Tag: #FamilyLife

  • Sunday Serenity

    I had a very strange feeling come over me this past Sunday. It wasn’t a special Sunday by any stretch. We did things that we normally did. The wife and I were up at 7:30, and the kid rolled out of her room at 8. We watched Sunday Today, then at 9 we switched over to Sunday Morning. The wife made pancakes, and I walked the dog. We ate breakfast on the couch watching the interview with Liza Minnelli. When Sunday Morning was over, the kid disappeared into her room to play while the wife and I watched the last thirty minutes of This Week, and then at 11 changed over to hate-watch Meet the Press. Then at 11:30, we put a John Coltrane radio playlist on the speakers, while we started to clean the apartment.

    And while I was cleaning the kitchen, this feeling of peacefulness came over me. I felt secure and happy, which is something that I hadn’t felt in a long time. There wasn’t anything magical or profound happening other that the weekly routine that we follow on a Sunday. It was also a feeling of satisfaction.

    If I was being cynical, then I would say that as I have gotten older, my expectations have fallen, and basic and easily completed tasks have taken on an outweighed significance in my life.

    That is possible.

    Or, it could be that family life has become rewarding in its simplicity. Not that I have stopped being ambitious, or striving for a better day, but I think I have enough perspective to see that in my current state, I do have something special and worthwhile.

    Maybe it was the reward of honest work, which has an honest reward in providing a safe, clean home for my family.

    Maybe my attitude toward life has been slowly changing, and only now is it registering.

  • The Summer of Hiking 2021

    At the start of Summer 2020, as the pandemic was going strong, our family unit thought it was a good idea to take day trips on most Saturdays, and a few Sundays. The goal was simple, just get out of the City, and at that time the guidance was all good with going out to the woods and taking your mask off. Provided no one was around. This lead us to hike a few trails in New York, and Connecticut. We all enjoyed it and I even wrote about it last year.

    And we have been talking about doing it again. The Spring came, and we were still talking about it. I even got my AllTrails app up and running, and started looking for places we all could go, including the dog. But we just kept talking…

    Well, this weekend, we collectively got off our butts and did something about it!

    We went shopping!

    Down to the REI store at Broadway and Lafayette to get hiking boots and all-weather pants. Hell, throw in some socks while we’re at it. I had a feeling that the shoe salesman was upselling us when we were honest and said we were beginners, but I didn’t want to rock the boat, as everyone else was having a good time with trying the boots on.

    Now, it was a rainy mess up here in the Northeast over Memorial Day, but Monday was clear. We got in the car and headed out to the Old Mine Road Trail, which is rated moderate and good for kids and dogs. We had a good time and felt like we were being active as a family, which really is the point here.

    I also know myself well enough that if I spend money on an activity, I will follow through on it. Hence why I had to buy the boots; I got some skin in the game. Now, hiking is something that I have to do.

  • Our Dog

    We got our dog right before the pandemic hit last year. It was February, and we had promised the kid we’d get a dog someday, and it just seemed to make sense that now was the time to get a pet, as, sadly, our cat, who my wife had for over 19 years, had recently died. There was a void in the family with not having a furry animal around, and the wife found a rescue agency that was looking for good families. Which, sure, that’s us.

    And the dog was a good fit. She is great with the kid, and likes to curl up under the desk, or right next to you on the couch. She’s also great with new people: neighbors in the building, and people we meet on the street. She’s even great with kids who like to get close to her.

    But our dog hates all other dogs. And I mean, she goes ape shit trying to get after another dog to rip its face off. When I walk the dog in the morning, I have started to notice that other people with their dogs are avoiding me. I don’t blame them, really. My dog wants to kill their dog.

    Yes, we need to socialize the dog, or take her to obedience school, or hell, find a video on YouTube.

    But we haven’t done any of this. I mean, there is a pandemic going on, and remote school, and unemployment.

    But… I have another, sadder, lazier, and more evil idea, and before I say it, yes, we will get the dog trained…

    Our dog who hates other dogs, that seems like par for the course for us as a family. I mean, we can’t have a perfect dog, right? There has to be something wrong with her, because that’s how real-life works. A flawed dog makes life more interesting.

    Or at least this is what I am telling myself.