It seems odd to write “Day 60,” it does not seem like it has been sixty days, but it has. Yesterday’s post was day number fifty-nine and it was my fiftieth post. After re-reading it today, I realize it was not my best post. The past several days have been tiring and Tuesday would be no different. Continue reading Day 60: SLA and Cornbelter Baseball
I have reached a milestone in my blog: fifty, five-O, 50 posts, or a half century. However, I look at it – it is a lot of writing. I never imagined I would have written so much. I have looked back at my writing, not all of it, and decided it needs polishing, revisiting, and it helps me remember what I have accomplished this summer. Some of the writing is reflective and some informative. It has been a pleasure to write. Continue reading Day 59: Driving to Normal, my 50th post.
Tuesday went quickly, very quickly. Before I knew it, it was afternoon and I felt as if I had not accomplished much. Though in reflection, it was busy and it counted for many reasons and people – including me.
The cottage has two boats: a pontoon boat and a small wooden boat lovingly called ‘Ely Boat.’ Ely Boat was at the cottage when Beth as growing up and has been around for William and Olivia. Ely Boat is striking; built in the 1940s it is painted blue and white with red upholstery. However, the best feature is its power plant – a 3 HP lawnmower motor. It is not fast but is perfect (and legal) for a twelve year-old on Lake Margrethe. He uses it to go fishing; and ride it up and down the lakeshore. I have even ridden it across the lake and back. The first order of the day was to get Ely Boat into the water and out of the garage. Mr. Weaver was anxious to help and I wanted to ease his stress – his perspective was it was July and we did not Ely Boat in the water. We had not been here but a week and I had only been here two full days and we had accomplished other priorities. William hooked up the trailer and Beth, William, and I loaded into the car and drove to the boat ramp at the bottom of the street. We had her in the water and William had her on the boatlift by the time we returned to the cottage. All was good at the cottage – the pontoon and Ely Boat presided over the lakeshore.
I wrapped up the day with a trip into the backyard while Ivy took care of her business and looked upward into the heavens. It was a beautiful starlit night and I could see the Big Dipper plain as day. I never would have been out here at 10:30 at night if it were not for Ivy. It was an incredible sight and reminded me of how small we are relative to the larger parts of our world. I try to do the right thing but sometimes I simply get in the way. It is difficult being human. Tomorrow is Father’s day. We will go to church and celebrate somehow; it will be a family day. Continue reading Day 22: Return to normal, or whatever that is…
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
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
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.