One of the great things about having this blog is it allows me to re-live moments in my life. With today’s installment, lets use the Pensieve and have a nostalgic seat back at the first day of school for the summer vacation cobwebs clearing essay, “How I Spent My Summer Vacation.”
One of the things I wanted to accomplish on this “vacation” was to save thousands of dollars in landscaping by doing the work myself. Looking back, I’m happy to report much was accomplished during two weeks of mostly gorgeous weather. Before we dig into shovels, rakes, rocks and mulch, lets head to the Templewood Golf Club for 9 with Dad…
The first hole of the day can often be a microcosm of a round, but fortunately it wasn’t on this day. Dad literally groaned when he saw the “545” indicating the yardage on the Par 5 Number 1. About 5 strokes later, I lofted a pitching wedge that amazingly landed on the mound protected green, some 100 (really more like 70 if we’re being honest, but who’s gonna know?) yards away. That shot put a little steam in my step, but the steam quickly began to build between my ears when we discovered we’d landed on the wrong green. When the wreckage was finally cleared, I had an opening hole “10” to show for it. That was followed by a “snowman” and a six. 24 strokes on the first 3 holes… On 2 and 3 Dad steadied his ship and had me by a few. I recovered and took a mere 32 shots over the final 6 holes… A dog and a beer capped of a very nice day on the links.
I guess it’s been a good vacation because that round seems like it was a month ago. Aside from a few quick scans of leotreoemail, I left the office at the office. No TPS reports… Nothing. Most of the remaining days after Dad flew back to “the Villages” were spent working much harder than I ever do at my day job. eMails and meetings were replaced by rototillers and weed fabric. Sweat substituted for stress and Advil addressed body aches instead of headaches. I pushed myself each day, but always quit so I had time to spend with Kyle, Harry Potter and “the Half-Blood Prince.” Now I need help. Here’s a picture of just some of the blank canvas needing splashes of color and texture…
I’m too tired to drone on much further, and “Young Frankenstein” is cued up in the DVD…
It’s been quite a couple weeks in and around Hogwarts Castle. Kyle and I read a chapter or two each day of “Prince” and are about ten from conclusion of the sixth installment in the epic savior of youth literature.. Then it’s on to the final book and other things to expand my boy’s imagination. To say Kyle is into “Potter,” well, more so the uber-evil “Voldemort,” is like saying Bostonians tolerate the Red Sox. As I read to him, he sits in a “Gryffindor” robe and occasionally points his “Voldemort” wand in my general direction. At least he doesn’t wear the lens-less round rimmed glasses anymore. He also hasn’t drawn a lightning bolt scar on his forehead lately…
Tomorrow I depart for the real world and on Wednesday, Kyle starts high school. Given the joy it brings him, how I wish he could board the Hogwarts Express…
My nieces got me into reading the tales of “Potter” when he first came out. They stopped a few books back but I was hooked and never missed a page. Youth literature – sure, but J. K. Rowling knows how to weave a tale and I’ll miss looking forward to the next chapter. It seems Kyle has fine taste when it comes to picking the good stories – whether it be paper or film.
-M.
The house looks really great dad.
Landscaping for your house: Impatience is a flower very easy to maintain and they come in a rainbow of colors all of which work very nicely together. They’re fairly inexpensive because you just plant a few and they spread like crazy. The best thing about them is that they are so hardy that they bloom from spring through fall. CE