A trip to Etna is a trip

My sister, Stacy, and I drove up to our hometown, Etna, today. We're visiting our sick grandma for a few days.

It's about a seven hour drive from the Bay Area to Etna and it's mostly through rural Northern California. When you get outside the Bay Area, of course, you soon lose your pre-set radio stations. I forgot to bring any CD's, so we were at the mercy of the airwaves.

When you head into rural California, you have three basic choices: Spanish-language, Christian or Western. There may even be a few Spanish-language stations playing Western music with a Christian twist. I'm not sure.

So, as our Bay Area rock station faded beyond recognition, I was forced to hit the seek button. Stacy, who is, inexplicably, a country music fan, announced that she thought 95.7 out of Red Bluff is a country station. "Thanks for the warning," I responded.

But before I could hit the seek button a second time, we got stuck on a country station. The first thing we hear is a lovely little melody with the lyrics--I shit you not--"All I want to do is pick a tick off you."

Now, I don't care who you are, that's romantic. We just had to listen on to see if the song would go on with "All I want to do is rub salve on you saddle sores all night long," or "All I want to do is suck the armadillo meat out between your teeth."

My dad suggested someone should invent a car stereo that automatically skips country stations, like so much static. So there you go--another invention for someone (still waiting for someone to take on my TV remote/Clapper combo invention).

We "made good time" and Grandma was really happy to see us. We may be trimming her juniper shrubs tomorrow and visiting with my aunt and uncle who are here from Florida.

For now, we're home. Dad set up his wireless router, so now Stacy and I are both pecking away at our laptops while his guitar gently weeps in the other room.

We'll all sleep well tonight knowing that our dear Sanjaya is safe for another week.