I am loyal.

My friends and family would say that about me, too. I will often stick with a person, place, thing or idea longer than reasonable people might. Some suggest that this indicates a certain amount of stubbornness. Or a fear of change. Or an unrighteous contentment. Or a rut. Or whatever. Kinda dog-like.

Real loyalty is challenging, and it requires forgiveness (LOTS of forgiveness) when people are involved. Because people let you down over and over again.

I am forever a devoted fan of the Detroit Lions.

But the Detroit Lions hurt me. They hurt me deep.

I do not expect every game they play to be a win; I am not unreasonable, after all. But not every game should be a loss. These highly compensated, highly talented men have been playing this game at a high level for most of their careers. But when they get together under the banner of the Detroit Lions, they look like the NFL version of the Washington Generals.

Late in the 4th quarter today, down only two points, Daunte Culpepper left the pocket to buy time and threw the most bone-headed of all possible bone-headed interceptions. I can't even come up with a pithy statement comparing that bad pass to something equally ridiculous, it was so bad. Carolina scored quickly thereafter, and the game was clinched.

And when I say bone-headed, I'm being nice.

There has been a lot of bad quarterbacking in Detroit. According to Wikipedia, there have been 22 different starting quarterbacks for the Lions since 1983. "Joey Sunshine." Ty Detmer's 7-interception game. The over-paid Scott Mitchell. Ah, the memories.

The running joke is that the most popular man in Detroit sports is the Lions' backup quarterback.

Despite all this, I'm still a fan. And I'll probably still purchase the NFL Sunday Ticket to watch these monstrosities they call games.

This town is going to have a winner some day. And when it happens, I'll extend my hand and welcome you to the bandwagon. Come on board... there's LOTS of room.

Let's Go, Lions!

Some bacon links you need to know about:

• Donno if this is GR, MI or GR, MN. Regardless... Can you say... Midnight snack?
• Chicago Sun-Times: Does bacon get any better than this?
• The original chicked-fried bacon.
• Bacon in the twitter world: bacontwits.com

I grew up in the midwest, where there are bugs. Lots of bugs. Not quite like Mississippi in April (I was there for a week once), but still, there are a lot of bugs.

Then I moved to the northwest. There are times when you could expect to go outside in a cool evening and not even consider the issue of mosquitos or biting flies. A common question for local non-campers might be, "What's DEET?"

Last night, a funny thing happened. First of all, the temperature dipped to the high 30sF (~3C). Frost advisory in effect! Not exactly the best conditions for summertime biters.

Second of all, I went to sleep late. A typical Friday night, but atypically didn't include doing the laundry: awake too late for my own good, and all I wanted was to crash.

Then the buzzing started.

A mosquito! As far as I know, this was the first mosquito-as-I-sleep of the year. Luckily, the lamp light cast a nice wall shadow on the just-landed blood-sucker. I did not mourn the loss of life.

And then I crashed.

Tease for next post: Many more words to describe something much less interesting.

1. One photography feed you should watch is The Big Picture, which recently hosted pictures from Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the Earth from Above guy.

2. Are you hep to the jive?

3. There's a drought in California, and Lake Shasta's water level is dropping like a rock, which is exposing old structures that have been submerged.

4. I must confess that I haven't paid much attention to the current financial/economic crisis. Episode 365 from This American Life explained it to me in simple way so that even I could sorta understand what's happening. Apparently, I'm supposed to be more afraid.

5. Once upon a time, a very intuitive friend introduced me to what was to become my favorite movie: Bottle Rocket. I don't get in to fanboy sites, but that doesn't mean that good can't come from them. The goodness I found this week related to Bottle Rocket: Dignan's Notebook. Sweet.

Written last Friday night:

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By most accounts, today was a good day.

I ended the week strong at work. I had dinner and drinks with some good friends. There was a quick internet chat with a friend where I got some things off my chest. I witnessed an improbable comeback at a high school football game.

I came home and watched a classic Clint Eastwood movie with the roommate, who was excited about calling a girl, and that things were looking up for him. Then a Frank Sinatra WWII movie came on, so I'm hooked. Roommate #2 comes home, and we catch up a little bit.

It was, indeed, a good day. Much better than I deserve.

Now I'm lying in bed in a dark room, hearing the rain fall and trickle its way down the gutters. The clock is ticking just audibly enough to remind me that I'm not sleeping. I start replaying the day in my mind, which doesn't exactly help The Sandman do his job, thankyouverymuch.

It hits me: The people in my life... today they were like a revolving cast of characters. Short stories; quick hits. Or maybe like a 30 minute sit-coms where I fast forward through the commercials. And if I hurry, I can watch another one before bedtime.

As fulfilling as my friendships are (and, seriously, you wish you had friends as awesome as mine), there's still something missing. And to me, it's obvious.

Shortly after I posted last, the sun came back out for three days. But enough of my prescience.

I had the privilege this past weekend of witnessing the wedding of Justin and Sarah. Knowing I'm an amateur photographer and that my price would be right (will snap pics for food), Justin and I worked out a deal: I take engagement photos, he buys the milkshakes.

Congrats, Justin and Sarah!

The rain came today.

That sounds ominous, though it isn't. Ominous means "foreboding," suggesting that something worse may be imminent. We don't have to wait any longer. The clouds and rain are here.

And they came right on time, as summer officially ends this weekend. Let us pause for a moment and remember our young season that never really had a chance to mature.

In between working late, all-nighters, and the latest round of "summer" weather, I've still been able to get out and do a little hiking and/or camping. Two weekends ago, Ben and I camped along Canyon Creek Rd and hiked Canyon Ridge one day and Excelsior Pass the other day (Green Trails #13 Mount Baker).

Herewith, a few pictures from that weekend:

 
(Photo by Ben)

The remainder of that weekend's pictures are here.