No kinda jump-roper

Oh, my.

John E. tagged me, and it's only on account of his charm that I'll play (I am one of those meme-averse souls.)

The tag? It's for seven random things about myself. Here are the rules of the game:

1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting a comment on their blog.

And since I like to break rules, I'll play up through 3. I know I've been tagged by this meme before...let's see if I can come up with a fresh seven.

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1. I have a faint scar on my right pinkie, about 1/32" lower than where the nail starts along its keratin way. The scar was from a knife slip -- I cut myself when I was cutting down a straight-trunked young roughleaf dogwood (Cornus drummondii) to make a hiking stick. Sap sacrificed, blood given in return.

2. I am a person who makes piles. In other words, I am very messy (note: not filthy, just messy. But very.) You could even ask Shelly. The fact that I have to clean my car out before I can haul passengers has been the subject of much teasing and patient accommodation by my friends over the years.

3. One of my classmates when I was an undergrad is now quite a successful painter.

4. One of my grandmothers taught me to fish.

5. I have played the flute, the clarinet, the dobro, the guitar, and the piano, all terribly. And I can't sing.

6. When I was a child, I could not skip rope (certainly no way I could Double-Dutch) but I could hit a stinging line drive.

7. When I was six years old, I talked one of my younger brothers into joining me so I could run away and live in Texas where all the wild horses were. Of course we returned home -- my brother because he wasn't allowed to cross the street without our parents, me because I lost my nerve without an accomplice -- and I got the spanking of my life once the story leaked.