On one of our routine walks, Sam and I will walk past this quiet little brook.
Leaving aside the fact that by late summer this little brook is often an ugly, algae covered mess, the fact is that about five feet behind me is one of the busiest roads we walk along.
When we stop at this brook, I try to ignore the people (and traffic) behind me and pretend they're not there.
This is pretty much my strategy for getting through life in general.
But sometimes there's strawberries growing - then they get plowed under. Then there's corn growing. Then the next time Sam and I walk by- gone! Then there's something growing which may or may not be squash... or pumpkins... or whatever. Then- same story - gone!
I've stopped trying to figure it out.
They're doing this to me on purpose. They are my enemy.
So I can't offer you any exciting photos from this year but you can relive last year's festivities by staring all night at the photo above.
The other day I brought Sam to a summer picnic with one of his support groups. This group is probably the largest of the three groups he works with.
But while there were a lot of activities and a lot of people there, Sam seemed to be one of a few people that took part in many of those activities. Too bad for the others because Sam had a good time.
Along with eating hotdogs and hamburgers, Sam played horseshoes, corn hole, and even attempted to master the hula-hoop...
What I find particularly amazing is that while he didn't yet master the hula-hoop, he a) didn't give up and b) he somehow managed to keep his hat on the entire time.
Hard to believe I've been doing this every Father's Day for over twenty years now.
I'll leave with the same video I've posted for at least ten of those years...
For the first time in a long time, I went camping this weekend. This was Jake's idea and was a Father's Day gift.
We set up* on Saturday and left on Sunday morning - just the right amount of time to not totally cramp up my back.
Sam and I slept in one tent, Helaina slept in her own dome tent on our site and Jake and Lauren (and their dog) slept in their tent on the adjoining site.
It all worked out great except for two things. First, there was a music festival across the river which was loud and lasted until 11:00 or so - way past my normal bedtime.
And two, Rachael couldn't make it.
Other than that, we had a good time. We had good weather, got in a lot of hiking, even saw some owls (thanks to Jake eagle(?)-eyes). I didn't even mind having to get up at about 2:00 AM to walk Sam to the bathroom.
*When I say "We", I mean Lauren and Jake. I grabbed the wrong tent. Instead of grabbing our simple-to-setup dome tent, I grabbed the confusing-to-setup, way-too big tent from hell (which I have no idea where it came from and has since been sold at a tag sale, never to be seen again.). See photos below...
