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.

gumption

Saturday was the fist of the Fourth of July festivities in Rutland. I love the fourth of July in Rutland. I actually am sure not to schedule vacation plans or anything else around it. I am really a transplant when it comes to this tradition. Jenny's family has lived in Rutland forever. They have a certain place they always sit in the center to watch the fireworks, a place to watch the parade, a place to avoid the horrendous parking and traffic... not really, I think that last one might be kind of unavoidable. I know a lot of people scoot off to boston to watch the fireworks. I've even seen them in DC. But there is something truly pleasing about knowing where I will be and even to a degree, who will be around me every year. Honestly, and this sounds about as old man as it gets but, if someone were sitting in my spot, I would be mad.

This Saturday held a few events, the junior olympics, the road race, and the lip-sync contest. I didn't make it for the first two, but I did go to the last this year. Jenny actually volunteered at the burger trailer for the boy scouts. She really is a trooper about this whole cub scout thing. She is a den leader and supports their effort when many, many, many other parents see it as an hour of babysitting time once a week. Trust me, as a teacher, I know how that whole thing goes. Parents really need to be more involved in what their kids are doing and less about seeking "self-time." Jenny is pretty cute as a burger slinger. Although greasy, she has admitted that she kind of likes it.

The lip-sync is truly something to behold. There were, of course, thousands of my students strewn about the place. I enjoy that. I really do. I know many teachers that would run the other way screaming, but I really like to be around my students and their families. So, I sat watching overly energetic preteens, and a few overly ambitious teen-agers lip-sinc their hearts out to a narrow variety of similar sounding songs. The first few acts were tentative... they got up there, moved their arms, shrugged their shoulders around and nearly moved their mouths to their sugary pop music of choice. Then, when the thing really got rolling, thats when the whole thing took on a life of its own. Kids started showing up in full regalia. Shining yellow tutus, flashing blue sequined leotards, full blown costumes. And the kids themselves seemed to be loving it. There were five-year-olds breakdancing, this girl that had to be younger then four, flailing her arms and body in energetic attempts at choreographed dance moves, groups....battalions... of pre-teens that one could tell had practiced for hours in front of their bedroom mirrors. They were dying for the opportunity to be up there. Even Henry got caught up in the spirit of the whole thing and asked if he could perform Queen's anthem, "Another One Bites the Dust" next year. Go ahead Henry... honestly, if you can work up the gumption, have at it.

I am the antithesis of all of this angst. I have not a single bone in my body that craves that stage. I never have... never. I don't even understand the notion of wanting it. I can't imagine the thoughts that prompted that yellow and black polka dotted girl to get up there and shake herself around. I loved watching it. Well, in complete honesty, at times I couldn't. I just couldn't take the empathetic pressure of watching these kids flap around for the greater good. Other times though, it was a lot of fun to watch. I don't know what on earth I will do if Henry actually carries through on his "Biting the Dust" plans. I think I would grind my teeth to dust. My Henry, dancing to Queen's death anthem, on stage, trying to convey the violence in the song to the audience. I know that's why he loves it too. "another one's gone and another one's gone." Would he throw punches in some air-karate fight? Yes, he would probably throw punches in some air-karate fight. I would let him do it though. Because he wanted to. And I would watch in terror at the entire time he nervously flailed himself around. Gah.... the things we do as parents.

db

A promise I can't keep

We were busy today. I had a lot to do and the kids were coming with me because Jen was working. Truth be told, I usually take the kids with me anyway, but they had to come today, there was no way out. I have been wrestling with this printer (an issue that is finally resolved) and I had to return it today and wrestle with a new one. The round trip for this whole ordeal was about three hours... a long time to be in a car to be sure.

I told the kids that if they were good in the store, I would take them to Wooberry afterward. So, we went into Best buy (fifty dollars cheaper for the same printer btw than Staples) and I asked a lot of questions to a fairly knowledgable sales person. About mid way through, the kids started building up into this wrestling match. Playful, good natured, but definitely not well behaved. This culminated in them both falling on the floor as Nora completely shoved Henry into the sales guy who politely laughed as I growled at them to stop.

So, now, dilemma: Two kids, who, for the most part were very well behaved and were very patient with me and my schedule today, that violated the one set rule that I gave them regarding their reward. I am not one of those parents that bends all the time. I understand boundaries and our need for them (I do teach 8th grade after all). So, no Wooberry. The problem is this, I want to take them there, not because I especially want to go there, but because I know they want to got there. I want to do good things for them.

Grace

is a very hard thing to incorporate into parenting, and yet it is so incredibly vital. Not wishy washy parenting, but the notion that Love trumps Justice. This is a very big thing to me. It is my central belief in God. It is how I believe God looks toward me, to everyone for that matter. He loves us above all the things we do. How does that translate into parenting? It's a hard thing.

I want them to know how to find success in this world. I want them to understand how the rules work and to see themselves as successful in fulfilling the expectations set before them. And yet, I want them to know that if they fail that I am not going to stomp them into the ground. That I will still extend every good thing I can toward them.

This is the opposite of my career. I am so strict regarding late work... no makeups, no extra credit, no excuses. I want my students to know the parameters of what is good practice and what isn't. I want them to be the most successful students at their high school/colleges. I do that by enforcing the rules and helping them to meet them. So, no Wooberry.

But, I have this very deep belief, a philosophy really, that love is supreme and that every good thing I have stands directly opposed to what I deserve. Not that I am the worst guy in the world, just that, the really big things, like love, faith, hope, all of the things that people can't attain through good behavior, all of what I would consider to be the most important things, all of those things were just given to me. So yes Wooberry.

On the trip back from the store, I explained to Nora and Henry, that because of their behavior, they didn't deserve to go to Wooberry. (tears, moaning wailing) and that because I love them, I am taking them anyway. This is the best way that I can describe the love that I believe is directed toward me by God. Just given, just received, in bewilderment and with a faint feeling that either the guy giving it to me doesn't exactly understand the rules, or that I am not really fully understanding what those rules are, or in fact, that there is a set of other rules that somehow supersede the rules that I generally live by.

I liken this to C. S. Lewis' deep magic in the chronicles of Narnia... deep, big, powerful rules that form the foundation of everything and that are tragically and almost always ignored.

They are both asleep now and I am sure, are completely ignorant of the philosophical wrestling match I a had today regarding their spiritual life. I do know, however, that they enjoyed their frozen yogurts.

Good night kids, sleep well.
db

Early...

Henry woke up at 4:45 this morning. He came into our bedroom to announce that he was up. I went over and tried to fall back asleep in Nora's abandoned bed (she sleeps in Henry's room). Five minutes later Henry was next to me, arm on my back, "Hey Dad." He had no idea how early it was. So, I got up with him. I decided that, if we were going to be up that early, we might as well do something awesome with it, so we went and climbed Mt. Wachusett.  We got there at about 6:30. Its the second time that we have climbed it this summer vaca. I am going to try to climb it at least once a week all summer long. Last week, we climbed an old fire road, Henry and I, and I messed up the map, so the trail didn't take us all the way to the summit. This time I chose the shortest route up, The Mountain House Trail. Well, it was a bit more difficult for me than I anticipated. I did only need to take a break twice though, and the thing is pretty much up the whole way. The shortest route up, by definition, would be the steepest as well. The trail was wooded almost to the top. Henry saw this little snail on the way... cute little guy.

Henry loved it. No problem for him at all. Chaucer seemed to like it quite a bit as well. There is something special about getting to the top of something. I used to climb Monadnock quite a bit when I was younger, and there really isn't much like topping a mountain. There was a beautiful breeze and the view is great. They are building a new tower at the top.

Later, after Jenny went to work, I took the kids to Old Sturbridge Village. There isn't a lot of financial reward for being a teacher, getting into museums for free is one of those rewards. Unfortunately, they changed their policy slightly, and now I only get in for half off. Also, the kids are now old enough to have to pay for their way in as well. There was a time, when all three of us would walk the dusty streets of the OSV for free.

Both kids love to go there. They have been there quite a few times, but, I think the freedom of being able to explore whatever house they want really entices them. They had a great time. So did I. Here are some pics...

wild roses

I hiked with Henry this morning. For some unexplainable reason, the mosquitos left us alone and we were just able to enjoy the walk. We sat for a long time, feet hanging over the river, and talked about nature and this and that. I wonder sometimes if he will remember these things when he is older. I don't remember a whole lot from when I was his age. I hope he does. It is so special to me to just be able to hear him and just be next to him.

The milkweed is blooming. When it does, the fields are filled with the truly heady fragrance. I love it. I could smell it right when we started walking... sweet and thick. It was a good day to talk with
Henry about the nature of things, and to hear him think things through.