80's rock and paint fumes

Jenny took the kids to Templeton Center today, and I stayed home and painted the new shelves and actually the whole bathroom. I am actually pretty happy with the way the shelves and the bathroom came out. I also touched up a few things upstairs: the window sills, the doors, etc. It took about five hours to finish up today. I still have a couple other places to paint, but that will have to wait for another day.

It was nice to work at things by myself. Just me and Van Halen... and a tiny bit of Van Hagar. Painting is like weeding a garden, if you let it, it can be somewhat soothing. It was good day, I am proud of how the bathroom came out.

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Swim Lessons

Pieces of conversation I heard the lifeguard (my ex-student) Sean say to Henry as Henry tried to convince him not to take him into the pool.

1. "Ha, you're right Henry, you don't have any blubber, but you still have to go in."
2. "No the water isn't attacking you Henry."
3. "No, I don't know how water striders stay on the surface of the water."

Needless to say, Henry doesn't like his swim lessons. He had a pretty rough day yesterday. Jenny and I took the kids canoeing on Long Pond in Barre. Henry did NOT want to go in the Canoe. He pleaded, and actually cried, and I learned something about helping Henry get over his fears. Don't be convincing, just be calm. I had in mind that archetypal coach figure that calmly faces difficulties and is unshaken, unexcitable. I certainly never had a coach like that. I must have seen an account of one on tv or something. Unemotional, reliable, calm. Its not that he needs me to explain why things aren't scary, he just needs me to be unafraid, and unexcitable. He finally allowed me to get him in the canoe and to progressively go further down the river with him. He said he found it to be calm and nice. Thank god it was different experience than the bikes.

Then, to top off his two terrifying experiences, Henry got that throwup thing that's going around last night. He slept it off and was fine the today... although, he did say he was too tired to go to swim lessons  :)

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prattling on and on...

I am an English Teacher. I didn't know I was going to become one. I went to college to pursue psychology. I didn't even really know I was going to go to college. I spent seven years after high school working pretty awful jobs. It was Jenny who finally suggested that I go to college. It is something that I will never be able to thank her enough for. I remember quite clearly how my life felt like it was closing in around me. I had hit, kind of an end. College, for me, was life. I found myself there in a way that many never do.

I hated school (for several reasons, a couple of them my own fault) and barely lived through it. I never saw college as an option at all. My first class, this one at Worcester State (I ended up at Umass Amherst), was an eye opener. I managed to score a motherly professor... I use motherly loosely as she was kind of fond of sexual jokes.... hmm... how... psychological.  At any rate, I loved the class, walked away with a my first "A" in a class.... possibly ever. That started a chain of classes, part time, then full, that were complete successes. It was something that I can only equate to Harry Potter going from muggledom to Hogwarts. Looking backward, I can see I had always wanted to read the big books.... literature. I tried "War and Peace"... drowned.... I read Melville... loved it, well most of it. then in college I was introduced to  Flannery O'Conner, Shakespeare obviously, Goethe, on and on. Still Steinbeck was my favorite, "In Dubious Battle," So good. I graduated Summa Cum Laude. I earned so much money in scholarships that I didn't have any bills at the end of my undergraduate degree. I was accepted into all sorts of honor societies. (one of which had a secret handshake!!! YES!! Phi Beta Kappa...) This was a life of honor and I was kind of the center of it. I attended one consortium class that served us lunch every day as we pondered the possibilities of college level education and its place in society. If any of you that are reading this were friends with me in High School you will understand how crazy this seems. This is me?!?!

After a high pressure talk with my mentor professor, I decided to teach school. (All the pressure was him trying to talk me out of it.) I got my Masters in one year. Henry was born that year, and I wanted to be working by the time he came around. All of that ego came to a huge crash in school system. I teach well. I have a good reputation and solid rapport with my students. But all of the special treatment kinda goes away in the trenches. I have "ideas" about school based on all of my "experience" and I am not afraid to put them into play. All of this to say that I have opinions, ideas and a slight ego = scary.

Well, that was kind of a tangent. I was going to write about why I have so many books around here.Jenny and I organized the kids' libraries today. I do love when a house is overrun with them... oozing out of every pore.  Henry loves reading. He's into it. He actually reads nonfiction most of the time... but I will convert him in time. Oh yes. Nora isn't as interested, and I feel kind of guilty about that. I read to Henry constantly, not as constant with Nora. I still read to her, but not as much. I am trying to have a half-an-hour reading time at the end of every day. We all read during the day, especially when we take a trip to the library, but this time is devoted, to reading. I am determined to make Henry and Nora's experience in school far better than mine. So far, Henry's has been great. He has had good caring teachers that treat him with patience and respect. I am going to be very involved with his learning for a good long time.

I am a proponent of education. Good education. Education, that changes people. It should be alive, and giving. I want this for Henry and Nora and for all of my students.

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Raining...

Its been raining for a couple of days here. The kids are going a bit stir crazy... actually, to be honest, they're fine. I am going a bit stir crazy. I wanted to get away today, but nothing was fitting the plan. So, we stayed in and watched the olympics: Fencing, Women's volleyball, and a bit of swimming. Henry and Nora actually jumped and cheered when we took the fencing match! After that, popcorn and an Olympic Ceremony inspired, Mr. Bean movie. Henry loved it, Nora didn't really get it all.... can't wait to go outside...

chomp wiggle gulp

Nora lost her first tooth a couple days ago. Unfortunately it was while she was eating a hamburger and she ate it as well. She was so sad. I thought about getting Henry's first lost tooth (we still have it) and telling her that I found it in her hamburger. I just couldn't do it. It was... and I know this is really cheesy...a part of her. So I told her that the tooth fairy (who she already knows is us) gives double for eaten teeth. :)  That calmed her down a tiny bit. Also, I told her that she has more on the way. Today she wiggled the opposing tooth and low and behold... loose. I think Nora has my teeth genes. Mine fell out pretty early too.
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Ent er tainment

For the first time this summer, I actually had some time to myself. Jenny was home, and had the kids. Henry had a playdate with two of his friends at tower hill botanical garden. This gave me a few free hours for the first time this summer. (It was nice). I had a bit of a problem deciding what to do with myself. I remember a while ago, I had an idea for an entry in this blog. I am sure this sounds kind of lame to some of you... actually, maybe most of you, but I have this thing for trees. They're old. Really old. In most cases, they are the oldest living things around here. I have favorite trees. I keep them like keepsakes in my mind. So today, I went and shot some pictures of four of them.

The first was in Rutland, right near the center actually. This one is by an old red house right past the elementary school on the left. Like most of these, this one was a bit more majestic before the ice storm. These old guys took quite a beating and lost a lot of their side branches. My choosing of this tree is really more about the setting as well as the tree. The house has a beautiful field and it sits right in the middle of it, lording over the land around it. It felt a bit awkward taking this picture, fearing one of my students or their family members seeing me snapping pictures of someone else's house... well field really.

Number two is on the way to Spencer center. Again, it sits right near an old farmhouse, like many of these old new england giants, they managed to live this long because of the lack of competition. They grow next to houses and roads and along the stone walls that divide one field from another. The house is for sale now, probably because of the "for sale" sign, selling off all of the land behind the house for development.

Number three is special. For one, its in the middle of the woods. Its a hike in a wonderful Mass Audubon owned sanctuary, Wachusett Meadow in Princeton. It is also huge! Its a giant White Oak, 15 feet around the base. Its over 250 years old. The area seems sacred. The canopy above it clears out to make almost a halo around the tree. This one speaks to me. I took a wrong turn on the trail and ended up inadvertently going up to the summit of brown hill. I have hiked this before, and it is a pretty place. Wachusett Meadow is beautiful and is free to Mass Audubon supporters... go us!

The last one is so much more beautiful than I was able to capture with this picture. It is on the way to West Boylston from Holden. It's, again, by a beautiful old farmhouse. It sits by a tiny pond and seems like something out of Tolkien. Unfortunately, its is absolutely surrounded by poison Ivy. You can see a bit of on the tree to the left. I think its growing all over the big tree too! I guess my memory of it was really from the Fall. At any rate, I guess sitting under its "lofty bows" and reading a good book is out of the question.


Well, there ya go. A big collection of trees.... big exciting life of mine huh? Still, they are beautiful and will remain so far after you and I are gone. Trees. :)


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fields of gold

Today was amazing. Perfect summer day, the weather was incredible, my plans were wide open, except for Henry and Nora's first piano lesson in the morning. They loved it. Their teacher definitely knew how to handle kids. After they finished, the day was just too nice to waste on working on projects, so the kids and I just kinda hung out. I took them and the dog for a walk and Nora asked if she could go run in the fields that line the roads in the center of the park. Normally I would have said no because of the ticks, but the grass seemed so sparse due to the dry spell we were in. As soon as she stepped foot in the field, these waves of grasshoppers shot out and away from her. They were everywhere. I have never really seen anything like it. Everywhere we stepped clouds of grasshoppers would jump out of the way. The entire field was completely infested with them. I tried to capture it in a picture, but it doesn't really do it justice, it was, and I don't use this loosely, magical.

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Man's World

I am not one of those handy man type of guys. My dad is. These two facts lead me to massive amounts of inner turmoil. I am pulled between the guilt of not making it myself and the fact that I can't really make much myself. I can make things, but I am not a natural at it. I actually really like the process, given that I know what I am doing, and that I have enough time to wrap my head around the whole project. I usually take on a couple big projects during the summer. This summer's list is to finish several indoor projects: painting the bathroom and stairway walls, building the shelves for that bathroom closet area upstairs, touching up a couple areas upstairs etc... and building either front steps, back steps and a patio area, or building a shed. All of this is very over my head. I honestly need to watch youtube videos of the whole process in order to even feel like I can attempt it. It is... to some degree... terrifying. If we had lots of money, I wouldn't think twice about hiring someone who actually know what they are doing and having them take on the big projects. But... no dough, so, here I go.

I need a sanctuary place for my mind to be at ease; someplace, that is organized and clean. It used to be my desk. It was off limits to people (Jenny) just stacking things there. Now, my desk is in my class and is accustomed to hundreds of teens throwing papers on it everyday that need correcting. Currently, in our house, my space is my downstairs work area. This is problematic, because the entire school year it sits down there kind of collecting dust and odds and ends that Jenny throws on it when she doesn't know what to do with something. (This about kills me, and is something that I think she takes secret pleasure in doing.) In short, it gets pretty scrambled down there, and I can feel it in the back of my head. Its like my head has some sort of connection to the place, and when it is messy, I can't seem to think as well.

Every summer, at the beginning of my "doing" phase, I have to clean it, top to bottom, completely spotless. Once its there, I can go. I cleaned it yesterday, and built shelves for the bathroom today. On to painting next. Then, well... then to consider the shed. Its the roof that's throwing me. I have built walls, and floors and even ceilings. I have framed doorways, and windows (all with the help of my dad of course) but the roof.... scary. Well I am sure there is somebody that built one on youtube..........

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for making out and entertaining children

We just got back from the drive-ins. Its late. 12:42 to be exact. I have to mitigate how often we attempt this annual event. We do go every year, usually only once or twice. I have a couple of solid traditions that go into this thing:

Tradition number 1: peanut butter wafer cookies. Its the only time we eat them and its the major reason that I agree to going.

Tradition number 2: some sort of chips.

Tradition number 3: Pillows and blankets, and normally pajamas. Well... for the kids at least. I remember loving being in my PJ's and going to drive in's... why is this feeling awkward...

That's really it for the traditions, oh other than either suffering through plague levels of mosquitoes, or rebreathing everyone's air in a sealed up car. I choose the rebreathing while occasionally turning on the car and blasting the AC. We saw the new Ice Age, which Jenny surprisingly enjoyed, and Brave. They were both ok. The kids sat in the front passenger seat, and Jenny laid in the back. We also found out that our new Mazda 5 isn't the best for watching movies in, too low and... supine.

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Way to go

I took off the kids training wheels about a week ago. Today, I thought it would be a great idea if I took them to center of town to teach them how to ride. It didn't go very well. Both kids were in tears. It is such a hard balance to cut: pushing them past their fears inspiring confidence, or, being a completely overbearing jerk and doing permanent damage to your kids by not relenting when they are terrified. Today, I think I cut the line a little too near the latter.

Henry wasn't scared. He said he was, but he was really just very upset and way out of his comfort zone. I remember this. I remember feeling afraid of things, like learning how to ride a bike or how to dance, or getting a job for the first time... I remember feeling out of my element to the extent that I was terrified. It was something that I had to work through... on my own. If I had thought more clearly I would have remembered that last bit a lot better. The picture was taken pretty early on in the whole event. Actually, Nora finally gave up and Jenny let her. I didn't let Henry give up. I kept with him, while he was crying and peddling. I told him he had to balance on his own for at least one "mississippi." He pleaded over and over and I told him I wasn't listening. One second of balancing and we were done. I ran with him, held on to him, over and over. I think it took about half an hour.

I was caught in this whole circle of not letting the bike get the best of him. I feel pretty bad about the whole thing. He forgave me for not listening to him. I always listen to him, it is central to our trust. He tries new things, but at a pace that is much slower than I tried for today. I told him why I wanted him to keep going and I think he understood. It didn't end horribly, or very well either. Just one of those grey area days that you hope isn't something he's going to remember when he is in college and writing about his childhood.

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things we choose not to do

My kids are getting older. When I was a kid, there wasn't a whole lot to be involved with. That might have been for a couple of reasons: A: I lived in Templeton. B: I wasn't really a group sport kind of kid. I did play some things: football, baseball... but they all ended up being kind of awful experiences. Kids now have some serious choices available to them. Henry just finished Fencing lessons (not building them). Nora takes dance. Henry is in cub scouts. Nora starts soccer in a couple of weeks. Henry took soccer and T-ball, and football. We just gave him a trial lesson at Holden Martial Arts. Seems like a great place, but we decided not to do it.

I know many people involve their kids in tons of activities and it works great for them. I just can't see burying them in activities.  Henry, for one, doesn't really love sports. He likes the exercise, but his attention span for sitting around a baseball field isn't really that long..... at all. We are big on letting them choose their own things, except for music, they will all take music lessons of some sort, but as far as what they take up otherwise, its pretty much up to them. Nora loves dance, and I love that she loves it. Henry likes to explore things and look up things in books (he was just looking up what tetnis looks like under a microscope tonight. He is OK with fencing. I think Martial arts would be great for him, but Holden wanted him twice a week. I couldn't do it, not with what I know about him. Later maybe, when he is older. But as it stands, we go out as a family every Monday, he has boy scouts on Wednesday. He has had homework every night since first grade. I think he needs his space. He needs to pursue what he wants, not what he is being told to. He will get enough of that in school.

I am still looking for a martial arts place to take him to. Ideally, it would be somewhere that centers on focus and meditation, clarity of mind, singleness of purpose.  Oh, and probably, one night a week would be a great start as well.

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caught

I woke at 5 this morning to my bedside light on. My best guess is that Nora woke sometime during the night and came in to our bedroom to make sure we were still there. She then went to sleep in Henry's room. She denies it, but I am right.

I was up early so I took Chaucer for a walk. I got this picture for Henry. We have been waiting for the crab spiders to come out. This one's early, they normally show up in August.

Hard to get

Rich Mullins was a man. I think that is how he would want to be remembered, and that is why I love him. He died in a car accident a few years ago. He was a "Christian" musician. I call him that because his music was predominantly sold in Christian music stores. I don't trust Christians a whole lot, not because they are bad, but more because they aren't trustworthy. They are always looking for ways to say things are better than they are, or making up reasons where none exists. And if they aren't doing that, then they are blaming others for not doing that. Rich Mullins was the opposite of that. He was just a man and because of it, an amazing one.

I have been thinking about one of his songs now for days..."Hard to Get." Beautiful and sad, he wrote it just a bit before he died. I found this video of him preforming in someone's living room on youtube. In it, he says something that I find profound. "One of the things that continues to blow me away is how [the scriptures] say all the wrong things. Your Sunday school teachers ain't gonna tell you what the scriptures mean. Cause ah... We want God to inspire confidence, and what God wants to inspire is fear. We want God to give us all kinds of assurances, and what God wants to give us is faith. And we want to become healthy and prosperous and unaffected by the world, and He wants us to encounter the world in such a way as he did, which is a way that will eventually kill us. So we ask for all the wrong things and we get all the wrong things. That's why I think its hard for a rich person to get into heaven, because they've been going the wrong direction for so long, its hard to turn around."

We live in this violent world, and its hard. I am desperately afraid of losing the ones that I love, or having them lose me in some awful way. This is no small thing, and to make light of it, or it's effect on the people that live in this world seems so wrong to me. I hate the whole "God has a plan" mentality, because if it was God's plan for Molly Bish to be murdered by some terrible person, then that is not a good God in my mind. People die of diseases and their kids are left here, hurt beyond healing, and we see it happen and are hurt as well. And what is left is a world veering from injury, desperately trying to avoid horror after horror. Diets, security systems, door locks, medicines, vitamins, wealth, good neighborhoods, Christianity has somehow become a guide to the good life, and those who fall short are cast out for fear of contamination... an insult to injury that is so commonly committed. Why can't we all just say that we don't understand why all of this happens here and be done with it? Why can't we just comfort those who mourn without trying to find their faults? In my understanding of God, He came here to suffer and find us in our suffering, not to create ways for us not to. What kind of God does that, and why would He? What is there for us to find in all of this?

This world is a violent, beautiful place. We love so strongly here. We tie ourselves to others with commitment that must transcend death, because it has suffered through an amazingly traumatic life and survived. And the terrible drama of it all is that we are still taken from each other. In the face of our promises and oaths and desperate need. We are taken in violence and sickness and in turmoil and sometimes in peace. But we are all taken, one by one. How can anybody look at that and then blame the people that are suffering for their own actions. My only hope is in a God that loves so strongly and with such abandon, that he can see into our hurt and understand us and our misgivings, even about Himself.

Here are the lyrics to what has been taking up room in my head for the past few days. I will put a link up to the song as well. The quality is low because it was taped on a tape recorder and he died before it was able to be produced.

You who live in heaven 
Hear the prayers of those of us who live on earth 
Who are afraid of being left by those we love 
And who get hardened by the hurt 

Do you remember when You lived down here where we all scrape 
To find the faith to ask for daily bread 
Did You forget about us after You had flown away 
Well I memorized every word You said 

Still I'm so scared I'm holding my breath 
While You're up there just playing hard to get 


You who live in radiance 
Hear the prayers of those of us who live in skin 
We have a love that's not as patient as Yours was 
Still we do love now and then 

Did You ever know loneliness 
Did You ever know need 
Do You remember just how long a night can get? 
When You were barely holding on 
And Your friends fall asleep 
And don't see the blood that's running in Your sweat 

Will those who mourn be left uncomforted 
While You're up there just playing hard to get? 


And I know you bore our sorrows 
And I know you feel our pain 
And I know it would not hurt any less 
Even if it could be explained 

And I know that I am only lashing out 
At the One who loves me most 
And after I figured this somehow 
All I really need to know 

Is if You who live in eternity 
Hear the prayers of those of us who live in time 
We can't see what's ahead 
And we can not get free of what we've left behind 
I'm reeling from these voices that keep screaming in my ears 
All the words of shame and doubt blame and regret 

I can't see how You're leading me unless You've led me here 
Where I'm lost enough to let myself be led 
And so You've been here all along I guess 
It's just Your ways and You are just plain hard to get
~Rich Mullins




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The Day After

So, I forgot my camera at my friend Amy's house the day before yesterday..... awful. I can't believe how aggravated I was. I have really grown accustomed to having it with me, due to this blog. I pretty much carry it with me all the time. I was in Gardner this morning and pretty much killing myself because I didn't have it with me. Crazy. So, This entry is for Monday. I don't have one for yesterday or today because of my freaking missing camera.... grrrr. But I am back in business for tonight and tomorrow.

Monday, we get together with a couple of other families, I know I have talked about that before. We have food, we talk, its nice. Tonight I brought a bunch of summer rolls that I made. They were in the new fine cooking magazine that I have been getting for over ten years. Henry is complete obsessed with egg rolls, spring rolls, and now summer rolls. They were kind of intensive to make, but they were fun and light and the three dipping sauces that I made: Sweet and Sour, Spicy peanut, and sweet hot oil, were really good and fun to dip into.

So, that's my recap. Glad to be con-camera. Back to it.

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My Birthday

I am 41. I never thought I would last this long. Seriously, I used to pray that I would make it past 30. I think my Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome thinger really played a big part of that. Something about your heart speeding up to super-human levels and going off into crazy rhythm patterns at random times gives you something of a death fixation.

My birthday was actually kind of wonderful. As I grow older, life is becoming less and less about myself and more about the people around me. Its nice. Its definitely a product of having and and truly caring about my kids. Such a strange thing, this transition of life moving away from myself... god I hope its not a transition to death... slowly losing yourself into oblivion. I chose my own gift this year, it makes it a lot easier on Jen. She kind of stresses out about those kind of things. I chose a nice pan and some silverware....slipping into oblivion. Whatever, I do a lot of cooking around here, and I wanted a nice searing pan... we have all nonstick, and I needed one that could put some crunch on some chicken skin! 

Jen made this awesome cake that she has made for the last couple of years, pineapple on the bottom, cream cheese on the top. Yum. I made lobster rolls and a cold corn salad. My parents stopped over for a tiny bit with half a blueberry cake, that was really good. The McRells came over on a whim and ate with us. Nice, relaxed, lobster, no drama, just life. It was great. 41 is actually feeling pretty good.  Now if I could lose this weight. :)

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Keeping it going

Henry and Nora are both so curious. I have this solid idea of what learning should be. School sometimes gets in the way of that. I try, really, with everything in me, to not let it get in the way in my class, but things like the social and academic ranking of grades and such are unavoidable to some degree in public school. Its a shame really. But that is what summer is for. In the summer, I kind of unschool my kids. I think hard about their interests and try to customize their learning throughout the months they have "off". Tonight was like that. I want Nora to learn how to print better. She isn't really interested in that. So, I made it interesting. It was a treasure hunt, decoding the riddle to hunt down the hidden piece of candy. She loved it and begged for another. Its all about the package. Learning can be amazing, or a complete bear. She sounded out the words, printed out the first letter and pieced together the puzzle. Henry then begged for me to do one for him. The picture is of Henry's puzzle. There was a piece of candy hidden somewhere in the house. He showed some critical thinking and worked out the answer. I think this is a game that we will be playing in the days to come.
Go Learning!

Crustaceans from the sky

I am not spontaneous. There, Ive said it. I used to be. Actually, I used to refuse to make any sort of plan whatsoever. I used to hate planning anything. But life gets more serious as you get older, and in my case at least, most of that spontaneity has to give way to paying bills on time and planning lessons and getting Henry to fencing and so on and so on. Today just materialized out of no where. I was pooped from our trip to Niagara and looking forward to a low-key day. Henry, pulled the trigger on a play date with one of his best friends, Kalinna. Nora, then got totally upset and we hunted around for someone to come over to play with her, namely, Cora. Then the day seemed to take off and we wound up going to our friends, the McRell's house for lobster and corn. 

I know this sounds like a typical summer day to some of you, but it really isn't for me. It was nice to let the day unravel and spend some time with friends. 

Niagara Falls....Slowly I Turn

So today was basically a huge drive. Almost eight hours of driving... sheesh... and I had the maniacal idea that I didn't want to stop at all. We started our long drive with one last attraction, The Bird Kingdom. It was resplendent with zillions of birds. I kinda have a thing for birds... But they aren't as awesome when in captivity. Henry liked the poison dart frogs, Nora was generally happy about the whole thing. Not a bad quick stop. Oh, and I made friends with this Victoria Crowned Pigeon. He apparently decided I need grooming.... a common enough thought... And we were off.

We did stop, several times, for bathroom breaks and one very quick lunch, but that was that. I rigged up my iPad, with a bungie between our two seats, as a portable movie theater, complete with surround sound due to the port into the car speakers, and the kids got to enjoy, and we got to "listen to" two movies. um....Tin Tin and Disney's Hercules. I gotta tell you, that worked even better than I thought it would. They were lulled into a time-travel type of incubated sleep and we were able to fly down the New York Throughway without pause. Not too bad.

I am happy to be home.

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Niagara 2

Today we hit the attractions. The restaurant in our hotel was flooded with people all scrambling after their scrambled eggs. Huge masses of people all vying for their morning sustenance. I managed to grab some pretty awful eggs and some pretty great home fries. The restaurant, in keeping with the hotel's seeming thesis, had incredible views of the falls. A white washed tomb of tourism. All show and no go.  But we ate and were off for the day into Clifton Hill.

Clifton Hill is a street devoted to kitsch. Ripley's believe it or not resides there, as well as many many other touristy type of attractions. It all seemed to me like a county fair on steroids. The first place we went, Bronto's Adventure Playland was pretty awful. It was basically a McDonald's Play Place with a very small Veggie Tales thing way in the back. I was scared for what the rest of the day would hold. But we managed to forge through all the muck and get our hands on some solid attractions that held up to their price tag, more or less.

We hit the dinosaur mini-golf, which was kind of awesome and would have been more so if the kids could have held it together through the entire thing. Jenny gets pretty competitive during these kinds of things and I was really wanting to devote most of my attention to putting her in her place... She, of course, won. The dinosaurs were actually really well done and the volcano spouted fire from the top... what more could you ask for. Note the golf ball that some body threw in the T-rex's mouth... nice shot!

We then went to the Sky wheel. This was everything it promised to be. We went around and around, stopped at the top. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I am very VERY afraid of heights and manmade contraptions, but I held my mouth shut, clung to the seat and enjoyed the view. Henry, who is really like me in all things but looks, actually enjoyed the ride and found it in his words "peaceful". Thank God.... one of my weaknesses to scratch off of the list.

(Me looking especially Glimli-ish)

However, the next ride we went on, the ride that I thought he would love most of all, the Ghost Blasters ride, was not one of his favorites. I mean come on, you shoot through this "G" rated haunted house and blast the crap out ghosts with laser guns!! But, the haunted aspect of the things proved too much for my little guy, and he pretty much just clung to me the the whole time. :(

Nora and Jenny went on this XD Theater thing. Its the kinda thing that makes me want to show the world what I have just eaten. So Hen and I sat this one out, Henry out of trauma recovery and me out of preservation of nutrients. Last but certainly not to be ignored was the Movieland Wax Museum. Henry posed for his best Rambo face and Jenny sat with the president. Nora got completely freaked by the end due to some sort of horror themed ending, which we balked on before it got too traumatizing. That about did it really.

 We walked around for a while. The trip to and from Clifton Hill was about a half an hour walk each way, something that we all enjoyed as it would its way past incredible views of the falls. We ate at an Italian place that had really good food, but Jen wasn't in the mood for Italian, alas, egg drop soup. As we were walking back a retiring tight rope walker decided it would be a good idea to walk from the top of the Skylon Tower to a neighboring hotel. He, I guess, is going to be doing this for the next couple of weeks and then fading into retirement. He was pretty high up there.
Back to the hotel for a European Tourist packed dip in the pool and one more night of high priced and high up views.

Niagra 1

Today we left our mid-way-stop Howe Caverns. It actually turned out to be pretty much a middle of the way stop! I woke up at about 5:00... typical... and went out into the field across from our hotel. The view was really beautiful. At that hour in the morning, the sun was just peeking over the rim of the valley behind me. Morning and evening sun are my favorite: yellows and warmth... beautiful. I even saw a rainbow, which would be a precursor to things to come. Eventually, Henry got up and stumbled out of the hotel room. I looked back at the sound of the door, and there he was standing, all squinty eyed and morning faced. "Dad.... could you help me across the street?" "Be right there Henry." It was actually a small parking lot, but this behavior is much improved over the non-acknowledgment of the existence or roads and cars in general. We walked down to a small herd of cows that left as we approached. As we walked back up, Henry careful to not step on the thistles hidden in between the grass tufts (he was wearing sandals) A small deer shot out of the woods and ran up to this yellow-shirted girl back up at the hotel. It must have come within a few feet of her. Then it took off behind the hotel. I had noticed the girl previously, actually, down near the cows, which had come amiably up to her. I think some people are just animal magnets.

We left pretty early as we had a four plus hour trip through New York up to Canada. The trip wasn't to bad. The Canadian border police were nice enough actually bordering on lackadaisical. I was told that the Canadian side of the falls was superior to the American, and I have to tell you, I agree. The big deal is that the Canadian side actually faces the wall of the falls. The American side sites behind it. It makes a pretty dramatic difference. Also, the Canadian side is so well manicured and filled with old parks and such. Very pretty. We stayed in a nice hotel, the Embassy Suites. It was pricey, but the view was pretty breathtaking. This is the view from our hotel window on the 37th floor. If you aren't into views though, go with something cheaper. Every amenity the hotel could throw at us, minus breakfast and a mid-day snack, was incredibly expensive and therefore not worth the trouble. A perfect example is the bottle of Evian water that was sitting on the top of the small bar in our room. An insignificant little, printed paper  sign said that if I opened the bottle of water my room would be charged $9.00's. IT was a plastic bottle of water. No kidding. There were also four "Complimentary" tokens left on our desk below which the sign instructed us to use in the pop machines in the hallway. Each token was for one soda, and each soda costed three dollars, to be billed to our room if used of coarse. It was enough to make me paranoid and to drive Jenn almost completely out of her mind. She didn't really enjoy the trip, and one of the reasons was because of the mindless cost of seemingly everything.

I enjoyed it though, inspire of the nit-picky things, because of the real grandeur of the falls. Today we got to our hotel room and stared at the falls till night, with a brief break for a less than average supper at Margaritaville. The kids got the bed closest to the window.
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Two things of note

Well, one mini-vacation accomplished. Of course in this house, mini-vacations are considered standard vacations, but, thus is the way of a teacher's salary. We went to Howe Caverns today. We have actually gone there before, a couple of years ago. It only takes a little less than three hours to get there... totally dooable for an, adventure-seeking, day-tripping, young family. The caverns are pretty amazing: over 150 feet under ground, carved out by a downward driving river. Its kitschy, and a bit old-world, like those old "Country Inn's" in New Hampshire that have no real reason for existing. You can tell that this was built in the 20's and was built around some strange anomaly. The town around it hasn't really grown in industry at all. So there is this one thriving spot, in the middle of some amount of poverty. The Schoharie Valley, in which the cavern runs under, is, in some places, breath taking. It is agrarian and feels as timeless as you could imagine.

Henry and Nora completely loved today. The cavern is always 52 degrees, so they had to wear sweatshirts. Jenny forgot hers, so she froze, I have....extra reserves of "insulation" and was fine in shorts and a t-shirt. Even if you aren't into kitschy, kinda zany, vacations, the cavern itself is nothing if not impressive. Real stalagmites/stalactites. Really deep under ground. Very fun for a family with young kids. They even have an adventure tour that allows for real spelunking in the less explored areas of the cave. (I think that was new this year). This was of course, a bit too much for our family, so we stayed on the brick walkway, but I know everyone really liked our time there.

I also personally have had strep throat for the last four days. I also rocked out an "Under Oath" song publicly while having strep throat. The doctor called today to tell me that the strep test I had a few days ago came back positive. Super... guess I should start taking antibiotics. I think I was just beating it naturally, well hopped up on motrin to keep the fever down and the woozy feelings at bay. I think I also may have lovingly given it to Jen as well. :) I am a generous man.

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outathegame

I have been sick for the past couple of days.... I thought the flue flew north for the summer?!? I am feeling better, so I thought I should post the last pictures I took. (none for the past two days though)

I woke up Wednesday morning to Henry tented on the couch. This is the first time this has happened, and it led me to thinking about his teen years. Actually, before we start in on that at all, let me say that Henry didn't spend the night on the couch. He got up early and fell back asleep. No forgotten sons at night on the couch...

So, Henry is 8. That's edging up on teen years. OK... fine... it isn't really, but I am dreading... not dreading, that's too harsh of a word... sincerely wary? of them. I know that they can kinda go either way. I hope, with everything in me, that Henry's, and Nora's for that matter, teen years are smooth. I have had so many students and have seen about equal divisions of bad experiences and good. I think that parenting has something to do with that, but not everything. In my head, I know that rebellion is a good and natural process. It is essential in developing individuality, and without it, people turn out kinda weird. (I think we all have encountered a few of those types of people). And in my head, I am ready for that process when it begins. Right now, Henry still wants to like all of the same dinner foods that I do. (I love that) He still sees me as the judge of good and bad things. And while that is good, and I very much love it, if he remained that way through his teens, he wouldn't be his own. I just hope he doesn't hate me too much.

I hold on tight. I know I do. It has everything to do with my own experience. I see kids fly everywhere every year, and I desperately want Henry to choose the right paths. I want both of them to CHOOSE the right paths... and that is going to take some letting of his choosing. There are so many things that can go wrong here. Drugs, sex, violence, poor self image,  I have seen the effects of all of these things every year. Also, I have seen kids rise above it all, care about other things than themselves. Its almost a hero's errand in middle school to care about others more than yourself. I want both of my kids to somehow escape those years unscathed. We debated homeschooling for a while specifically for that reason. We eventually came to terms about sending them through the gauntlet, to let them change... to have them bounce socially through that  place, as long as things didn't get bad. I still reserve the right to take them out if I think it would benefit them. I must say that so far, Henry's experience has been great, and that is almost completely due to the excellent teachers and assistants that he has had. Still, eyes wide open, that is how we decided to allow them both to go through.

Both of my kids are getting older. I want, more than anything, for them to know how important they are, and to know that it is in finding the importance of others around them that will truly find all that this life can offer.

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Independence Day

I figured I would just load up a bunch of pictures from the parade today. Parades, cookouts... its all good.
Instead of throwing up (nice visual) a bunch of pictures, I decided to put them into a little movie... no big deal... nice and short.

the third of July

Up to the center of town, kind of early, around 7ish to sit casually in front of the band (country... and that's is ok) and watch the people mill around. I remember when Chuck and Mud, and the Jolly Coppershmits used to play at the center. I guess I kind of miss that towny feel, but it was great anyway. I sat and looked around, and for the first time really, was kind of shocked at the amount of people that I knew. I think it might have been the diversity of people that I knew really. I sat next to the librarian to my left, and several parents of kids that I have taught to my right, actually, kind of everywhere. I also knew a whole bunch of other people from Henry's cub scouting. I am not social. I don't go to parties... actually ever if I can help it. I don't even like to go to playdates or birthday parties with my kids. I am not social. So it is a very strange thing in my mind for me to know all of these people. It's...........nice...... a little. Maybe even a bit more than a little.

My family was all around and friends came later that night. Henry found his beloved Celia, who I think might be becoming his best friend as well as his cousin. The Silvas came later and sat near us. Fourth of July, for me, might be exactly what our founding fathers would have wanted, its about being close to my family and friends, along with an occasional flash and boom in the sky. David and Asima's (the Silvas) kids are so incredibly cute. Yasyn sat right next to Nora and Megan and they chatted and screamed and oooo'd throughout the entire fireworks.

Rutland's fireworks are short and a bit towny, but I love them for other, better, reasons.

In the ground

Well, I finally planted my garden. Shocked? Overcome with pity for my late start this year? I think it will be ok though. I planted a bunch of short time crops that should do just fine. Here is the run down. Row one: sage( still there from years past) and Cilantro
two: two types of carrots (yellow and red)
three: two other types of carrots (purple and normal)
four: rutabagas, parsnips and turnips
five:  beets
six: radishes and dill
seven: cucumbers ( I don't have a lot of hope for these cukes seeing how late I planted this year, but who knows)

Its all in, and I am happy with that.

I am also getting some returns on my gooseberries this year. I planted last year and had to wait a year for them to fruit. I have pink and green this year. I remember these from when I was a kid and used to walk down the road from my Aunt Paulette's house. They used to grown on the stone walls on the dirt road by her neighbor's house. They should be ripe within a couple of weeks.

This morning I walked Chauc, scared up some rabbits, and stumbled across old smokey again. He had a new camera with him, that was causing all sorts of problems. Still, he had managed to take close up pictures of a bobcat and a flurry of birds I had never seen before, plus a sick fox that came up to him for help. He is amazing. He said today that he felt like the birds followed him around. I totally believe it. While we were standing there, this little Yellow Throat kept chirping around (they are typically pretty shy) and all of a sudden, its babies come out of nowhere. One dove headlong falls into the tall grass at our feet and the other stays aloft clinging to a branch over head. This never happens, but as long as Smokey's around, who knows what could happen. We walked around for a while and he kept showing me pictues of things he's taken photographs of. He is a sweet old guy. He always has a treat for Chaucer. Chauc actually sat at his feet for a while while we were talking. I like running into him now and then. Here are some pics from my walk.