May Flowers

Just a collage of flowers from my garden that I cut while my son was cavorting in the pool.

It has been raining a lot over the past month. So much so that several baseball games have been cancelled or postponed till later in June - just in time for the heat and humidity of summer. But my garden is soaking it up. Irises are just about done, as are the peonies. The roses should continue all summer. Daylillies are just about ready to open, along with my favorite - the tiger lily (Lilium columbianum).

Academic honors

My son is graduating from 5th grade next week. Off to the big adventure that is middle school. Personally, I prefer the old-fashioned way of schooling, in which elementary school went through 6th grade. But life does move a little faster now than it did forty years ago, and the need-for-speed culture impacts all aspects of our lives.

He will be recognized as the most-improved kid in his class. He has come a long way, thanks to a great teacher, specialized instruction as needed and two parents who have realized that three heads are better than one when it comes to keeping track of (and doing) homework assignments.

As spring turns into summer

It is a quiet rainy morning. My son is still sleeping soundly and the dogs and cats are napping in their respective corners. Even the puppy is quiet. Yes, yet another four-legged critter has joined our collection. A black lab puppy that my wife and son found sitting on the side of the road on their drive home several weeks ago. Subsequent events have followed a predictable sequence: my wife saying “don’t worry, we’ll find a home for the puppy” and my son saying “I’ll get up every morning and take him for a walk”. My wife has made no efforts at finding a home for the puppy and I find myself constantly untangling four leashes during their morning constitutional. He is a good puppy, particularly when he is sleeping. But I am not happy with the added cost in terms of time, effort and money.

My son and I have this week to ourselves, as my wife is spending a week looking after her mom, who needs looking after while my wife’s middle sister and her partner/wife are on vacation. So far so good. He spent most of Saturday and Sunday hanging out with a new friend. My son has long bemoaned the fact that we don’t live in a typical city neighborhood with lots of other kids. But his new friend spends alternate weekends (and alternate weeks during the summer) at his dad’s house just up the road from us. It appears that his friend, who is a year older and quite mature for a sixth grader, has many of the same interests as my son. It promises to be an interesting summer.

I took advantage of the free time on Saturday to make headway on several long-delayed gardening tasks, with some success. On Sunday, I took them to the local air show and had a pleasant cookout at their house. Baseball practice was on today’s schedule, but the rain has scratched that. Instead, he’ll catch up on his sleep, play several hours of Wii, watch some baseball and maybe go with me on a trail bike ride if the rain lets up later today. I’ll get more gardening in, do some housework and make some headway at cleaning out the clutter on my desktop that has accumulated from the past few weeks. It has been a very busy semester, and summer promises more of the same. So I welcome this brief opportunity to catch my breath as spring turns into summer.

Time for a little change

So? Whadda think?

I had a little fun making an avatar today and decided to put it on my blog instead of my mug shot. Having my picture on the blog did make me think twice about revealing particular aspects of my life. Now maybe, just maybe, the thoughts will flow more easily.

Don't hold your breath...

Anger management

I have come to realize over the past month that I have anger issues. Buried deep beneath the mild-mannered academic visage I put for public consumption.

But spending a couple of hours yesterday with my hands in the dirt helps.