Well, here we are. I listened on the radio last night and was a little worried. It was quiet…dead quiet. Finally, one friend got on and talked with me so I knew all was not lost.
Oh well, I am still thankful for all of the things I listed yesterday and I only regret overindulging in some of those things. I guess one more thing that I would now add to the list is Pepto Bismol!
Since this is the last day we have together, dear friends, I thought I would say so long and thanks for all the fish. I guess the apocalypse comes tomorrow so our time is short. I am going to miss many things, but I guess that’s the way it goes. Well, here is a list of the top 12 things I am going to miss when I am gone:
I am signed up to be a “now zero days” ham radio operator, just in case the world takes a little time to end. I will broadcast over the air to keep track of how the apocalypse is going…I figure I can stay up late on the radio, since I won’t have to go to work. I probably won’t bother setting my alarm either. Hey, this isn’t sounding so bad!
Well friends, if by some miracle the world doesn’t end, I will be headed to the doc to pump my stomach to get rid of all of the dill pickles, pop rocks and Mountain Dew. Leave a light on for me just in case!
We like to play hide the pickle at our house. It’s an old tradition meant for the whole family to enjoy. We sometimes play hide the pickle when guests come to visit also. Gosh, I love to play hide the pickle!
When we lived in Nashville, we had a friend who worked part-time at a place that sold Christmas ornaments. One night at a get-together, she asked if we wanted to play hide the pickle. Being young and carefree, we eagerly agreed. She gave us a box with a glass pickle inside. I had never heard of the tradition but apparently folks back in the old country would hide a glass pickle ornament somewhere in their Christmas tree (check this out for an explanation).
I think whoever finds it has to clean the kitchen or do push-ups or something like that. The kids love that of course! So, we put our tree up the other night. Only since we moved back to West-by-God-Virginia have we had a real tree in the house for Christmas. We headed to the farmers’ market to get a tree grown in WV (which isn’t all of them at the market) the other night and finished decorating it finally. The finishing touch was for me to hide the pickle deep in the tree which delighted Abigail. Really, it’s a great tradition and one for which I am thankful!
Well friends, I don’t know about the people with whom you spend time, but if they ever ask you if you want to play hide the pickle, cautiously nod your head and see what happens!
The other day, after my birthday hootenanny, my wife and kids only complained a few minutes (in honor of my day) when I said I wanted to roam about aimlessly in the local Cabela’s store. The Cabela’s people put on quite a show and I like looking at all of the things that I may buy cheaper elsewhere. There is something cool about actually fondling the products you are considering purchasing.
Anyhow, we all wandered by the fishing area where Abigail happened upon a lovely display of earrings they had out on display. She was amazed at how many varieties they had and how soft and fluffy they were. “Do they just leave them out in the open like that?” she asked. As Emily and I turned to see what she was talking about, we noticed that she had found the fly-fishing display and was holding one of the flies up to her ear to see how it would look. Thankfully she didn’t end up with a hook in her finger! I guess you could wear flies in your ears and they would be pretty cheap as earrings go. You’d better not walk too close to a stream though or a hungry trout may jump out of the water wanting a kiss!
I have been pretty lax on writing for the past…oh…3 months or so. It’s all because of soccer. Particularly when we started the season at the beginning of August, we had something soccer related 6 days a week. Even in the middle of the season, we were running at least 5. Since I was one of the middle school coaches for Isaac’s team, I was at every practice with the boy so everything else sort of fell by the wayside. I loved spending the time with Isaac but we are all tired I think.
So, Monday night was his last game and Wednesday night is the overall last game for the team (we have one varsity and two jv teams). To say the least, we will be dancing when the season ends (oh yeah, except the fact that we are in the play-offs). I am proud of the team for which I was responsible. Our season ended 7-0-2 which is pretty great I think. It’s all in the coaching of course.
Abigail is in recreation league soccer which is much less demanding but that season ends this weekend too! Hooray for freedom. Now we can enjoy the short rainy days and sinus infections we all seem to get! At least we can all huddle under blankets on the couch as a family, watching the weather channel hoping for nice weather…and the return of soccer season.
Emily works at one of the year round schools here in West-by-God-Virginia. In general, their schedule is 9 weeks on, 3 weeks off. So, the school recently was out on break. It’s pretty nice because Emily gets 3 weeks for running around doing errands, catching up on appointments, etc. Well…it’s nice for me, but not so much for her. Anyhow, many days while she is off on break, we grab a bite to eat together. Some days she just brings a sandwich and some days we go out to eat at some fast food joint.
Last week, as her break was winding down, we decided to eat at a fast food place. Emily picked me up and we headed out. We did the usual…we ordered, ate, talked, got refills. As we finished up, Emily stood to dump her tray and noticed that she had on identical shoes in different colors. Apparently she had been doing her thing all over town with mismatched shoes!
Evidently that is looked down upon in the world of women. I never would have even noticed but I was assured that other women noticed. I only have three pairs of shoes so that sort of mistake is not ever going to happen for me. Imelda Marcos I am not. Emily isn’t a shoe person either but she does have more than I do…and sometimes accidents happen. Still, the recent gaffe makes my wife a dork…but she’s my dork!
We have a few traditions at the beach. We eat Oreos and Chips-Ahoy cookies. We eat Lucky Charms cereal for breakfast and sandwiches with pickles at lunch. Most importantly, at supper time, we eat seafood at some local seafood joint. Knowing that they have a captive audience, the seafood places charge way too much but usually dress things up a little just to make people think they are getting something special. I guess that compared to eating at home, it is sort of fancy.
So the last few nights, we have eaten at some pretty nice places. We spend way too much money on food but it is nice to go wild now and then. Anyhow, the restaurants we have been to must seem pretty fancy to the kids I guess. Yesterday Isaac asked if we had to go to any more fancy restaurants. They were deemed fancy I guess because they set the tables with a salad fork and a dinner fork. Two forks = fancy!
What it really comes down to is that we wouldn’t let the kids burp at the table and hang spoons on their noses. That is all it takes to make a restaurant fancy. I guess it is quite a step up from cattle chutes at the local fast food joints we sometimes endure at home. We were wandering through one of the nearby beach stores after supper one night and the kids identified a sign that more aptly summarizes their views on their type of restaurant.
I guess it isn’t supper until the conversations turns to that subject!
The kids are staying with my parents in PA this week. They finished school a week earlier than Emily so it was a perfect opportunity for them to visit up in Yankee-land. So we delivered them over the weekend and spent some time with family. I always think back to my roots when I “go back home”. I live in a city now, albeit a small one. I have lived in a big city and several places in between. Cities can be fun and all but I am and always will be a country boy.
Ok, so when I go back home, I get to pondering. I don’t want to sound all sappy and stuff, but it’s so simple to enjoy the simple things. It’s dark and quiet where I grew up. Most nights you can hear the whippoorwills and see more stars than you can count. Most days there is nothing better than riding around the yard on a lawn tractor doing whatever you feel like and playing in the hose (does anyone else say it like that?) or sitting on the front porch talking and napping. It is pretty hard to beat living like that I think.
Anyhow dear friends, it occurs to me that some of you may not have ever heard a whippoorwill’s song. It’s simple but sort of an anthem to country living and you simply must hear its call. My mom and I walked around one night until we got pretty close to one singing so I could record it. Have a listen:
Being kid-less this week also makes me remember back to when Emily and I first met and fell in love (we still are of course, but those first years are so special). Anyhow, as much as I love country living, I love Emily deeper than any holler and taller than any pine tree, tall upon the hill…so, since I can’t sing with a durn, let’s all enjoy a little Randy Travis singing my thoughts to Emily
The other day, Emily and I were working around the yard. I was mowing and Emily was planting a ton of new flowers that we got. Well, actually we got them 3 weeks ago but that’s beside the point. Anyhow, as we toiled away, the kids were doing…nothing. I have seen this trend before and am pretty sure I was not able to get away with that when I was a kid. Sure, I had my goof-off times, but I definitely helped out doing work too.
Seeing an opportunity for a lesson in life, I asked both kids to drag themselves away from their books (yeah, I know, I could have worse problems than kids who read) and come outside. We have a number of outdoor chairs that we never use. We never use them in part because we never clean them off. The other part is we hate mosquitoes but that’s not the point of the story. Anyhow, I asked the kids to get soap and a brush and scrub all of the chairs.
They fussed and whined. There were ants and spiders on the chairs…and dirt too! After a bit, I got irritated and grabbed a chair, ants and all, and told the kids to “grow a pair” and just carry the chairs to the driveway. Isaac knew what I said and smirked, but I had to explain that phrase to Abigail. Yeah, I got a lesson too…keep my mouth shut!
Anyhow, they got going and had a lot of fun with it I think. Towards the end, they were negotiating for payment. I didn’t really have payment in mind when this all started. I had to laugh at their conversation though…”We’ll do it for a dollar a chair”, said Isaac. “No, I’d rather do it for 25 cents a chair.” Back and forth they went a few times but they settled in on 5 cents per chair. There are only 6 chairs so they were looking at 30 cents each. Heck, with that sort of deal, I could be persuaded to pay! I gave them each a buck for the humor. Well, 70 cents for the humor and 30 cents for the work!
It’s been a long standing tradition that every May, we gather and watch the KY Derby with Emily’s people. Well, really we gather to eat KFC chicken. We usually spend three minutes researching our favorite horses and then cheer for another two minutes. We cheer…vigorously which is quite exhausting. Try cheering solid for 2 minutes about a horse. Of course, after all of the excitement, we need to re-fuel so we eat derby pie.
Even when we lived in KY and TN, we upheld the tradition, even if it was just the 2 (then 3, then 4 when Abigail was born) of us. When we moved back to WV, we petitioned the gang (yes, they are a gang) to add a new part to the tradition. For the last few years, on Derby day, we also wear “fancy” hats.
I take great pride in making my hat each year as do most of the gang. Abigail made ribbons for the hat-wearers for the best hats. I am proud to say I won 3rd place this year. My hat was…well, you tell me. I don’t know what it was other than Derby-worthy.
Those drunken women at the real KY Derby have nothing on our hats…and we aren’t even drunk!