Archive for August, 2009
Aug 09
The Summer Breeze
I always feel a little melancholy when summer starts to draw to a close. The heat and humidity have subsided and the crispness of the changing season starts to emerge. The days start to shorten and the inevitable pull into fall begins. Prepared or not, it bears down on us and waits for no one. Maybe that is why time feels like it speeds up every year, because we can’t keep pace with it. It’s relentless march wears us out and we are let in its wake, wondering where all those years went.
This year, time has taken its toll, and the mess that needs to be cleaned up is the unfinished project list that clutters my mind. Even though it is not even September, it feels like I am at a crossroads for this year’s list. Can I plow in and make some headway or throw in the towel and go at it again next year?
Wait a minute! It is only 2/3 of the way through the year! Come on, let’s get going!
But isn’t this the “pressure” that paralyzed the situation to begin with? What is on my list anyway? Maybe I should start there. Okay, deep breath . . . move the list from my head to paper, then start to employ an approach that I am at least making some progress. Pick something and finish it. It does not matter the size of the job, just complete it. The weekends are perfect for this. The weekdays are bonus days. I would not expect to get a lot done during the week, so the pressure is minimized if I get some things done then. Once I do this, I think I can maximize my time and reduce the stress by at least finishing something.
There, I feel better now. I think I am going to celebrate my accomplishment by going to the fair – if I have time.
Aug 09
Our first family camping “vacation”.
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| Jay Cooke State Park – 2009 |
“Why do we need another tent?” Julie said. “Well,” I said. “We are not having 4 of us crammed into this one tent.” “What about these 4 cots? Do we need all of these?” she said. “Yes”, I said. “We are not sleeping on the ground. Plus, an inflatable mattress means we will have to bring more gear”. And so the saga began. Our first camping trip as a family. My wife Julie and I camped years ago, BK (Before Kids). We had not camped for 16+ years, so we had to get back into the swing of things, which meant getting all the gear again. Let me see, 2 tents, 4 cots, 2 sleeping bags, a couple of battery operated fans, a portable radio, and some other misc. stuff, and we are finally ready to go.
We made reservations at two Minnesota State Parks for two nights each. I guess if we are going to go, let’s go big. Getting the stuff into the truck was the art of proper packing. The whole truck bed was full, as well as jamming a bunch of stuff into the girls’ area in the back seat. I had to make audio contact with them periodically just to make sure they were okay back there. Off we went. A nice 2 1/2-hour drive to Jay Cooke State Park.
We got there and setup. So far so good. We settled in for a nice first night. Besides the party-till-midnight crowd at the campground, it was pretty quiet. I am a light sleeper, so I was awakened every hour or so.
At daybreak, we had a little visitor right outside Julie’s side of the tent. A skunk. It was a foot away from Julie and she was shaking. It was clawing at the tarp trying to get at something underneath it. After a couple of minutes it decided to move on, but it’s effervescence decided to stay with us for a while! Julie tells a much longer version of this story. We took a nice 3.3-mile hike around the St. Louis River and took a brief car trip in the afternoon. The evening settled in and we all had a great night sleep.
Wednesday morning, we were going to pack up and decide if we were going to our next destination, St. Croix State Park, near Hinckley, MN. I was listening to the radio and heard rain would be moving in around 1:00 p.m. We took our time in the morning breaking down because it is so much nicer moving at a slower pace. We were about 3/4 of the way packed around 11:00 a.m. and the rain started. Well, the pace picked up.
Out the window went my neat packing method. With it, so did the ability to have everything fitting in the truck. By the time we were packed up, we were overstuffed in the truck. Now I could not even SEE the girls in the back or Julie sitting in the passenger seat.
Our decision was cemented, we were going home, and it rained all the way there – and the whole next day. Vacation short-circuited. I spent the rest of the week in between pseudo working and trying to be on vacation, but not enjoying either.
The camping was fun, but too short. I never did feel like I got into the groove of being on vacation. I think I am going to schedule another one shortly.
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