P Squared Books

beach

The Magic Of Swimming

One of the books I really liked in 2024 was Whalefall by Daniel Kraus. A friend of mine read it because I recommended it. While reading it, she texted me. WTH is with this book? And, thinking this meant she loved it, I messaged, Isn’t it great? Her response

cats

Why are you like this?

As mentioned, my two felines are what they were made to be, furry masses of chaos which do not give two shits about what you would prefer they were doing. One night, my husband went to bed, and the calico cat ran upstairs. Moments later, I heard the telltale sound

beach

A Burger Bucket Christmas

One year my husband was in an extended training in the south. It happened to extend through the month of December, and I figured we should make the most of it. I flew out there, and we went to St. Augustine, Florida for Christmas. For those of you who don’

Public Land

One day, my husband decided we should go check out some of the cliffs by our house to see if there were chukar in them. A chukar is a bird that sorta, kinda looks like a quail, without a top knot, but is a bit bigger. It's a

Migrating to Substack

I am migrating my blog to Substack. Please join me there!

cats

Toxic is a Broad Definition

As mentioned, I've got some cats. These cats destroy any plants I bring into the house. I would love to have a house full of plants, but I'd have to choose between the felines and the chlorophyl, and I guess I've already made that

autumn

Marriage is Like A Forest...

One beautiful autumn day, my husband and I drove way into the mountains to go bird hunting. We turned off the pavement and onto a dirt road, the aspens a beautiful gold. The road was empty save for several fully loaded logging trucks. At the trailhead, we got ready and

work

The Evolution

When I was brand new in my job, in my very first summer, I was asked to be a part of a photo shoot. To be clear, I am not usually asked to participate in such things. I do weird things with my face and I have a propensity for

books

Gifts

My husband and I have very different gift giving habits. I love giving gifts. He HATES it. He panics. It's a lifestyle, I think. I try to be compassionate, but I don't really get it. But I do acknowledge that it's real. So this

autumn

The C-Store Round Two

On the last day of my annual North Dakota trip, I was riding in the car with my three other travel buddies. We'd spent the week wandering around the prairie, and on our final night my male friend realized, we were out of tonic water. "Did you

autumn

Why Are There So Many People Here?

Recently, I was in a small town in North Dakota. I'd visited it the previous several years, always at the same time of year, late October, and this year, there were a lot of people in town. I mean, we drove into town just after dark, down the

autumn

Ghosts...

We have a friend who asked us to go on a ghost tour. I'm into spooky stories, but I have to admit, I am not a believer in ghosts. But, it sounded fun. We met our ghost tour leader on the somewhat crumbling steps of the local Elk&

relationships

Hardly Anyone Here Swims

At my work, every now and then, the Big, Big, Big Boss gives us a couple of hours off for whatever reason, a holiday, a birthday, a different holiday. On one Friday I got two extra hours off, and I decided to celebrate by going lap swimming. I love lap

autumn

Wagon Dreams

Fall had started. My husband was his usual ecstatic self. The days were getting cooler. The light less harsh. All the things I hated. We were driving to stomp around the mountains, the aspens just starting to yellow, but first we needed gas. He filled up the truck while I

cats

Just Minding My Own Buisness

It was the end of a long week, the first morning I'd gotten to sleep in, and I was luxuriating in the morning's slowness. I'd had coffee, breakfast, and gotten to read a little. I was sitting there, minding my own buisness, when a

cats

One Chicken, Two Chicken

I live in a rural area. On my street, we are probably the only people who don't have a collection of farm animals. We do have two ferocious, indoor felines who regularly let the bird population know, if that window glass wasn't there, they'd

cats

It's Not About Space

Recently, I was at my parents' house. They asked me what I was writing. "Well," I said, "the premise is that most people have left Earth..." "Where did they go?" my dad cut in. "Other planets. Colonies. That's not the

nature

What Does the Full Moon Do?

Recently, I went on a trip to a resort that had sprung up around a natural hot springs. When I was a kid, the place had allegedly been a bit podunk, but now, it is built up. It's got a spa with offerings like blueberry body wraps and

nature

It's Rather Loud Out Here

I have spent a lot of time outside. So has my husband, and on his off time, he often hikes to scout for elk and deer. One day we were both off, so we went to check out an area he hadn't been to but thought had potential.

houses

Gov Showers

In what seems like another lifetime ago, I moved into a house I rented from the government. It was a tiny thing, no actual foundation, totally crooked to the road, built in the late 1920's and forever maintained with parts from that era. We used to joke it

cats

Physics Be Damned

At one point we lived in a house with a concrete slab foundation. When we moved out of it, we moved to a farmhouse with... Well, not a concrete slab foundation. The first night we spent on the ground floor of the house, my husband fell asleep almost instantly (he

horror

The Wild West

One summer night, my friend invited me up to his town to watch their local rodeo. This was about two and a half hours north of me, just over the state line. It seemed like a good idea to me, so I got in the car, and made the journey,

food

Everything Has a Recipe

Years ago, while on vacation with my family, I convinced my dad to help me bake a desert. My dad, who at the time didn't have the best working hearing aides, agreed to help but was very dismayed when he found out I needed him to knead some

nature

Cherry Belly

When my parents came to visit, we decided to go pick cherries. It was the final weekend at a local orchard, and summer was in full swing. My dad, who was there when we made the plans, but wasn't really paying attention, was dismayed to learn just what

food

The Idiot Who Didn't Pack Pants

I live where it is hot. It's not the hottest place I've ever lived, but it is still hot. One summer I flew to San Francisco. To do this I wore a T-shirt, shorts, and slide on shoes. The plane ride was fine, other than I