Tag Archives: great days

W^2 – Pont Neuf

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, July 16, 2025

I can’t believe it’s Wednesday,  again. A week ago I was stumbling around on a couple of hours of jet lagged sleep through London. Since then we’ve been around London, traveled by train and car to Swansea and back, taken the second to last train to Paris, and tromped around the French countryside and several iconic places around Paris.

A lamppost on the Pont Neuf, Il de la Cite, Paris, France, July 15, 2025 9:21 PM

We are having fun and getting a lot of walking in. The weather has been beautiful.

I am usually the early riser in the family, but this morning I awoke to an empty apartment. My wife had gotten the jump on me and gotten out while I slept late, much later than I usually do.

fifteen minutes later, Il de la Cite, Paris, France, July 15, 2025 9:36 PM

When the body speaks, I should listen.

Last night after a full day of touring, we rode the Metro back to where we are staying.  We stopped to sit on one of the benches along the Pont Neuf. It was peaceful even with the traffic below on the river, the busy road connecting the Rive Droite with Rive Gauch, and the pedestrians going home, going out, or simply enjoying a moment outside as the day came to a finish.

It had been a full day.

We’ve done so much since my last post Sunday night. Monday we traveled to the countryside and explored then Tuesday we explored the city. I have so much to share, but I need time to process everything – moments and images.

Today is going to be another full day, I know it and I can feel it. Today could be a million and six times better than yesterday, but I have to jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the days COUNT, one day at a time, especially when I am on vacation.

How do you ‘vacation?’ Full throttle, slow and easy, or as it goes?

Sign of the Week – Warning (part two)

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It’s Sunday morning and I am starting the day in the summer office. It’s cool for the moment, but today’s forecast calls for afternoon temperatures to reach a high of 93 (34C).

The Arizona weekend began with an early Saturday morning flight to Phoenix, renting a car, grabbing a bite to eat on the recommendation of a friend before finding the right spot for my ‘signature picture’ which I share with my brothers and a few friends. It’s a silly picture, but fun.

St. Louis – July ’23
the first ‘bad picture’ Seattle – May ’23
on the way to Sunday’s game, Phoenix October ’23
I had to find the ‘right’ cactus, Arizona September ’23

My hotel was within walking distance to the stadium, and I paced myself in the heat. Chase Field has a retractable roof, the first of its kind when it opened in 1998. The roof was closed because it was 100 degrees (38C) late in the afternoon before game time.

The Astros won Saturday night’s game 1-0 (nil) and clinched a playoff berth as did the Diamondbacks with a Chicago Cubs loss. I walked home and grabbed some tacos for dinner at the hotel.

Sunday morning, I woke early and planned the day. The hotel I was staying was architecturally cool. It was constructed in the 1930s and had been a bank before being converted into a hotel and legend had it that the penthouse was once inhabited by Alfred Hitchcock.

coffee Sunday morning in the hotel lobby…an impressive Art Deco building from the 1930s

I had a breakfast date with a fellow blogger, Ingrid from Live, Laugh RV: Our Next Chapter. She and her husband were originally from Chicagoland not far from where I love before moving west, then retiring and deciding to live the RV life. Ingrid’s posts left yearning for travelling in retired RV lifestyle from one location to another while exploring and enjoying being outdoors. Her photographs were always stunning. It was wonderful to meet Ingrid in person, and we were never at loss for something to say over breakfast. After breakfast, we took an ‘ussie’ and I headed back to the hotel to pack and get ready for the last game of the season.

Ingrid and I after meeting for breakfast, October 1, 2023

On the final day of the season, all baseball games begin about the same time Sunday afternoon. I arrived when the gates opened found my seat behind the Astros dugout in hopes of seeking out my favorite player, Maurico Dubón.

Mauricio in the dugout

Continue reading Sign of the Week – Warning (part two) →

Sign of the Week – Warning (part one)

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Last week I jumped into the deep end of the pool and created a new feature for my blog. My decision might have been premature, on the way home Saturday I drove around searching for signs, I didn’t see any, but I haven’t past the church since last week and I decided to take a different path with the sign of the week post, so hang on this week’s sign is from 2023 and there is a story which goes along with it and I have been looking for a way to tell it. WARNING – this is likely to be a LONG READ and I am breaking the post into two parts.

This week’s sign comes from Arizona when I was there for MLB stadium number 28, in September 2023.

Every MLB stadium has signs like this posted around the stadium and smaller ones close to the field. In recent years, stadiums have put up netting along the infield to make being a spectator safer. It’s a good thing, but if you go to the stadium, you do have to be paying attention foul balls often make it over the net and baseballs are hard and there are no screens in the outfield to protect fans. Continue reading Sign of the Week – Warning (part one) →

Sign of the Week – June 21st

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It’s the first FULL day of summer in the northern hemisphere. It’s where I live and where most of the world’s population lives also – it’s approximately a 90-10 spilt! It’s largely due to equity of land distribution – 68-32 spilt in favor of the northern hemisphere.

But this isn’t a geography lesson.

I saw something recently that explained one of the reasons for the decline in cognitive ability in aging adults (and that’s me) is when we stop creating.

MtDC is fifteen years old this summer going on sixteen and I’d like to see it continue to grow.

TRUE – a wonderful thought for the first day of summer, Wheaton, IL Friday, June 20, 2025

I have a blogger friend who ‘s Saturday post is always – Photos of the Week. Each week Wynne includes a sign she has come across in her travels during the week and it is always a good message. She peppers it with images from her family’s weekI look. I forward to her posts each Saturday morning.

Continue reading Sign of the Week – June 21st →

Three things for a Father’s Day morning

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It’s Father’s Day and I have already gotten my gifts. We are at the lake, my daughter is upstairs sleeping after, our son is home with his family after travelling home yesterday, and the dogs are curled up sleeping. It is a quiet Sunday morning, and the lake is still, cool, and overcast.

It’s been almost sixteen years since my father died. For me Father’s Day is a quiet day best spent with family. This year, it’s special as it is my son’s first Father’s Day.

Family at the lake
This past week my son and his family visited us at the lake. It was exciting, fun, and a whirlwind having twin grandies and their parents join us at the lake for several days. It was fun hearing them babble, cry, crawl, eat, and grow.

our first family photo from last summer….
Weston and Hudson!
Weston rides Archie with O’s help
Hudson and my wife….
already printed, framed, and on display…

I remember his first visit as an infant and our daughter’s a few years later. We enjoyed their visit and celebrated several firsts – especially our first three generations photo!

Father’s Day
My daughter gave me my Father’s Day gift a few weeks ago. It is a hummingbird feeder with a camera. I opened the box this past week, installed it, and have been enjoying the feeder and its images since.

I am thankful to my blogging friend Margaret for encouraging me to be a birder with her book’s post from April 2018. I did read the book Where the Poppies Blow, and I am excited to return to Europe this summer and travel through the battlefields of northern France and the Netherlands. Also, I am thankful to the COVID lockdown for accelerating my curiosity and wonder for birds.

Sometimes we simply need a gentle push and I’ve been enjoying since. Continue reading Three things for a Father’s Day morning →

W^2 – portage

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, June 12, 2025

Portage means to change from one waterway to another; more specifically it means to unload one boat and transfer the goods to another boat.

During the annual canoe race in late July, the racers must navigate the Ausable River and ‘portage’ their canoes at several spots along the course. For the racers, it means they have reached a dam along the river, and they must climb out of the canoe, pull their canoe out of the river, and carry the canoe to the river below the dam. Then climb back in and continue paddling down river.

Portage is also used as a name for a city. There are five cities or towns named Portage in the United States – Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

the view from our daughters apartment – a great place to enjoy morning coffee

It also is our daughter’s new home. Last weekend we moved her from her college home to a new home in Portage, Michigan. She took a job and needed a place to live; she chose well. It’s a great apartment (much better than my first) and it has a nice patio for the dogs where they can sniff and explore. It’s also a nice place to sit and sip coffee while watching the dogs – Fern and Nova.

 

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A post shared by Clay Watkins (@makingthedayscount)

This morning finds us at the lake with our son and his family – the grandies. It’s their first visit and it’s the first time we’ve had three generations at the lake in long time. Our daughter will join us late Friday night or early Saturday morning for a full three generational photo. I can’t wait!

It’s going to be an exciting day with maybe a visit to the beach and hopefully some photos. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day or I’ll be left behind. Making the days Count, one day at a time, while watching the dogs, the grandies, or a sunset.

What are you going to watch today?

Three things for the last Saturday of ‘24

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It has been a long time since my last post, rumors of my passing are greatly exaggerated as Mark Twain said or wrote. I haven’t been writing much, though I’ve had ideas and photos I’ve wanted to post, but I have been keeping up with other blogs.

from “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and Horse”

Since my last ‘real’ post in August (Day 64 – Dog Days) I’ve gone back to school (twice), our grandies – a phrase copied/borrowed/stolen from Beth at  I didn’t have my glasses on… -have arrived, and my wife has recovered from her hip surgery, and so much more.

Christmas
I’ve been on break from school for the past week and the week has screamed past. I have been busy, and it was Christmas the first with our grandies. Our daughter and her dog have been home on break, too and it adds to the festiveness as well. We hosted Christmas Eve afternoon and attended Christmas Eve service, it was a good service with the traditional candle lighting and singing of ‘Silent Night’ to close worship. I cannot sing ‘Silent Night’ without thinking of my last Christmas in wife’s hometown ten years ago. For Christmas our daughter roasted the prime rib and for the first time ever, it was perfectly done even though it was almost an hour behind schedule. We enjoyed it at the table before exchanging gifts with our son, his wife and the grandies. I expect the coming week and New Year’s will be as busy and pass as quickly as this past week had.

Grandies
A new role – grandparent was bestowed upon us by our son and his wife. Christmas Eve marked their two-month birthday. Continue reading Three things for the last Saturday of ‘24 →

W^2 – color

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, October 23, 2024

looking straight up from the porch…. my favorite tree in the backyard Wednesday, October 23, 2024 3:46 PM

Yesterday, it rained for the first time in a couple of weeks. It didn’t rain much but our streak of clear skies came to a halt. it’s been a dry summer and early fall.

This morning it was overcast, and I couldn’t see the stars, or Jupiter, when I walked Ivy into the backyard for her morning business. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel well this morning and elected to use one of my sick days. By midday, the clouds had been replaced by a fabulous fall blue sky.

I was on the porch when I leaned back and looked up. This is what I saw.

Amazing, soon these leaves will carpet the backyard before being raked, bagged, and sent away.

The color this year has come late, but it is beautiful.  I am going to appreciate the color before it gone for the season. It’s been a full day, even for a sick day. I am feeling much better, and I’ll be back in front of my kiddos tomorrow. It’ll be a great day, maybe a million and six times better than today, but who knows. In the meantime, I am going to proof, edit, upload, then head to bed. Making the Days Count, when I am sick, when I am well, and every time in between.

How is the color in your world?

W^2 – comet chasing

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Tonight, my wife and I popped in the car to travel a little further west to see the early evening sky. We took off after sunset I’ve been excited about watching sunsets and looking up at the sky since I shared this month’s edition of the Jet Propulsion Lab’s What’s Up: Skywatching Tips from NASA with my kiddos. I’ve added the video below. We are learning about light, it’s that time in the school year.

I was excited when I learned we might be able to see a comet this month if we looked at the western sky close to sunset. That’s what we were looking for, but all we could see was a pretty sunset, Venus and a couple of stars. If I looked the other way, I could see the waxing gibbous moon rising in the eastern sky.

the sunset look east
to rising moon looking west

This past weekend we were at the lake, but we arrived too late Friday night to look for the comet and Saturday and Sunday were cloudy, so I couldn’t look for the comet away from the light pollution of the big city. But I am not giving up. Tomorrow night I’ll be outside to see the setting sun and I am hauling along a pair of binoculars for tomorrow night’s volunteer shift at Loaves and Fishes. Continue reading W^2 – comet chasing →

W^2 – squirrel

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W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, September 25, 2024

This week’s photo isn’t a photo it’s a video of a squirrel with graphics.

A squirrel chirps away at me… Wheaton, IL Sunday, September 22, 2024 8:50 AM

Mr. Squirrel and I met Sunday morning, a little more than an hour after the autumnal equinox. I was sitting in the screened-in porch, the three-season room, minding my own business when Mr. Squirrel began chirping and chattering at me as if to say I was in the wrong place.

I took the video and sent it via text to O at college.

ME: Play this for Fern… let me know what happens

A couple of hours later….

O: She’s looking for a squirrel

I laughed, I figured right. Fern might not be able to recognize a photo or video, but she can hear and understand a mad squirrel.

My wife is doing better, and I am back at school. Three days in. It’s good to be back where I belong in September. Teaching kids and learning new things.

Today was an amazing day. I am hoping that tomorrow is a million and six times better. This morning, I started early and was out the door as the sun was rising. I am going to wrap up the day with this post and press publish. Making the Days Count, one day at a time making time, listening to the squirrel chirp making me smile.

So squirrels chirp at you??