Day 25: Patience

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Patience is a virtue. Sometimes, I just need to be patient. The past couple of days have been days when I need to exercise patience with myself, my family, our puppy, but especially myself. Twenty-five days of summer vacation with fifty-seven remaining, they require patience.

There’s a hundred and four days of summer vacation,
‘Till school comes along just to end it,
So the annual problem for our generation,
Is finding a good way to spend it
Like maybe…
Bowling for Soup “Today is Gonna be a Great Day

The opening of the song says it all…really there are varying days in my family. For me, I will go back to school on Thursday, August 19 that gives me fifty-seven more days. My kids on the other hand start school on Tuesday, August 24, and so do my students, which gives them sixty-two more days of summer vacation so we have a problem how best to spend it….. Continue reading Day 25: Patience →

Day 24: Monday, Monday

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Every other day, every other day,
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
You can find me cryin’ all of the time
Source

In the 1960s, the group The Mamas and Papas recorded a song that really fits today: Monday, Monday. The days are counting and melting away like a Popsicle on a hot summer day. The flavor does not matter, the days are just moving quickly. 58 days remain. Continue reading Day 24: Monday, Monday →

Day 23: Father’s Day

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William, Olivia, Ivy, and I with Beth’s hydrangeas in the background

Father’s day is a difficult day for me. Sometimes I just do not feel like much of a father or rather that I do not provide good example for William or Olivia. Somedays I think I do a good job as a father and then there are the days when I am utter failure as a dad. Or, that it is that easier to be critical rather than coach. Perhaps it is because dad’s passing last year makes it more difficult to think about the role of being a dad. But, ultimately, I think it is because I want to do a better job as a dad and I just do not know how to do it. Continue reading Day 23: Father’s Day →

Day 22: Return to normal, or whatever that is…

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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… →

Day 21: Homeward Bound – part 2

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I did not finish yesterday’s post. What I mean is there is another part to the Homeward Bound and that is Julie getting home. I last saw her disappearing into the Terminal 2 security checkpoint at O’Hare and headed home. I had checked the weather Thursday night before going to bed that the forecast Friday for Chicago was thunderstorms and I checked when we landed and the National Weather Service had issued a severe thunderstorm watch, as the conditions were good for bad storms. It was hot, 90° F, humid, and it made it being outside, no fun. The storms were forecast to hit the Chicago area in early afternoon. I was concerned Julie’s scheduled flight home to Memphis would be affected. Continue reading Day 21: Homeward Bound – part 2 →

Day 21: Homeward Bound

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It is never easy returning to America from Paris. I got up early in the morning, after staying up too late the night before and arrive at the airport by 7:30. It is going to be a long day, I doubt it will be a million and six times better than yesterday, but I am on my way home to Beth, William, Olivia, and Ivy and that is wonderful. I am excited to see them and I know they will have questions about the trip, though they have been following along and reading the blog. Traveling from east to west is always difficult because when you arrive it is only a couple of hours later than when you left and it is a nine-hour flight.  I leave at 10:30 AM Paris time and arrive in Chicago at 12:35 PM. Put in relative terms; my body thinks it is 7:35 PM and I am ready for dinner and bed, soon. Continue reading Day 21: Homeward Bound →

Day 20: My last day in Paris

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Chateau de Versailles, France

The last day the Watkins brothers would be together in Paris.  It was also the twentieth of summer vacation and I to make it count – it was going to possibly be the best day ever. Warren, Julie, and I leave to go home tomorrow morning; Julie and I will be flying together and Warren by himself. David and Trisha are staying an extra day. It was going to be a great day.

We got up early and met for breakfast and coffee in the basement dining room. Bruno was meeting Julie and taking her home for lunch with his wife and afterwards Julie would be spending time with Ritva. I am glad she was able to connect with friends of dad and her while she was here. I know it has not been an easy trip for her from getting around do being in a place that had been special for her and dad. The three brothers and Trish planned to go Versailles and have dinner – somewhere; but that was it. We headed out. Navigating the Metro was a lesson I wanted Trish to learn today as she and David are on their own Friday. I shared with her my secrets: look for connections, figure out where you want to go and backtrack, look at the endpoint – it is the direction you are headed, and lastly – do not be afraid to ask directions. We said to good-bye to Julie, walked to the Metro at Republique, and got rolling toward Invalides where we would interchange to RER C and get out to Versailles Rive Gauche and the Chateau de Versailles. Continue reading Day 20: My last day in Paris →

Day 19: Father’s Day comes early

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In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
From “in Flanders Field” by John McCrea

Today was the day. We drove dad’s cremains to the place where he wanted to spend eternity. The logistics of getting all of us to France at the same time made it difficult and explain how almost eleven months after he passed away, dad finally came home. Julie, Warren, David, Trish, and I came together and came across the Atlantic to bring dad home. Julie had contacted as many of dad’s friends who she had remained in contact since he had retired 1998. Almost immediately a very close friend of dad and Julie’s who lived in Paris, Ritva, said she wanted to join us. There was no discussion; it was a great idea. Ritva would join us. As the trip came closer to happening, Ritva offered to arrange transportation to the area. Two other friends of dad’s also wanted to come; it was wonderful that old friends wanted to be part of dad’s final trip. Continue reading Day 19: Father’s Day comes early →

Day 18: Musee D’Orsay and the Tuilleries

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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

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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 →