Cleaning the car...

[The passenger compartment, at least. I'm saving the trunk for the next time I'm near a dumpster.] When cleaning out my car, I'm usually pretty sure what I'll find in the front passenger floorboard - trash, empty coffee cups, and junk mail that hasn't yet made it to the recycling bin. Friends have joked about the stuff in my front floorboard, and it even made it into a scene in "Zombie Nerds From Outer Space" when Bob complains to Larry that he: "Can't even sit down until I take out the trash". Larry replies, "Most of that stuff is going to recycling. *I'M* saving the planet". Bob holds up a CoffeeHaven cup, and says, "And I suppose this is going back to the Coffee House? hmmmph... P.C. Garbage".

So most of the stuff in the passenger side went to the recycling bin. But the backseat... that's where even *I* fear to tread. It's the combination of 3 boys, and limited time with their father that really contributes to the collection of junk back there. I asked last night if they had seen a new tennis ball back there for Kayla (my canine 'daughter'), and they said, "oh, no", and were correct. There wasn't *A* tennis ball back there... there were *TWO* brand new, un-sullied/un-slobbered spheroidal neon-yellow-squirrels-without-the-fluffy-tail-that-fit-in-the-ChuckIt(tm). I didn't find some of the paperwork I was looking for, but that's okay - it was evidently recycled at some point. I'll fore-go mentions of the desiccated french fries, and half-full soda cups... but it's funny to me that neither of these 'food' items grows any 'life' (culture, mold, etc.) no matter how long my back-floorboard science project is left to ferment. Fortunately, for now - the lab is again unsullied, uncluttered, unadulterated, underwhelming and I like it that way.

Playing a euphonium (am I *really* going to admit that here...) limits my trunk space. Yes, I'm a musician in addition to everything else, but not one of those 'smokes & drinks too much' musical types. I play an instrument that either fits well as a solo instrument, or with a wind ensemble/orchestra, and almost nowhere in between. And there isn't much call for a euphonium - even when it was mentioned in "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium", it was used as a euphemism (really!) to show the depth of whimsicality embodied by Dustin Hoffman's character. I'm scheduled to play at the Hilton in Vancouver, WA this weekend, and the depth of the sonorous tone is well suited to the occasion.