds alone is astounding. The rainbows, the enormous black thunderheads and deep blue sky are indescribable. I can’t think of a more beautiful sky anwhere we’ve been.