“…climb up my trunk and swing from my branches and eat apples and play in my shade and be happy.”
– Shel Silverstein

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.”
– Benjamin Franklin

We all need one. Someone that will have our back, always, whose loyalty is unwavering. A friend, a sidekick. Traditionally sidekick has a negative connotation, someone that is secondary to the hero. But what is so important about a sidekick is that they complement their hero perfectly. Yin yang, balance. If the hero is brawn the sidekick is brains, if the hero is dreamy the sidekick is reality, if the hero is brooding the sidekick is humor. We all need a sidekick, someone that will laugh at our jokes on queue but also do the exact opposite of what we think we need, balancing us perfectly.

“She wasn’t doing a thing that I could see, except standing there leaning on the balcony railing, holding the universe together.”
J.D. Salinger, A Girl I Knew

Holding my universe together…

Our trip to Sonoma earlier this year has had the unfortunate effect of turning “winery” into a bad word. So the word was not uttered when we decided to enjoy a picnic on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

Tigger: Come on, Rabbit. Let’s you and me bounce, huh?
Rabbit: Good heavens! M-m-m-me bounce?
Tigger: Why, certainly! And look, you’ve got the feet for it.
Rabbit: I have?
Tigger: Sure! Come on, try it! It makes ya feel just grrreat!

Summer is not complete without a visit to the National Zoo. No pandas or cougars were to be seen but the gorillas put on a great show, thumping their chests and eating kale.