Category Archives: Life in General

Tuesday’s Tune – ‘Roam’

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Flashback to 1989, I was younger and living in the San Francisco Bay Area. I had roamed west in ’87 away from south Texas – yearning to make it on my own.

Roam if you want to
Roam around the world
Roam if you want to
Without wings, without wheels

Summers are for exploring and roaming. I am fortunate to have a profession where I have summers off and time to rest, relax, restore, and explore. Many folks think all teachers do over summer break is play, but that’s not the case most teachers are busy with learning or rethinking ways to be a better teacher. But that’s not what today’s Tuesday’s Tune is about.

A Farmer’s Market in Good hart, MI

Flashback to 1989, Continue reading Tuesday’s Tune – ‘Roam’ →

satisfaction: bottled sunshine

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It’s late July, and it’s that time of the year. Back to school. O and I were out shopping today and stores are in full swing with their back to school shopping sales. I read Jen H.’s Weekly Photo Challenge post and I certainly identify with her, I love school supplies and office supplies. School is around the corner; 24 days and counting for my colleagues and I.

Monday’s sunset – getting in position….

Summer break has been satisfying, though I feel my bathroom scale is lying to me. Perhaps, summer has been too satisfying. O and I returned Tuesday morning for marching band camp. B and Ivy remained Up North by the lake. B’s awaiting her sister and her son – our nephew – who arrives later today. O and I will be back for the weekend. We’re both excited to see them and have fun at the lake. This weekend is race weekend and there will be fun by and on the lake, then fun as spectators watching the canoe race. And who knows what else we will find to do. It will be a great weekend.

At this point during summer break, I begin to panic. Usually, it’s where did summer go? Not this summer, it’s been largely a summer full of satisfaction. I read the week’s photo challenge and as always, it’s wide open. I checked the meaning of satisfaction and Merriam and Webster define satisfaction as:

2a: fulfillment of a need or want
2b: the quality or state of being satisfied: CONTENTMENT
2c: a source or means of enjoyment: GRATIFICATION

Summer break comes along at the perfect time in the school year for kids and adults. The learning and growing and teaching that happens requires a great deal of mental energy and by year’s end we’re both exhausted. This summer has had the right amount of contentment, perhaps according to my scale, a tad more contentment. Continue reading satisfaction: bottled sunshine →

unusual: a photo challenge

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It’s summer break and I’ve been on the road, that’s not unusual. Summer is travelling season for me and the family. Wednesday morning, I was in North Carolina – really, no Raleigh, Wednesday night I was back home in Chicagoland, and Thursday evening I was in northern Michigan. I rejoined my family after a professional conference – it was good and I realized I have much to do and learn. I am here for the weekend and then we return home Monday or Tuesday.

an unusual sight – a wind turbine blade

Driving to Michigan is sometimes a gamble, sometimes I can make it in 6 hours, sometimes quicker, but most of the time the drive stretches to almost 7 hours. The time depends on weather, accidents, or construction or a combination of all three.

Thursday afternoon had elements of all three and I arrived before the sunset and our guests from Ohio.

the sign says it all….

Along the way, I stopped at the Michigan Welcome Center near New Buffalo so I could take a selfie with the Welcome to Michigan sign to go with my Welcome to North Carolina selfie from my last post. When I pulled off the highway into the rest stop, I saw something unusual – wind turbine blades on the move or rather, off the road waiting for a better time to move. Several years ago, we watched a trainload of wind turbine blades travelling through Chicago. I went back in time – it was long time ago, and yes it was unusual to see wind turbine blades on a train or a truck. Continue reading unusual: a photo challenge →

a ‘prime’ (math) day

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2017 is prime. I realize tomorrow, 7-11-17, is PRIME DAY if you are an Amazon customer. Regardless, as of today – this post – we are 191 days into 2017; there are 174 days remaining in ’17. I don’t mean prime in the sense of the best, rather prime in the math sense. 2017 is a prime number.

this wise old owl keeps the dock duck-free, or is supposed to…

2017, the number, is prime Continue reading a ‘prime’ (math) day →

bridge – a photo challenge

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It’s Saturday morning and I’m home, on the deck. I’ll be back at the lake later this evening, but for the moment I am home. I drove home Friday. I left in the morning hoping to avoid the weekend traffic and it almost worked.

coneflowerrs at the lake – destined for our garden at home
coneflowers at home

I was able to catch up with W, run a couple of errands, workout, and eat dinner before calling it a day. I have an appointment later this morning, then I am returning to the lake.

This morning I woke, made the coffee, and enjoying my morning on the deck. It was peaceful and calm, until the neighbor’s yard crew arrived. My yard crew (W) is still sleeping, he mowed yesterday and the yard looks grand. Continue reading bridge – a photo challenge →

Tuesday’s Tune – ‘America the Beautiful’

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Yesterday was American Independence Day. It’s the day Americans, like me, take to celebrate our freedom and independence. Many gather to barbecue and watch fireworks, still others, like me and my family, travel to be with family. We are by the lake, where we have celebrated the Fourth of July as a family for as long as I can recall.

Our family tradition began in after B and I married in ‘91, and with exception of a handful of years, I’ve been here on the Fourth ever since. At first, we celebrated with B’s parents and her sisters and their families. Then they moved away and they weren’t able to be here for the holiday and it was just our family and B’s parents. Then life intervened and her dad passed away in June of ‘14, then her mom followed in late ’15. Now it is us and we continue to get travel north and enjoy the lake with our friends we’ve grown to know along the lake.

We celebrated as we always do: we went to the town parade, then spent time on the lake, barbecue and enjoy dinner, and finished the day with the town fireworks celebration, and of course the traditional popcorn. Continue reading Tuesday’s Tune – ‘America the Beautiful’ →

Sunny days

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“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually fearing you make one.” Elbert Hubbard

That’s the daily quote which appeared when I opened my Five Minute Journal app yesterday morning. I paused and thought, then proceeded and completed the morning entry. However, my thoughts kept returning to the quote throughout the day. Last night when I reflected on my day, I saw the quote again. My day had been full of mistakes and missteps.

sunny1
zinnias – this bright flower is related to the sunflower…..

The Five Minute Journal is pretty simple. Continue reading Sunny days →

No travel Saturday

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It’s a beautiful Saturday morning on the deck. The birds are singing, there is a gentle breeze rustling through the trees, and the sun is shining brightly. AND, I’ve decided to stay home and not fly to Seattle.

my office view this morning..

Continue reading No travel Saturday →

Father’s Day

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Being a father is not easy, becoming a father is…. well, not the point of this post.

Today is my twentieth Father’s Day as a dad, my fifty-fifth as a son, and eighth Father’s Day without my dad. My dad passed away July 20, 2009 after a brief illness and my brothers and I took his cremains to France in June 2010 and he remains at rest and peace with the world.

The three of us, dad, and Julie May 1980, from a scanned slide
7:41 AM Somewhere in the middle of the paragraph above my brother, David, called and we talked… when were finished talking, I got back to writing – 8:11 AM.

I don’t believe there has been a day since, when I haven’t thought of my dad; just think of him, no judgement one way or another. There are days, like today, when he is constantly on my mind. On these days, I call my brothers and check in, or they call me and check in, either way we talk. Sometimes, we talk about dad, or we talk about our kids, or we talk about growing up; mostly we talk about the thread that holds us together – mom and dad and being brothers.

It hasn’t always been easy being brothers or sons or fathers. There is no instruction manual, only a guide. Continue reading Father’s Day →

order – a photo challenge

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Summer would not be summer without red geraniums blooming on the deck overlooking the lake. Today is summer vacation day three with many more on the horizon. This morning I am Up North on the shores of Lake Margrethe. It’s relaxing coming here, but it comes with a price set up and maintenance. This is the setup visit and maybe I’ll be able to squeeze in some relaxation time into the order of business.

There is order to our work. The dock and lifts must go in first, then the boats, then of course a bit of fun, then yard work.

Thursday morning view of the lake

Yesterday we got the dock and lifts in and one of the boats – the Sea-Doo. The Sea-Doo is the easiest of the boats to get in the water, and according to O, the boat with the most fun potential. Continue reading order – a photo challenge →