Tag Archives: Summer Vacation

Day 4: three days in

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It’s officially the fourth day of my summer. It’s the last day of spring – if you’re a meteorologist, and I am headed back to school for the day.

the local VFW post carries the colors
the local VFW post presents the colors

The first three days of summer vacation – the weekend – flew past, as weekends tend to do, especially summer vacation weekends.

Saturday, W graduated and received his high school diploma.

Sunday all four of us, B, W, O, and I attended the Indy 500 – a family tradition on B’s side. It was our first race since 2012 and the 21st race I had seen. For W, it was # 9, O, – # 2, and for B – I don’t know the count but it is likely close to mine. B’s dad introduced the race to me when I moved to the Midwest in 1991. It was a good race and the winner went down to the wire – and ran out of fuel after the race was finished. It was a great day and we remembered B’s dad who, I am certain, was looking down on us and watching the race, too.

Monday was Memorial Day and O was in the parade. Actually, O is in the band that was in the parade, but that is a small distinction.

After the parade the kids – W and O went to the pool and B and I trimmed Ivy, then gave her a bath. She did not like the bath. It was clear by her howls, but she is clean and trimmed, for now. Continue reading Day 4: three days in →

First day, again…

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It’s the first day of summer, again. I’ve been looking forward to this day, I always do. This year is different, this day has been marked on the calendar for four years, maybe even longer.

my 'decades' selfie - living the fabulous Fifties for a day!
my ‘decades’ selfie – living the fabulous Fifties for a day!

Today, W graduates from high school. He’ll cross the stage and think this is it. Yet, it is only the beginning of a long journey.

Summer is like that. It marks an end, and a beginning. They, the ends and beginnings, tend to blur and meld over time. It’s a reboot, of sorts.

Each year, I have my own reboot. A time to reflect on what I’ve learned and where I’ve been, adjust my bearings, and chart a new course. And, for the last six years I’ve gone back and re-read what I blogged the year before at Making the Days Count dot org.

It had been six years since I began the journey at MtDC.org.

First Day Posts

And my first ever post – precisely one day short of six years ago.

I re-read those posts this morning and as I usually do when I read an old post, I edited a couple of them correcting misspellings, updating bad links, and a finding a new video to replace one which had gone private and was no longer viewable; and I remembered writing the words with uncanny clarity. Continue reading First day, again… →

Back to school…

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School starts Monday. I’m ready, or at least I think I’m ready.

back-to-school
It’s in the wrong order – should be ROY G BIV, but beggars can’t be choosers. image courtesy of Atlanta: InTown online – they’ve been back to school for two weeks!

I was at school working in my classroom Thursday and again, Friday afternoon – I have a list of to dos before Monday morning and my first official day of school – faculty meetings and administrative details before the kids arrive next Thursday.

Thursday, I was busy masking a line from the back of the room to the front of the room so I could paint a 3” wide blue line – I’ll be using it for a timeline 1750 to present. Jose, the head custodian, will paint it this week and I’ll start posting events as they come up in class. I had O with me on Thursday and she organized my project boxes – boxes of supplies groups can use in class. We went school supply shopping Monday and visited her school Tuesday and she got her schedule and organized her locker. She was a big help Thursday and I owe her big time.

Friday I met with my science colleagues and we planned. Afterwards, I made lists and organized a few bins and drawers. I’ll stay late Monday and Tuesday and work on a few more details before having Wednesday all t myself to get the room ready for students on Thursday.

As for today and tomorrow – the days before school starts, the final weekend before school: Today there is o’s softball practice and W’s varsity football picnic. And, of course yard work and my desk.

While I was driving to school yesterday morning, I realized there were several things about school that I missed this summer Continue reading Back to school… →

Beneath the waves

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Yesterday morning O bounded down the stairs and asked,

“Daddy, do you want to go fishing?”

How could I refuse? “Yes, you get the boat ready.” I replied.

the boats, waiting
the boats, waiting

I finished my work and met her on the dock. I remembered the things she had forgotten – life jackets and a camera. We catch and release, but photo first – when we can.

 

still waters beneath my feet.....
still waters beneath my feet…..

 

We pushed off the dock and were on our adventure. Continue reading Beneath the waves →

Tuesday’s Tune: “Blue Skies”

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I am number that third guy who walks into a music store searching for a tune he’s heard, sometimes I’ll have the tune, or maybe a bit of the chorus. Sometimes I have it correct, most times though, I am all messed up. Eventually I get it right and find the song.

Monday morning - nothing but blue skies do I see
Monday morning – nothing but blue skies do I see

Blues skies made an appearance yesterday. It was great to see them after Sunday’s storms. Storms rolled across the lake in waves Sunday afternoon. The first wave came around noon and brought wind, thunder, lightning, and rain. The second wave came a couple of hours later. The third wave came around 5 PM.

B and I had decided that gardening would have to wait for another day and she took off with O and friends to let the kids see a movie and to shop – she needed paint for the downstairs powder room among a few other items. I finished my chores and decided to watch a baseball game upstairs when the last wave rolled through.

5:09 PM Sunday August 2nd

I had my back to the lake Continue reading Tuesday’s Tune: “Blue Skies” →

Inspiration

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Sunday morning at the cottage, Ivy is sleeping, and O is awake upstairs. It’s quiet and peaceful, it’s an inspiration.

We’ve been Up North over a week and each day we’ve been chipping away at our chore list: getting a chore here and a chore there knocked off the list. We have a summer’s worth of ‘to dos’ to accomplish while we are here, there’s always something to do, even when I’d rather read a book or gaze out over the lake. But, we’ve also had time for a boat ride to watch the sunset. Inspiring.

sunset Lake Margrethe - Monday, July 26
sunset Lake Margrethe – Monday, July 26

We were having dinner with friends the other night – they came here for ribs and beans and we were at their place for ham and potatoes last night – we were talking and they shared they had been looking at other cottages around the lake and decided that where we are, they are four houses down the shore, can’t be equaled. I agree. I get up in the morning and look out over the lake, enjoy a cup of coffee and think, dream, or I can sit on the deck and read a book, and the lake lies before me. Continue reading Inspiration →

Today is the day

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It’s Thursday morning and I am the only soul awake. Even Ivy sleeps. She woke when I did, went outside, and came back to the screen door and I let her inside. She is curled up in a ball on the footstool, grandma’s footstool. It’s Ivy’s perch, so to speak. The footstool comes with grandma’s chair, it’s grandma’s morning perch when she is here, too. There’s a marked depression where she lays and it’s now part of the cottage. Last summer, when grandma was up north, Ivy came over to the footstool, put her head on grandma’s leg and looked up, pleading. Grandma held her ground and Ivy retreated to her pad by the door. This morning Ivy jumped up on the stool without asking, though sometimes she does ask but this morning she didn’t.  I did not protest, as I often do, or almost always, she warmed my legs while I sipped my coffee and gazed out across the lake as early morning slipped into day and the lake slowly returned to light.

Ivy and the footstool
Ivy and the footstool

Yesterday was windy and it wasn’t a good day for boating, Tuesday was windy, as well, and taking the kayak out was a struggle, but I did it anyway. Today looks like it will windy and the lake will be choppy for another day. Nevertheless, I have other tasks to do; there is always something to do, to keep busy, some important task that needs to be accomplished. Continue reading Today is the day →

Tuesday’s Tune: MtDC Playlist

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Like most people, music has always been an important part of my life. I tried out for chorus in third grade and didn’t make it, I couldn’t carry a tune, I still can’t but it doesn’t stop me from singing. I played trombone in middle school and gave it up, like scouting and sports and so many other activities I quit in that awkward middle adolescent period between 13 to 16. Music was an important part of growing up – listening to the radio and learning the popular rock and roll songs of the 70’s. I worked in a music store in high school. In 1979, a music store sold records and tapes, the kind of music that was on vinyl.

Pink Floyd's The Wall was released in November 1979 - my senior year
Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” was released in November 1979 – my senior year in high school

At 17, I knew it all. I knew everything. Continue reading Tuesday’s Tune: MtDC Playlist →

Close Up

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a coneflower and a bee - photo by O
a coneflower and a bee – photo by O

We are on the downside of summer break. We’re past the busy part of summer. We’ve been focused on the world up close and when I reflect on what we’ve done

  • I’ve finished two professional development classes. CHECK
  • O’s softball season is complete. CHECK
  • W is finished with summer football. CHECK
  • O is home from church camp. CHECK
  • W’s Eagle project is completed. CHECK
  • W is off to Philmont and hiking in the Sange de Christo Mountains of northeastern New Mexico. CHECK

The busy part of summer ended Wednesday afternoon when the train pulled out of the station; actually it ended when I finished loading the cars and pointed the car east, then north early Thursday afternoon. I could feel the muscles in my neck loosen and relax with each mile away from home.

Sure, we have work to do, there is always something to keep us busy, to keep us on our toes – we have two kids, a house, and a dog and that’s more than plenty.

B has plenty of gardening work and I have to begin thinking of the coming school year. Up close, the work is easy, it’s when I look at what I have to do from afar that it seems monumental and overwhelming. One step at a time. Continue reading Close Up →

Why I blog… Blogging 201

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I started blogging five years ago, it had been an awful school year and I had been out of my comfort zone the entire year. The previous summer I had lost my dad, in fact today is the sixth anniversary of his passing. That summer, the summer of ’10, lay ahead as an open wound with questions about my past, present, and future. Towards the end of the school year, I had experienced a few successes and school ended on a high point for me as an educator and human being.

That school year ended on a Friday – May 28, 2010 – and I came home from school to an empty house. B and the kids had left for the weekend to visit her mom and dad in Ohio. I had stayed home because I had a cough and we didn’t want to get my in-laws sick. I had a lot of time on my hands and thoughts running through my head. The combination is never good and the blog happened somewhere between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. I bought the url – MakingtheDaysCount.com, and dot org, dot net, and dot info. I had wanted MaketheDaysCount.com, but it was taken, already in use. I bought a hosting package and jumped in the blogging water.

theoldcourse2015
The goal initially was to share how I made every day count, in some way and to write about it. Continue reading Why I blog… Blogging 201 →