I realize that for most of you the spousal unit can be summed up in three words: wangitude, stamina and prowess.

No. Really. I mean it.

However, there's more to him than that.

No. Really. I mean it.

I was in here last night cleaning up some business e-mail when the most unholy sounds erupted from the tee vee in the room behind me. It sounded like rabid wolverines had decided to rip apart a pack of blood-crazed tigers or something. Oddly, the spousal unit was laughing his head off.

That could only mean one thing: a Tasmanian Devil stand-off.

The spousal unit has always been intrigued by the Tazzy Devil and anytime anything comes on the tee vee about them he is mesmerized. The high point of our trip to Australia was not seeing Uluru, or the stromatolites, or even the silent eerie beauty of The Pinnacles where we spent hours in utter silence overwhelmed by a landscape so different from anything here in Canada.

Nope, for him the high point was when we went to the Crocodile Hunter's glorified petting zoo, Australia Zoo, and saw real, live Tazzy Devils running around in a little landscaped enclosure. I will never forget the look of absolute pure childlike wonder on his face when he first caught sight of one scampering around.

You can well imagine how blissed out he was when The Discovery Channel ran an hour show about Tazzy Devils last night. It didn't matter that it was aimed at kids in their early teens or so. Oh no. What mattered was the stars, roly poly little carnivores that make some of the most terrifying sounds I've ever heard and would chew a limb off you if they could.

They aren't exactly little balls of "hug me", but the spousal unit adores them for reasons known only to himself.

So now, in addition to wangitude, stamina and prowess, you can feel free to add the words "Tasmanian Devils" to Things Which Describe The Spousal Unit.

Yup, he loves some very odd critters, but then, you probably guessed that already, eh?

I mean, after all, he married me.

--Marn

Mileage on the Marnometer 25.12 miles - 40.42 kilometers
Goal for 2003: 500 miles - 804.5 kilometers