You Cahn't Get Theyah from Heeah

This is a favorite New England saying. It translates (for the native California readers) to "You can't get there from here." R likes to repeat it whenever we're making fun of his Mass accent, but then he reminds us that this particular dialect doesn't come from Massachusetts at all. Today I Wikied it and found that the phrase comes from Maine-- more specifically, from a Bert & I story:

"A number of well-worn sayings and rehashed jokes have their roots in Bert & I stories. One common phrase, sometimes said in a New England accent, 'You can't get there from here' . . . was the punchline to the story 'Which Way to Millinocket?' (not to be confused with 'Which Way to East Vassalboro?', which had a different, anti-urbanite theme.)"

Gotta love that Wiki.

Well, in our case the phrase holds true in any accent. We really can't get there from here because the road is closed-- not just a road, but the main artery connecting us to the whole western half of civilization. Closed for a week.

Now I don't like to go around saying that this or that in California is sooo much better because there are a lot of things that are better in Massachusetts (school, for example) but in California they do have this way of doing road work at night-- from, say, 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.-- that makes it so drivers can still use the road during the day. I don't understand how it works, but the road is dug up at night and put back together by morning. I have to say I think that's better. Also, the taquerias.

Other tidbits:
Saturday night R and Buckaroo were having some nakey bottom time on the lake (Buckaroo's nakey botom not R's) while I napped. I woke up and went down there just in time to see an osprey diving in the water for fish. The fish were jumping like crazy, so when we heard the loud splash we thought a really big fish was leaping, but then we saw this huge bird heave itself out of the water empty-clawed and shrug his shoulders to shake the water. We watched him dive again, and this time he came up with a fish and flew up the mountain toward the trail we just hiked a few days ago.

There was no wind at all, and we could see thousands of insects covering the water and the fish going wild, so R brought down his fishing pole, cast a lure, and reeled in a sun fish. Just like that. Then he changed lures and reeled in a pickerel. I fished for a while and thought I was going to come up with a big goose egg, but I did eventually catch a bitty sun fish. We showed them all to Buckaroo and let them go.

Yesterday, R and I took the kidlets to visit R's old marching band buddy and his family. We ate lunch in the sun room, which was built out of knotty pine, and I liked it! There might be hope for this pine yet.

Later we mosied over to R's parents house where we picked up-- tell them what they've won Bob-- our neeeew car!

We bought a car from R's parents. I have concerns about its lack of four wheel drive, but R doesn't, and he's the one who's going to be driving it. R and Sweet Potato drove it home last night and agreed that it was a smooth ride.

Too bad we can only drive it east.