From: Larry Smith
Subject: HSMB

Well, I feel compelled to tell you folks that was Kurt was the ultimate "lounger". I would, of course, assume that you already realized how utterly comfortable he could make himself. There were two instances of "lounge lizard" proportions that I remember about Kurt:

The most recent one was when Kurt was about 16 (I think) , and had been hanging around with a group called The Melvins from down in Grays Harbor, or possibly they were from Olympia. Well, whatever, they were quite a "departure from the norm" for the logging area of Grays Harbor. I do remember that Kurt was really "into" them, because they were definitely making musical statements that he loved. (In fact, if anyone on here can tell me more about The Melvins, I would be grateful). Anyway, he had some sort of temporary "falling out" with one of the members of the group he had been staying with, so when I came home from work to this trailer I was living in on Camp Creek Road, there was Kurt in full lounge position, head semi-hanging off the edge of the couch, one leg up on the back of couch, and the other leg stuffed under the middle cushion. His feet (with just socks on) were kinda skewed out at right-angles. I asked him what was up, and he said I didn't have "shit" in the refrigerator, and that he would have preferred some kind of hot dogs or something. I said something like "Sorry, didn't know you liked them, or I would have filled the fridge with them. Hey Kurt, are you comfortable?" He said that he was "plenty comfortable enough" but that the couch was "lumpy". I said that of course the couch was lumpy, you are supposed to lay on top of the cushions. I had to laugh then, because "upside down" Kurt gave this huge "upside down" grin. That grin stays in my mind to this day. He lit up the room, of course. I made pizza for us while he watched TV (an Ed Sullivan show rerun...I have no idea why he had such poor choices of TV shows), and he took his pieces and said, "Well, gotta go". And....that was it.

When Kurt was about 13 or so, he would lay on the stairs in Don and my sister's house, and when Blackie (the dog) would try to rush up the stairs, Kurt would move his legs to get in the way. After a while, the dog would give up, so Kurt would go get some treat and then call for Blackie to come up and get it. Then, when Blackie would come up to get it, Kurt would put his legs out again so the dog couldn't get very close. He would tease the dog for a while that way until it finally gave up again. Then, of course, Kurt would give the dog the treat later. That dog really loved Kurt for some reason, and would follow only him around, even when there were other people in the house or area. A lot of times, Kurt would lay on those stairs with his head downhill, and let Blackie lick his head. Go figure....I never could.

|