It cooled, it warmed, it shrimped…

Monday brought nineties again, but not nearly as bad, and snakes [not shown]

   

Around Wednesday it finally cooled down…

so we ventured into Gerlach, partly for the mail, partly to see what Willey’s new Bruno’s might offer…

The bar had changed but much remained the same; the addition of an interior roll-up glass door was a little strange but the newly pared-down menu promised consistency…steak and a taco salad at the window while watching the Selenites were fine.

Next day the magpies’ range had expanded from the wellhead to the south ditch, tail feathers  elongating all the way…

Meanwhile Mick soldiered on delivering our obsessions and necessities, albeit often days late due to the ever more unreliable vehicles dictated by clueless MBAs in UPS’ upper management…

and critters abide…

Saturday we finally went north;

Smoke Creek Road, left for California at 447;

after Eagleville a left in Cedarville; 299 to 395, Shasta in the distance;

The fruit and drug inspection eschewed our garbage but Alturas’ main street trashcans were more obliging.  We returned the favor by buying hardware…

and, across the tracks, groceries, returning over Cedar Pass for lunch and an as always pleasant visit with M. Sykes at Floating Island Books before the unimpeded road home.

That evening was a last sighting of our Magpies, who vanished Sunday morning…

as did, somewhat later, our friend and neighbor Dave, headed down to Reno and one of those annoying United flights to SFO.

Meanwhile the enviable freedoms we so inalienably enjoy were morbidly reaffirmed early Sunday morning when a homophobic wackjob, free to buy whatever armaments he desired despite being twice on [and off] the FBI terrorist watchlist and then [freedom of speech, after all] asserting himself a terrorist after the fact, blew away multiple humans in an Orlando gay nightclub, creating havoc and an absolute field day for NPR’s endlessly looping news cycles…

But not here, fortunately.

Not yet, anyway.

M