Category: Hiking

  • ODDS and ENDS: End of Summer, Banana Ball, and Monday

    (Nothing really matters, anyone can see…)

    Well, I know the season of Summer isn’t over, but the kid starts school on Monday, so that means that this is the last weekend of Summer Vacation for the kid, and hr family as a whole. It did go by fast, and I do think all of us were ready for it to come to an end. This was the first Summer that we all chaffed at leaving our routine. I think in a large way, we had all come to enjoy the order that the school year brought us. It was like we had too much freedom. That really isn’t fully true, as we did enjoy going to to community pool, and the kid did love going to camp. The short vacation to West Virginia was relaxing, and calm and very enjoyable. It gave the wife and I a chance to recharge, and like all truly good vacations, it was over too soon. And though we still have at least another four weeks of heat and humidity in the City before we will notice a season change, it is time that we say farewell to Summer 2025. Goodbye, Summer… Goodbye, Summer…

    Okay, I get it; Banana Ball is a whole lotta fun. I will also say this; Banana Ball respects its fans, which is way more than I can same for MLB, the NFL, or NHL, and I’ll throw the NBA on that pile, too. Perhaps Banana Balls success is because it leans more in towards entertainment rather than athleticism, which is not to say the players are not athletes, for they are. Or perhaps Banana’s success is because the fan comes first in this equation. No flex priced tickets, no televised games stuck behind paywalls, no paying to reserve the right to buy season tickets, and basically not treating fans like they’re a mark who needs to have as much money squeezed out of them as possible.

    Speaking of the end of Summer, and stuff starting on Monday. I gotta get back into my writing routine…

  • The Dog

    Don’t let that face fool you; she’s a killer; and a big chicken.

  • Elkins, WV

    We hung out by a river for a couple of days. It was pretty great.

  • Sketchbook

    Today’s drawing in my sketchbook.

  • Summer Summer Summer

    My kid has started counting down the days until Summer vacation. (She has 17 days left.) Schools about to be out forever, and the sweaters and coats are being packed away for another season. She is talking about swimming and vacations, and going to the beach all the time now. The start of Summer is so close, yet still far away for her, but the idea of Summer seems infinite – long hot days, and then cool evenings sitting on the couch in air conditioning.

    I try not plan too much of her Summer. We’ll do some trips to museums, and we’ll hit up the local community pool. The kid has told me that she wants to work on her soccer skills, and I think I can convince her to go hiking. What I would really like to do is put her to work on a few home improvement projects around here. I would like to paint the living room, and I think I could make that a life lesson that she needs to learn.

    You know, I enjoyed my time as a kid, and to be honest, if I had a choice of going back and being a kid again, I would not take it. I like being an adult. BUT! If there is one feeling I could relive one more time, it would be that feeling on the last day of school, when the bell rings for the final time, and you are free to go forth on your Summer vacation. That felling of weight being lifted, of freedom, excitement, possibility… That! If I could just grasp that feeling once more.

    I do get the next best thing, which is seeing my daughter live it.