Elvis has left the building...

I took Elvis outside again this evening. There were some requests for an appearance from his posse of neighborhood kids and there were some other requests for pictures of Elvis in his paratrooper harness. Here he is! Since Steve is out for the evening, I thought we'd enjoy some outside time. Some of the kids are actually afraid of cats, but they were brave enough to pet him and he was very nice to them. What a good cat! He tried to chase a live squirrel and he also tried to sniff the dead squirrel that is in the corner of the yard.... I pulled him in the opposite direction... ick. In general he's pretty calm around the kids who are jumping and yelling and trying to touch him. I think he's a little nervous but on the other hand, I can tell he is just eating up all that attention.

I have another outrageous question to add to the list: "Does he poop?"

ha ha hahhahahahha

My response was: "um, yeah.... Everybody poops."

I guess that's why they titled the book Everyone Poops !!

After that I actually got about five kids to put on rubber gloves and help me pick up trash and litter in the yard. It was really fun. It's nice when they are willing to help. I met a new kid who lives down the street. Osa - he's from Nigeria. I told him that I used to live in Africa but I don't think he believed me. When we were finished I bought them ice cream sandwiches from 7-Eleven. So far I have not seen any girls playing in this group - just the main group of boys. David is the boy who lives next door to us. Yesterday was his 8th birthday and he received a pair of roller blades, which I saw him stumbling down the block on. He isn't the youngest of the group but it seems like most of the other kids pick on him all the time :( It was hard for me as an adult (who is not an authority figure) to discourage that type of behavior. But I hope some of the things I said will stick in their little brains... and maybe they'll think about it later.

My next project is to plant a few flowers out front to spruce up the yard. The lawn needs a lot of work though.

At the moment, Elvis is sleeping here on the desk as I type, while I sip my manhattan and listen to my Double Fantasy record...... aaahhhh.... I love summer evenings.