Update From the Hood

Apparently, Neighbor A's dog has been pooping in Neighbor B's yard for much of the day.

I'm kinda thinking that if this were my biggest concern today, then life must be pretty friggin' good.

Night Music

Last Day

Sam's last day of school was yesterday, and he was pretty much a mess. This school has been a home for him over the last five years and it's been a safe place for him - and he's comfortable because he knows the people and knows the routine. But it was time to move on, unfortunately.

If this had been me at his age, I would have been counting the days until I was free. But Sam is quite different. I'm sure he was counting the days - but they were filled with dread.

I left work early so I could meet him when his bus brought him home. When he got off the bus,
he seemed to be doing better than he had earlier in the day - but he was still sad.

The night before, he had asked me if we could do something special, and he had made a suggestion or two. So that's what we did.

The first thing he wanted to do, was visit a park that we hadn't been to in many years. He wanted to bring his metal detector and see what he could find. Sam managed to find a fair amount of loose change.

Our second destination was closed so we ended up getting an ice cream at the nearby creamie.  Then we walked over to a nature center that Sam had visited with his class earlier in the year. This gave Sam the opportunity to act as a tour guide, which he obviously enjoyed quite a bit.

We headed home afterwards. Sam seemed pretty good for the rest of the day. I hope it lasts.

Happy Father's Day

I'll end today, as I end most Father's Days.

As a matter of fact, it's how I end most days - by thinking about how lucky I've been - and how lucky I continue to be.

I've been lucky enough to have great parents.

And I've been lucky enough to have great kids.

Every night, I thank a God that I'm not convinced exists - for blessing me with each one of them.

But since this is Father's Day, I will end this day, like I have most Father's Days, with this video...

At the Flea Market

Well, it was a nice Father's Day today. It was nice having Jake home, and it was nice, as always, to have Sam around as well. It would have been nice to have Helaina and Rachael home, but each of them are tied up with other endeavors. I think if they're unable to be home, the next best thing is knowing that they're happy where they are.

As for the rest of us, we headed to the flea market early this morning. Here below are a few astounding photos for your view pleasure. I apologize in advance for the blurriness of most of the photos. My hand must have been shaking with the excitement.

Here, as you can plainly see, is a box of beaters - no doubt painstakingly collected over many years. I'm not sure what possesses someone to start collecting beaters, but I suppose if I really wanted to know, I could have asked the guy selling them. I didn't want to know that badly.

 Here's a blurry picture of Jake perusing all of the many, many bargains.

This formally alive miniature person stood at the end of one of the tables. I'm pretty sure if followed me around half of the flea market.

Another guy was sitting on what appeared to be many hundreds of packages of brand new paper clips. All he has to do is wait, wait for that one special paperclip collector to show up and, bingo - pure gold.

At only "$4 each", it seems like a pretty safe bet that at least one of those jewels are real.

This was a little odd. Even if it's not being sold along with the half-full can of Coleman lantern fuel, who, besides this guy, would be interested in buying a Kotex dispenser? Maybe he figured he was going to make a fortune (Every Woman in the World x 10 Cents Ea. = $$$$)

True story: I actually overheard the guy that was trying to sell this thing, tell two women that this was "signed by the artist". Yes, he actually said "artist", and no, he wasn't laughing. Shockingly, the women left without buying it.

I'm always a little curious about people who sell new clothing at flea markets. It seems to me that they're going to an awful lot of trouble in setting up such elaborate displays. Who buys this stuff? I'm also wondering about those bottom-half mannequins. Do they come this way or do you have to buy the whole mannequin and break them in half? If they actually do sell bottom-half mannequins, who makes them? That has to be one of the worst jobs in the world, being a bottom-half mannequin salesman.

On the more normal side of things, there was a woman selling quite a few flowers. We bought several, which Jake planted for me when we got home.

And speaking of Jake, here he is with Sam, heading back to get one last bargain before we all left to go back home.

I even got to talk with both Helaina and Rachael before the day ended. All things considered, it was a pretty nice Father's Day. 

Today's Brief Comment

I'm thinking it's probably about time to put away the Easter baskets.

Tonight's Dinner

Sam helped me make chicken and asparagus with sliced garlic. Sam was in charge of the slicing.

Saturday Road Trip

It poured most of the day, so after our Saturday errands, and after Sam ate his lunch, we decided to go on a drive.

Eventually the rain let up enough for us to get out of the car and watch the trains at the train yard - and we explored an adjoining bike path, which I never even knew was there.

Our Brief Outing

Once again, I have fallen behind on posting any "Feeding the Ducks" photos. Let me correct this egregious error right now, by posting not one, but two photos from last night.

Sam and I went armed with a fairly large quantity of bread and buns - not knowing what to expect, hungry duck-wise. Fortunately for us, and the ducks, the ducks were all hungry and we returned home with nothing but ourselves and the empty bread bags.

Here, as promised, are a couple of the exciting "Feeding the Ducks" photos. I hope you're sitting down!

And because you are a loyal reader, I have included - at no extra cost to you (except perhaps, more of your time), a bonus close-up of the pretty flowers next to Sam in the above photo.

I'm thinking these flowers are probably a weed, but that's fine by me. Pretty is pretty - no matter what you call it.

I should also mention that on our way back, we saw four rabbits scattered across the newly cut grass, each enjoying their evening meal. We're guessing that these rabbits were babies, as they were all quite small - especially one in particular. Sorry, no photos this time. But trust us, they were pretty cute.

Just Awful

This is one of my very worst fears...

Tonight's Walk

Going... going...

 :(

The Week(end)

It's been kind of a whirlwind week. It started when Sam and I brought Helaina to her boyfriend's last weekend - for a long trip the two of them are taking.

Then, late Tuesday night, I picked up Rachael at a bus stop in Northampton. And Jake came home on Thursday night.

Sam had his graduation rehearsal on Thursday afternoon and he had his graduation ceremony on Friday. Afterwards, we all went out to dinner.

On Saturday morning, I went to the Farmers Market with Rachael and I ran my usual errands with Sam - and Jake came along.

Then, later in the day, I brought Rachael to get her haircut and when I got home, Jake left for the drive back to Rhode Island.

On Sunday, I made a brief stop at the food coop with Rachael, and then I brought her to the train station to leave for West Virginia.

I think there might have been a bunch of other stuff in there, but at the moment, I don't remember what it was.

I don't have a whole lot to say about any of this, other than that the silence on Sunday night was deafening.

Graduation Ceremonies

Many years ago, I attended Sam’s graduation from kindergarten. I had brought Mom along, and I remember sitting in the audience with her, waiting for the ceremony to begin. And as we waited there together, I remember thinking, in my wildest dreams, I could never have imagined that someday I would find myself sitting next to my mother in the gymnasium of a small grammar school, tucked into a small hill town, waiting for my special needs son to graduate from kindergarten. I remember thinking about the chain of events that brought me to this particular point in time.

Like too many things, this event doesn't seem all that long ago.

Sam graduated from high school on Friday. And as I sat there at this other ceremony, I was thinking about the same things I had thought about, those many years ago. I thought about the many struggles he’s faced and how hard he's had to work over the years - and how proud I am of him.

And I know that some day, this day won't feel so long ago.