Today's Brief Comment

The long awaited Transition Meeting for Sam has been scheduled for a week from Tuesday.

Cold Weather Cooking

All of a sudden, the weather turned sharply colder this weekend - especially the nights. For us, this meant pulling the tiny, old air conditioner out of the dining room window. And it meant that it was time for Sam and I to shift into our fall/winter/spring mode of cooking.

Removing the air conditioner was no big deal - other than a wrenched back. Figuring out what we were going to cook took a little more time.

For our first hot, un-grilled meal in quite a while, we decided we would ease into our colder weather cooking projects by cooking something in the crock pot. This involved two things. It involved me going down the basement to try to find where I put the crock pot. And it involved Sam and I figuring out what were were going to do with it, when and if I found it.

Finding the crock pot isn't as easy as it sounds. It had been about eight or nine months since I last used it, and this meant that wherever it was in the basement, it had about eight or nine months worth of opportunities for crap to get stacked on top of it.

I went down the basement and after a few tentative pokes into precarious piles of soon-to-be treasures (none of which contained a crock pot), I managed to narrow down my search to the most likely area where it might be buried (FYI: Zone #38.7b). Sure enough, there it was - hiding under a couple of moving blankets, an old jacket and a box of toys that the kids haven't played with in the last twenty years (which we're keeping anyway - just in case).

So I dragged the crock pot out of the basement and did my best make it presentable, if not usable, by scrubbing it several times in near scalding water.

Next, Sam and I had to decide what to cook.

Sure, we probably could have cooked something from our freezer, but this would have involved chipping away at the tundra in hopes of finding something food-like and trying to figure out what the object actually was (or, more appropriately, what it had been). Even if that were possible, which is unlikely, we would have been wasting our time.

It's pretty much guaranteed that whatever we might find, would have freezer burn all over it - a result of having spent decades under the ice of my non-frost free freezer. So I decided that, like usual, it was better to leave that stuff undisturbed (except for when I cram in more, soon to be forgotten, soon to be unidentifiable, food in front of it).

Instead, as with most of our meals, we decided to let the grocery store sale flyer dictate what we would be cooking. Thankfully, the store had roast beef on sale. We both like roast beef but past experience has taught me that the beef from this particular store sometimes tasted less "beefy" than it should, having only a "beef-like" quality about it.

Since we were cooking this in the crock pot, I decided it really didn't matter. We would be shoving in so much other stuff, it was bound to come out tasting nearly edible, no matter what.

Now we had a game plan. We made a list of our preferred ingredients, checking to see what we already had (which, as it turned out, was only the essentials: onions and garlic). Everything else went on the grocery list.

After our return from the grocery store (where we bought everything on our list - as well as a bunch of other stuff ) - it became apparent that we would have to slightly alter our regular routine.

When it comes to crock pot cooking, Sam and I usually do all the prep work the night before, then we stick the crock pot in the refrigerator for the night, and I take it out the next the morning and let it cook for most of the day. But it had been a busy day so we didn't have the time do any of the prep in advance - which was just as well because, much like the freezer, there was no room in the refrigerator to fit in the crock pot.

So, Sam and I did the prep work early Sunday morning. Like usual, I cut up the onions and the "beef" (somewhere along the line, we decided to go from a roast to beef stew). Sam, with periodic guidance, did the rest.

Sunday evening was chilly again so it was good to have a nice, hot meal. That's something else I like about the fall - being able to cook together and being able to enjoy it together, when we're all done.

Before

After

A Sunday Stroll

The summer has been filled with hot, humid and wet weather so the regular walks that Sam and I were going on, came to an abrupt end sometime around the beginning of August. We would get out from time to time but with nowhere near the regularity we would like - for both our physical, as well as our mental health.

Finally though, it was a beautiful day on Sunday. For the first time in what seems like forever, Sam and I went for a walk along the Canalside Rail Trail. It was kind of surprising how quiet the place was. Usually the place is pretty busy.

Off to the right, in the picture above, is a small water park and playground, and beyond them are a couple of ball fields and basketball courts and a picnic area. There's plenty to do, even if you don't want to go for a walk, and usually there are plenty of people doing it. But on Sunday, there were only a handful of people around. Not sure why that was, especially considering the weather as so nice.

Also missing was the family of geese that had been around for most of the summer. Usually, they occupied the patch of land between the river and the walkway. They tended to keep to themselves as long as we kept to ourselves - each of us pretending that the others weren't there.

The last time we saw the geese was weeks ago, during one of our, by then, infrequent walks. The young ones had grown to a point where they were nearly indistinguishable from their parents. The only giveaway was in how the parents would still hover over them if it looked as if someone might approach, or if it looked like the no longer little-ones might be heading into danger.

It seems early for the geese to have left for the season - especially with the weather still being so warm. It's hard to believe that winter will be approaching in a few short months, but if the coming months go by a fast as the ones before them, winter will be here all too soon.

Hopefully, Sam and I will get out more and more, once the weather turns cool, but before it turns cold. And hopefully we'll be able to see that family of geese, at least one more time - before they head away.

Today's Brief Comment

There are few things more depressing than going to visit an old friend, only to find their house abandoned.

Tonight's Music Video

I posted this song years ago but I think that particular video has long since been taken down. Here's another of the same song...



If you have a few minutes, you can read some excerpts from an interview with Sam Baker here. If you have about forty-five minutes, you can listen to the entire interview at the same link. It's from the broadcast where I first found out about him - and where I first heard this, and some of his other songs.

This Year's Visit to the Fair

As with the Fair Parade, it’s also time for our annual visit to the Fair. With the exception of one recent year, we went to the fair on Saturday morning, just like always.

I’m not sure what was going on but boy, the Fair sure seemed to be sparse this year.

I don't know why this was. Unlike at the parade, it didn’t rain - at least not when we were there. Granted, we get there pretty early, but even still…

And it wasn't just the crowds (or lack of them) that were thin, it was pretty much everything. Usually, the entries in the various buildings, whether they be flowers or produce, are crowding each other out. But not this year. This year, there were a lot of empty spaces.

I would attribute this to an overly wet growing season, which produced poor crop yields - and this may indeed be part of the problem - but it wasn’t just confined to agriculture. Upstairs, where they have the craft, photograph and art entries, it was also pretty sparse. Maybe too many creative people were too depressed by all the wet weather to be creative.

One good thing about this “thinning of the Fair” situation was that, when it came walking through the two buildings, where various vendors set up their displays, it was also pretty pathetic (at least, in terms of quantity of vendors. I have no comment on the quality of the vendors.) This meant that I needed to avoid eye contact with fewer people - so that was pretty good.

Speaking of these vendors, I noticed that even though there were fewer of them, of these, there seemed to be an overpopulation of bathroom re-outfitters. I didn’t know this was such a growth industry. I wonder if they knew this. Do these vendors set up at the Fair thinking that they’re going to be the only ones - and then get all pissed-off when they see that there’s a roomful of other bathroom re-outfitters? Do they badmouth the competition to any poor soul who isn’t smart enough to avoid making eye contact?

Anyway, along with everything else, there also seemed to be fewer rides this year. Here’s a couple of photos I took while riding the Ferris Wheel. The first one is from a few years ago, the other one was taken this year...

Not This Year

This Year

See? Night and day! (Get it? My next show's at eleven. Tell your friends.) It's a little hard to tell from these pictures (because of the night and day thing) but take my word for it, there were fewer rides.

We don't go on a lot of rides anymore (though this year, Helaina went on the Ferris Wheel with me, Sam went on the merry-go-round and Sam and Helaina both went on the bumper cars together) so from that perspective, having fewer rides is not that big of a deal. But to me, the Fair is about families being together and little kids having fun - and that's what, to me, the rides represent.

Once again, we went to the pig races. The Fair has had these pig races for years and years, but we didn't start watching them until two, maybe three years ago. (Naturally, this was at Sam's request.)

Though it would be hard to top the racing pig show from a few years ago, it was still a pretty good show. How this pig racing outfit compares to all of the other racing pig shows out there, I have no idea.

I have no funny story to tell about the pig races this year. There was one thing that happened which I thought was kind of nice, and I started to write about it. But it ended up taking so much explanation to set it up - and then there was no particular punchline - it even made me say, "What was the point of all of this???" Consider yourself spared.

To try to make amends for your bitter disappointment (over missing out on that non-exciting story - not this entire post,) I will instead share with you a few non-exciting fair photos...

Here's another photo of Sam taken from the second floor of the Round House. In case you're wondering, I'm pretty sure that Sam's not hiding a piece of stolen fruit behind his back. (Now, if that were me...) Just kidding,Fair Committee.

After visiting the Round House and a couple of the other buildings, we headed over the the Baby Barnyard. The fact that Sam fed a couple of the animals and risked the possibility of getting any baby animal saliva on his fingers, is pretty remarkable. This would have been unheard of a few years ago (no matter how cute the animals were).

Here's one taken as we walked down the fun packed midway (see previous years worth of photos - which look almost exactly the same).

After walking/running through the two "Gauntlet of the Vendors" buildings (soon to be renamed, "Gauntlet of the Bathroom Re-Outfitters"), we rewarded ourselves, like usual, with our traditional brunch, consisting of ketchup with some French fries on the side.

Here's another photo, this one taken approximately thirty seconds later.

After Helaina and I climbed onto the Ferris Wheel, I noticed this tool bag sitting on the deck on the opposite side. Near as I can tell, it seems to consist of a rusty chain, a short piece of rusty pipe, a couple of rusty bolts, and what looks like maybe a hacksaw.  I'm not sure what bothers me more - that this might be a collection of parts which fell off of the ride. Or that these might be the ride operator's most treasured possessions - and he keeps them close by, "just in case."

Here's another photo taken from the Ferris Wheel - this one looking in the opposite direction of the photo up above. Two things about this. First, there way fewer rides than in years past (if you don't believe me by now, then I give up trying to convince you). And second, see that little green arrow over to the right?  That's where we ate the ketchup and fries (in case you were still thinking about them since viewing the photo above).

Here's a few photos of Helaina and Sam on the bumper cars. There was a young girl in one of the cars that, for the life of her, couldn't get her car to go - and therefore, she spent most of the ride either crying, or getting slammed into by all of the other cars, and crying. It brought back memories of when the exact same thing would happen to me - only, it was usually just my brother doing the slamming. (Out of respect to her and out of respect to me not wanting to get sued, she is not in these pictures.)

Finally, here's a final picture from the pig show - this one is taken of this year's "Swifty" as he/she gets the hell out of the water.

So, that's it for now. Come back again next year, when I will likely have photos of the exact same events, and repeat everything I just said, all over again.

This Year's Fair Parade

Once again, it's Fair season and another Fair parade has come and gone.

Like always, this year's parade was held on Thursday afternoon. Unlike always, it rained for about the first third of the parade - and unfortunately, they didn’t cancel it. I guess it takes things like lightning strikes before they cancel something like this. Though ironically, if there were lightning strikes, it would probably make the parade more interesting (especially if they made the marching politicians wear metal hats - not the tin foil kind they usually wear. These hats would have to be copper).

Fortunately, the rain seemed to thin out the crowd of annoying onlookers (not counting us). And I can't say whether it was due to the rain or not, but this year continued the recent trend of the declining clown-to-parade watcher ratio, so that was nice to see (or, not see). Bad weather, shortage of lead-based clown makeup - whatever the reason, fewer clowns = fewer clowns. That’s all that matters.

I'm only going to post this one photo for your viewing pleasure. It's pretty much all you need to see in order to capture the Fair parade excitement. Years ago, I used to take a ton of photos at the parade - and this was back when I had to pay, not only for film, but also for the processing. This photo is one of a total of only five photos I took this year. This is a pretty low amount but it beats my grand total of only three photos taken last year. You may be wondering, does this mean that this year's parade was more interesting than last year's parade? Answer: No.

This particular photo, like the other four, was taken near the end of the parade. This was during the exciting Grand Finale! The Grand Finale makes up approximately the last twenty to twenty-five percent of the parade (my estimate- not official) and, as in recent years, it seems to consist of a caravan of nothing but business vehicles - vehicles such as oil delivery trucks and home repair guys (and, presumably, gals). Though, as I’m writing this, I’m realizing that unlike in years past, there were no Coca-Cola delivery trucks! Apparently, the Parade Committee has completely lost touch with the Common Man (and Woman)!

Anyway, as this Coca-Cola-less caravan approached, I asked Sam if he wanted to get going. No dice. He wanted to stay until the bitter end (my words, not his). This, despite my subtle encouragement, prefacing the question with comments such as, “Well, looks like that’s the end coming up! Nothing but trucks!” and “Boy, I can't wait to get home and get out of these wet clothes!” But, as I said - no dice. We stayed till the very end.

In Sam’s defense, he gets to see a few people he knows. These are mostly folks from his school years - which makes him happy. So, all in all, I guess this makes the parade worthwhile - for both of us.

Oh! I did learn one interesting new parade fact this year. Given the choice between having to smell the wet horses, which stopped in front of us at one point, versus having to smell the diesel spewing trucks, which also stopped in front of us at one point, Sam would opt for having to smell the diesel spewing trucks - though this took a good bit of thought before he could commit to which of these odors was more offensive.

Figured I would pass this along for future reference.

Today's Non-Post

Last week, I was writing what was turning into a long, and convoluted post. The more I wrote, the more I was straying off into all sorts of different directions - pretty much like usual. It got so bad that at one point, I decided that I should break it off into two separate posts - which I did. Or at least, I started to.

The entire thing was about Sam transitioning away from school and into the workforce. What was going to be "Post, Part One" had to do with a long ago meeting with the then local school system.

What was becoming "Post, Part Two" had to do with recent events and the challenges in making, or in trying to make, this transition happen as smoothly as possible. This is not exactly new and the entire time I was writing, I was thinking, Why am I even bothering to say all of this? Who Cares? But if I let something like that stop me, I would never write anything.

But the more I wrote and the more emotionally invested I became, I kept thinking, I think I may have written about this before.

This happens to me more and more frequently. Usually, this is because it has to do with an event that has made a profound impression on me - in this case, an early IEP meeting with the school. I begin to wonder, did I write about this, or is it just because I play it over and over in my head so much that I only think I wrote about it?

Other times, I think this might happen just because of my admittedly limited world experiences. And since I've been writing this blog now for about eight years (not counting a couple of early aborted attempts), well, I guess I'm bound to retread some old ground once in a while (or, a lot - as the case may be). That's what I tell myself, anyway.

Sure enough, it turns out that I had written about this meeting before. (If you're so inclined, you can read it here.) I could have saved myself a lot of trouble by doing a search of my posts before I began writing, but first of all, I'm loath to go back and reread my own writing - particular my older stuff (though this is certainly true of the newer stuff, as well). But, as I was writing, and as I was getting more and more heated, this gnawing suspicion became harder and harder to ignore.

And second of all, I think I needed to go through the exercise of writing about this meeting again - if only for my own sake (which, I guess, when it comes down to it, is why I bother to write anything). Even though this particular meeting was over fifteen years ago, it still bother me. But in the end, the lessons I learned from it were profoundly important in understanding some of what I was up against when it came to trying to get help for Sam.

As I reread the old post, I was a little relieved (if that's the right word for it) that my recollection of that long ago meeting is exactly the same now, as it was back when I wrote that post. It's bad enough to be retreading old ground, but to retread it with different recollections would be kind of... scary.

The other thing about that post, is it was written at a time when Sam was facing a significant transition in his life. And that's exactly why I was writing the post that I just finished.

We are at another threshold in Sam's life. This time, it's because we're at a point where, within the next six months, Sam's relationship with the school system will be coming to an end.

And I worry.

As I said back then, I worry about making the wrong decisions for him, and I worry about not doing him justice.

I guess some things will never change.

Today's Brief Comment

My problem (or one of them, anyway) is that it's often hard for me to start writing.

And then, once I do, it's hard to stop.