A visit from the scorpion king

August 16, 2004

Life is full of little surprises. And some of them walk on eight legs and pack a pretty good sting. Just as we were sitting down today to deliver the news that nothing ever happens in little ol' Oakley, by golly something did.

Glenn was strolling barefoot across the carpeted floor of the writing sanctuary when he felt a sharp pain in his right foot and looked down to see a little brown critter skittering underneath the computer desk. He knew in an instant that he'd been stung by a scorpion. We've had the unwelcome guests in our home before during the summer, but this was the first time that any of us had been attacked by one. Glenn describes the experience as being something between a bee sting and whacking one's thumb with a hammer.

After his initial reaction of shock and a few choice utterances, Glenn retrieved the culprit from its hiding place beneath a mat. To look at the welt on Glenn's foot you would have thought the critter was a monster, but it was just an inch and a half long. That's what passes for about average in these parts, but even average you'll remember if you ever encounter one. Roni put in a call to the advice nurse at Kaiser Hospital, but apparently they were all too busy dealing with life-and-death emergencies to answer our call, so we decided to chance it that Glenn would survive. By then it had been 20 minutes and he wasn't suffering from nausea or profuse sweating or vomiting, like the vector control Web sites said he might be if death were imminent. And the good news is that he's still with us as of this writing, so apparently all is well.

All is not well for the scorpion, however, which was sentenced to life in a butter tub without the possibility of parole. Maybe we'll encase it in lucite as a reminder to its friends not to enter the premises.

Before those few moments of adrenaline rush, we were about to tell you how utterly dull things have been around the House of Gehlke. For a couple of folks who spend so much time writing, it may seem odd that we don't have a lot to say when it comes time to put together this month's newsletter. But that is the honest truth. The middle weeks of summer here are rarely eventful, although without the Almond Festival on the horizon — we're still getting used to that — it seems more quiet than usual. Perhaps this is a good thing. It is always good to have an opportunity to change gears, break out of old routines.

For Roni, life beyond the festival and the Oakley Chamber of Commerce has not left her any less busy, even if it has left her less stressed. She makes the trip into Brentwood five days a week to pick up design and typesetting jobs, which keep her going most of the afternoon. In between, you can often find her on the phone interviewing sources for articles she writes for the local newspapers.

Glenn has been dividing his time between work, sleep and writing, not necessarily in equal portions. Life in the corporate rat race seems more corporate and rattier than ever these days, so it is always a welcome alternative to sit down in front of the computer screen and put words to virtual paper over a stiff drink of Arizona iced tea on the rocks. Hemingway would laugh. You might too, if you saw how many times Glenn has revised the plot for his novel in progress. But at least he's still writing more or less regularly, which we take as a sign that he's serious about it on some level. Or perhaps he really is just crazy.

Ben is enjoying his summer vacation and trying not to count the days until the start of fifth grade. He has been drawing pictures of his favorite cartoon and video game characters and making up little adventures with them. We are trying to get him excited about traveling to some new destinations, but he is at the age when it is hard to see beyond the schedule of his favorite TV shows, so we'll have to work a little harder.

We have managed to pull Ben away from the tube long enough to enjoy a few of our summer traditions these past few weeks. On July 25, we drove up to Courtland for their annual Pear Fair and spent a few hours in the hundred-degree heat with a few hundred others watching the parade, eating pear crepes and checking out the booths. One of the highlights was gathering around on hay bales to listen to a local storyteller recount tales from her childhood. We three were the only ones in the audience at the time, so Ben got a personal presentation which he liked very much.

Two weeks later, on Aug. 11, we paid a visit to the California Dry Bean Festival in Tracy. We have decided that we just like going for the sights, sounds and scents of the fest, because other that that it is an overcrowded street fair typically held on the hottest weekend of the month. As usual, we managed not to buy a lot of souvenirs while we loaded up with bags of free stuff and dropped too much cash at the food venues. We entertained ourselves listening to mediocre country music karaoke and browsing the craft booths. Ben was disappointed he couldn't locate the Yu-Gi-Oh trading cards he expected to find there. Yes, Pokémon is finally sort of out and Yu-Gi-Oh is in. Six of one, half a dozen of another...

The days have begun to grow short as we reach September, much like the lyrics of that famous song. We head outside around 8:15 and it is already getting dark, but there is still plenty of light left after an early dinner to take a relaxing walk on the Marsh Creek Trail. Ben and Dad got out there for a couple of hours on July 26 to stretch their legs and enjoy a spectacular sunset over the Delta. Photos? But of course. Because a picture is worth a thousand words, we'll let the pictures included with this month's missive finish doing the talking. Hopefully the rest of your summer will be all you wish it to be.

Glenn, Roni and Ben