Oni

God bless Jane Lund. Not only is she an amazing artist but she's also on the right side of the most serious issue facing home owners today. I went to Ashfield, Mass. to see Nick & Kerry, who made their first trek back to the right side of the country (and I don't mean that directionally or politically just correctly) since getting hitched in LA.

I went up for the Ashfeild Pride Festival and got to hang out with the Orange County Couple, Josh and Julia also came over from Boston. Well, Josh and Julia were in the process of buying a house so we got into Homeowner Talks. Nick and Kerry bought a house in LA about a year ago (it has a gun safe). Josh said one of the things the Home Inspector said to him was to "watch out for all the sticks."

Yes, sir, "watch out for all the sticks." I've been saying this for years and there have been a few good chuckles at my expense.  Well, no longer.

We spoke of trees for a while longer when Nick, lovely but slow Nick, said, "I don't remember sticks being a big deal before you started bringing it up all the time." At which point he turned to his with it mom and said, "Did you have any issues with sticks at our house?"

And Jane Lund, the Mighty, said, "Oh Lord. All those sticks!" without a hint of the sarcasm I'm so used to hearing. Then she told tale of a willow tree with almost drove her to the mad house. Now, I'm not saying the expression on Nick,s face, when he heard his mom level against that tree with the same vitriol I have, was priceless . . . I'm just saying it's beyond the measure of money.

Chalk that up in my column, thank you.

Also, here's their downstairs bathroom. Amid the oni, Shiva, Ganesha, Comedy and Tragedy masks, right at bits level, below the camera's eye, to the right, is a Gene Simmons mask. It took me to a happy place.

                         

It is a genuinely fun place to pee.

Here's a good shot of the kids waiting for their flu shots.

Asher helping me bake.

You might be saying, wow you've had these pictures for a while, look everyone's in swinsuits!

And you'd be wrong.

These are from like two weeks ago. Fall here was only about a week and a half long. We have snow on the ground and green leaves on the trees. This was the second weekend in October. Note the pumpkins. What else is there to do than wait for the ice cream truck and paint mustaches on our kids?

Ryan gets one of the patented From the Table shots.