All posts by Clay

About Clay

I've been a blogger since 2010 and I keep at it because of the community of readers I have come to know. Every day is a possibility and I intend to make every day count.

Day 18: Musee D’Orsay and the Tuilleries

adventure, Family, food, travel, ,
The labor protest assembles outside our hotel, the view from my room to the Place de Republique

What I planned for the day did not happen, but the day was well spent. It is difficult to make each day ‘a million and six times better’ than the day before, but I try.

We got a late start Tuesday, but we were all tired from Monday’s late night. We all slept late and therefore we started late. Warren had a lunch date with a client and took off early. David and Trish decided to visit Sacre Coeur in Montmartre and Julie and I took the metro to Opera to cash Travelers Checks at the American Express office. There was quite a commotion along Rue de San Martin and into Place de Republique. Before Warren left, he told me about a labor rally that was organizing in front of the hotel French labor unions are upset over a proposal to increase the retirement age from 60 to 65 and they held a march to share their concerns today. The tail end of the protest organized in front of the hotel and we watched it organize and go from a few people to many.  It clogged the streets and brought traffic to a standstill in the area. Warren reported the traffic getting back into the city was difficult as he returned from his lunch meeting. Continue reading Day 18: Musee D’Orsay and the Tuilleries →

Day 17: Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and the Seine

adventure, Family, travel, , ,
Me in 1966 on the Champs de Mars

The ringing was my phone alarm and it woke me up. The windows were open, it was light outside, and I could hear the sounds of Paris coming alive. The trip across the Atlantic and the day before had taken a toll on me and, I was sertain, the others in our group. I had slept well during the night and I was ready for the new day. I cleaned up and got dressed.

Monday, June 14th would be our first full day in Paris. I wanted to make it count, really remember it. I remembered the song that got all of this started and re-read and listened….

This could possibility be the best day ever!
(This could possibility be the best day ever,)
And the forecast says that tomorrow will likely be a million and six times better.
So make every minute count, jump up, jump in, and seize the day,
And let’s make sure that in every single possible way,
Today is gonna be a great day!

How can a day in Paris not be a great day?

We met for breakfast and discussed what we wanted to do. We agreed on the Eiffel Tower and decided to meet in the lobby at 10:30 to get going. We got a late start because of me – I held the group back – because I was late finishing what I was working on – the day 15 and 16 post. Continue reading Day 17: Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and the Seine →

Day 15 and 16: Takeoff and Landing – Day 1 in Paris

country, Family, travel, , ,

Day 15 – sixty-seven remaining – Saturday, June 12 began early. The next week will count. June 12. Julie had arrived the night before and was sleeping in the guest bedroom. William had a boy scout CPR training beginning at 8:00 AM, Olivia had a softball game, and we had to be at O’Hare to catch our flight to Paris by 3:00 PM. It would be a busy day as the kids met and shared some time with Grandma J. Continue reading Day 15 and 16: Takeoff and Landing – Day 1 in Paris →

Day 14: Why am I going to Paris?

Family, travel,

The past week or rather the past year has been in anticipation of today, tomorrow, and next week. Tomorrow I am going to Paris, yes, Paris, France, the place with the Eiffel Tower. I will be travelling with Julie, my stepmother, and the cremains of my dad who passed away last year. My dad was born in 1933 and lived a happy life he had many accomplishments three of whom will be in Paris together to celebrate their father’s life.  Continue reading Day 14: Why am I going to Paris? →

Day 12 and 13: Downs and Ups

adventure, Family, pets, ,

Wednesday, June 9th: originally, this post was to be a daily post – but the events of the day were over shadowed with worry about Ivy, our Brittany.

Ivy's the one! We had four puppies from Ivy's litter to choose from and Olivia and William look them over in the back of the car.

We had gotten Ivy when she was almost eight-weeks old on somewhat of a lark. In early April, on our return trip home from the cottage in Michigan, we had made a detour to shop and in the parking lot, there were local dog breeders selling puppies. Does this sound suspicious or odd? It did not at the time but when I retell it I feel, well, rather silly. I bought a dog on the side of the road from someone I did not know and drove home with a puppy the day before Easter. There was no planning, nor did we have an idea what we had in store for our family. Yet, this misadventure has turned into a something wonderful for our family.

Continue reading Day 12 and 13: Downs and Ups →

Days 10 and 11: the first official day of summer

Family, jobs, , ,
Olivia and Ivy wait for the bus on the last day of school, June 7, 2010

Monday, June 7: The first official day of summer began when Olivia stepped off the bus! There are many definitions of summer – meteorological, astronomical or celestial, and educational. Of course, for those not still in school or working in education there are the first two. Meteorological is June 1 to August 31. Astronomical is from the solstice to the equinox. The solstice this year will be on Monday, June 21 at 6:28 AM. It marks the longest day in terms of sunlight in the northern hemisphere. I will be home from Paris by then. Experts measure Educational Summer from the last day of school until the first day of the next school year. Phineas and Ferb had it wrong there are not 104, but 82 for me and 77 for my kids. Monday was the last day of school for William and Olivia. It was also traditional the neighborhood party for all kids it is organized by the moms in the neighborhood. I do not attend; instead, I worked on cleaning my office downstairs, organized my planner, worked on writing the blog, looked ahead to the Paris trip, and worked on a few odds and ends. Continue reading Days 10 and 11: the first official day of summer →

Days 4-9: Learning, a garage sale, and household chores

Family, food, jobs, teaching, , , , , ,

Today is day 10 of summer vacation – where have they gone? Seventy-two left, will I spend them well?

Well, I have been busy with household chores and other activities the past few days. The days have counted but not in the way of the first three days. I spent Day 4 wrestling with WordPress and finishing the Indy 500 page. I got started on Memorial Day and it I continued to work on and off and on for several days until I finished it and posted it yesterday. I suppose there is irony in the day of the post – June 6 – the sixty-sixth anniversary of the landings at Normandy in 1944. June 6, 2009 is also the day that I travelled to Oxford, Mississippi to see my dad who had taken a fall and was gravely ill lying in a hospital far away from his family. I will have more about my dad and the summer of 2009 in a future post.  Continue reading Days 4-9: Learning, a garage sale, and household chores →

Day 3: Memorial Day

country, Family, history, , , , ,

I am an historian. I majored in I earned a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in History at the University of Houston. I remember coming home from school in 3rd grade back in Sugar Land, Texas and asking my mom why World War II had started. From the point – I was a hooked reader. I could not get enough to read and learn about World War II. The movie, Patton, was in the theaters that year and I remember watching it with my dad at The Palms Theater in Sugar Land. I have watched the movie many times since then and enjoy listening to the soundtrack.

Of all of the days of the year that should count – this is one. I had planned staying home in Wheaton for Memorial Day, but my plans changed. I had really wanted to be in Versailles, Ohio for Memorial Day but I did not make the trip with my family on Friday because of the concern for making my in-laws sick (again) and instead drove to Ohio after the Indy 500. Memorial Day in Versailles is special. It is special in Wheaton and other towns and cities across America, but it is especially so in Versailles. My first Versailles Memorial Day was in 1991 and we continued for many years stopping in 2007 and choosing to stay home when William began marching in the Wheaton parade with his Cub Scout troop. It changed the tradition but not the meaning.

Continue reading Day 3: Memorial Day →

Day 2: Indy 500

racing, ,
William as a weatherman! Reporting live from Indianapolis May 2004.

Day 2: Sunday, May 30th, began by waking up at 3.45 and leaving the house at 4.15. I was headed to Indianapolis; today I would drive 350 miles  and the drivers I was watching would drive 500.  This would be by my eighteenth 500; I have been attending them since moving to the Midwest in 1991 and I have only missed only two. I was not going to miss this one or be late. I am always awed driving south on I-65 out of Chicago. At that early hour, the sun is rising and the fields are open and wide. I am driving through corn, soybean, and wheat territory and the slight rolling hills leave an open horizon. The sun coming up is wonderful and I am listening to my Marketplace podcasts – catching up from the hectic week. Midway between Chicago and Indianapolis, I come up a wind farm that stretches from the west to the east and is at least two or three miles thick along the interstate, perhaps more. I do not recall it from last year’s trip.

Continue reading Day 2: Indy 500 →

Day 1 and 1/2

jobs

So today, I spent about an hour working on my first post. Then I scrubbed my wooden deck clean and cleaned the wooden chairs that had gotten nasty since the last time I cleaned them. Time well spent. I then cleaned up and started working on getting my blog to work…some things just take time. I finally figured it out and I am working on this post to finish out the day before I go to bed. Tomorrow is a busy day – Indianapolis 500! I am meeting Tim, my brother-in-law, at the Speedway Motel for breakfast at 9:00 AM and I had better not be late. The day will be loud and fun. Tomorrow night – Day 2 post.