Dear John . . . (and Ben, Adam, Hoss, and yes, Little Joe)

  

I couldn't have been more surprised  the day I made Lindsay macaroni and cheese and she refused to eat it.  She'd wanted nothing else for the first several years of her childhood.  Actually, she alternated between mac-n-cheese and graham crackers.  Then one day she turned her nose up at both with absolutely no warning.  I kept buying them for awhile thinking surely it was just a contrary mood and would pass, but now that she's 28 I'm beginning to think it's a life choice.  These things happen, I guess.

I shouldn't be surprised, since everything in my own life seems to go in jags as well.  If I'm eating Mike & Ikes, then I am eating them by the case.  But don't expect to find Mike or Ike in my house after the switch gets flipped and I start on something else.  It's frustrating for my family, because just about the time they get really attached to something in the pantry, it usually disappears.

That's why Hannah may be disappointed  to learn that I'm experiencing a bit of Bonanza ennui.  I just think it's possible I may have seen every Bonanza episode one time too many.  And I suspect Hannah's crush on Little Joe was just starting to heat up . . .

The Cartwright Clan, my long-time studio companions

I cut myself back to one episode per day some time ago, but I've noticed in the past few weeks, I haven't been able to make it through the one episode.

Hoss and Joe are blindsided by the news of Susan's betrayal

I know . . . we're all a little bewildered by it.

For the record (and so they don't take it personally) I've also stopped being a news junkie.  The constant yammering of talking heads was starting to make me tired.  So I've turned it off for a while.

The debt ceiling may or may not get raised, but in either case I will not have listened to every single word said about the issue.

Instead, I've been listening to a little music while I work.

Not only that, but a little new music! By which I do not only mean it was recorded after 1980 . . .
And what a welcome break from daytime diabetes-testing and life insurance advertisements!

Here are a few of my favorite new friends:

I hope the boys at the Ponderosa will understand. 
I just think we need a little time apart.  It's not them, it's me.  Mike and Ike could have told them I have a fickle heart.

They're just as full of goofy western goodness as they always were, but we were bound to part ways eventually.  People change.  Well, the Cartwrights don't seem to, but the rest of the world does.


And that's good to know.  After my break, I'll be able to saddle up and ride out to the ol' homestead and I know they'll be waiting for me.

They'll sing me their familiar theme song.  Hoss will have really bad hair.  Joe will need to button up his shirt a notch.  Adam will act a little superior due to his education back east.  And Ben will be presiding, making sure that everything turns out exactly the way it was meant to be.

 

So let's not say good-bye, 

let's just say

see you next time. 

And until then . . . . 

Happy Trails!