Greetings! Welcome to the Monkey Chronicles

August 11 – mechanical problems with our space Cadillac have forced a premature landing in unknown territory. I use the term ‘landing’ quite lightly. Planet seems hospitable, atmosphere stable – though a little hot for my taste – inhabitants oblivious to our presence, despite the crash landing accompanied by fireworks and a sonic boom. The peoples of the blue planet appear to be a distant hairless cousin to us, though their behavior is raising eyebrows among the crew. Twice now, I, Captain MonkeyOne, have been chased down only to be handed flyers for drawings of unknown prizes and show tickets at places I’ve never heard of. During a third chase I enacting a ploy, claiming to be “local” (which is preposterous) and to my great surprise the flyer-handing chasers’ excitement suddenly disappeared, it uttered something sounding like “oh” and walked away. You can imagine my confusion – firstly that claiming to be a ‘local’ actually worked and second, that he was so easily dissuaded from what appeared a very important mission. My crew experiencing equal confusion, decided amongst themselves (without my permission of course) to see if silly behavior evoked the same response. To my great chagrin, the first mate began ludely dancing to some racket that passed for music; to further my chagrin, a female, presumably intoxicated, joined him and began grinding on his leg. This was welcomed by cheers, the flashing of bright little lights, and general approval. At this point, I’ve accepted that I shall remain confused during our stay. Considering the condition of our space Cadillac – once a stately vehicle with bucket seats, a mini bar, and individual, headrest movie screens, now reduced to a flat tire and bent hood ornament – we’ll be staying here for quite some time.
Now on a more serious note…well, not really serious since I try to avoid that state of mind as often as possible – there are plenty of other people handling the seriousness for us laid back souls. I am the humble scribe who will be penning this blog hence forth, hopefully to all of your amusement, if not rapt attention. I’m a beginner, a virgin if you will (ha ha!), but hopefully it won’t show too badly. J This blog was started at the urging of my dear husband, Felix, who feels I need a creative outlet (he’s right, but don’t tell him), to capture the essence of our lifestyle (which can be summed up smartly by Bobby Mcferrin: Don’t worry, be happy!), and to share the wonderful and often spontaneous adventures we embark on in the name of photography and fishing. As proof (if you needed any) that this sort of care-free life is addictive and good for you, I offer pictures of Kolob Reservoir and our friend, Terrell and my mother-in-law, Soledad, the epitome of a city girl, at ease with the world on her first-ever camping trip. You can read all about this trip on Terrell's blog by clicking here.
It may be important to note at this juncture that Terrell will more often than not be accompanying us on our trips, and as he has his own blog (please see ‘Friends of the Monkey’ on the right side of your screen) he will be blogging about his experiences. I encourage everyone to read both his and mine, if the subject interests you, to get both perspectives and join us in spirit as much as possible without physically being there. Also, the hippie vibe will be rampant in my scribbling, so if it bothers you have a drink or two and read it again. Isn’t that better?

Sung by Bobby Mcferrin

Here's a little song I wrote

You might want to sing it note for note

Don't worry, be happy

In every life we have some trouble

But when you worry you make it double

Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy now

Don't worry, be happy Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy Don't worry, be happy

Ain't got no place to lay your head

Somebody came and took your bed

Don't worry, be happy

The landlord say your rent is late

He may have to litigate

Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy, Don't worry, be happy

Don't worry, be happy, Don't worry, be happy