Trenton's First Walkabout

Trenton came over for a few hours yesterday after work while his mom got some things done. Heh. Always happy to take him out of her hair.

Vicki was pooped -- they're running her ragged at work, so I came home to be the primary attention-giver for while (and you know how much I just hate that!). It was a warm, cloudy evening. Figured he'd want to go to the park just down the block from us. Of course as soon as he saw where we were going. He loves climbing the steps and then going down the slide. It's a dual slide and I sit next to him on the way down and sort of hold him ... to keep him from falling ... while we go down.

A college kid came by walking his almost-grown Siberian Husky, and Trenton immediately bolted to pet it. After which he wanted to walk on the little woodside trail.

The undergrowth in the woods was mostly bright yellow, contrasting with the darker greens and browns of the larger trees along the edges, and after we played at woods' edge for a while I noted that most of the underbrush plants had lost their leaves and you could see a deer trail leading down the steep hill to a flatter area in the middle of the yellow trees.

I decided it was time to take Trenton for a walk in the open woods to explore new things.

He's only 18 months old and not really steady on his feet on rough terrain or steep hills, so I carried him. I had put him down to stand for a second while I took a picture.... he took a step and sort of fell in slow motion... but I caught him and helped him back up and we continued downhill on the deer trail.

We sat on a fallen tree for a bit while he inspected the wood fungus, and he walked on the flater area in what turned out to be an even prettier fall scene than I'd expected ... I'd never actually ventured down here. And I noticed a mostly dry creek bed that of course we had to go explore, so I carried him down to it.

Some of my best childhood memories involve dry creek beds and just sitting in them and soaking up the scenery or exploring them.

We found some clear puddles that he splashed his hands in ... it was all I could do to keep him from walking into them but I didn't want him to get that wet.

We felt moss on rocks, and rough tree bark, and moss on tree bark. Pulled berries off of some weeds and dropped them on the ground, and climbed on rocks... but they were mossy and slippery so he had to hold on to my hands. Eventually, before he got too dirty or too wet, I hiked him out up the gully wall.

It was harder than I expected, carrying him in one arm while I navigated the steep, soft hill -- choosing my footing carefully so as not to fall with him. Falling by myself would be one thing, it was absolutely imperative that I did not fall with him.

I was huffing and puffing and sweating profusely by the time we reached the top. He didn't want to leave. He wanted to go back down. So we sat on a log for a bit at the edge of the woods, and then walked through some brush, and back up to the slides where we went down one more time. And he was ready to go. Made a bee line for the sidewalk, and after walking about 20 feet toward the house he decided he'd rather ride in my arm.

Short, 30 minute, mini-walkabout. No fire or hotdogs. That'll come later..

I think he will enjoy the outdoors.

The Rest of the Story

Went back yesterday to finish splitting the wood. Dropped by Orschelns to pick up a fiberglass maul handle, only to discover that you have to glue these on with an epoxy that takes 24 hours to cure. And I needed to finish splitting it yesterday.

So I bought a hickory handle and drove 15 miles up to Sam's place and started splitting. Two or three logs later... the hickory handle broke.

So I drove it back to Orschelns, and turned it in against a whole new maul, pre-glued maul with a fiberglass handle, and went back and split the rest of it.

Man, am I sore today.

I will go pick it up Friday.

September Flew By Like a Hummingbird

... chasing another hummingbird.

The hummingbirds are about gone. Fall is here, and the leaves are about ready to turn. In about a week, I expect spectacular showiness. Need to get the camera dusted off. Ok, who am I kidding? With Trenton around, it never needs dusting off.

Back in early September Trenton found the swiming pool hanging in the garage and wanted it out. It was just barely warm enough, so Vicki filled it with bathtub-warm water and he played one last time in it for the summer.

I've been going to his swim classes to help Kristin out (yeah, that's why... that's the only reason. ;-) ). They're "Mommy and Me" classes, but right now there are no actual mommies save Kristin, who is the instructor. Daddies can substitute for mommies, and apparently so can grandpas and nannies. It's a lot of fun playing with him in the water, trying to get him to learn to kick and paddle (which he's not doing so well at, yet, but he'll get there) ... and jumping in, and splashing.

He loves the little park near our house, and practically squeals as soon as he can see the colorful slide complex if we're out for a walk in our neighborhood. There's a dual slide, and we can go down the slide on one while he goes down on the one next to one of us ... and he's easy to hold onto while you do it.

Againandagainandagainandagainandagain.

We went for a little "nature" walk around the edge of the park where he got to see a box turtle open his shell and wallk away. He likes the outdoors, for sure.

A couple of weeks ago college friend Jeff Eissmann and his family and lots of friends invited us to their tailgate party before the Furman game. The Carleton Clan, including Kristin, Brian, and Trenton were out of town and needed to get rid of tickets, so Kevin, Marken, Vicki and I bought 4 of them and also went to the game. Mizzou won big (52-12), and we had a dandy time on a beautiful September afternoon.

Last weekend was the 3rd annual Roots & Blues & BBQ festival here in town. Wasn't as much of the varied festival atmosphere this time ... mostly music and beer & bbq. We went down Friday evening to see the Bel-Airs, a regionally popular boogie-musice dance band. Bought a couple of their CDs. Then we came back Saturday with Kristin just to get a feel for the festival, went home during a rain shower, and came back in the evening to see Booker T and then the Blind Boys from Alabama.

Been doing several things around the house I've been meaning to get done. Little things. Replace the 400 watt high pressure sodium grow-lights with 80 watts of flourescent ... just keeping outdoor deck plants alive through the winter doesn't require the mega-power. That should save about $10 a month on electricity. Got a couple of deck protectors... one to keep the grease off the deck, underneath the grill. The other, a concrete-impregnated fabric one to go under the chimnea. Got rid of the toxic waste stuff (batteries, paint cans, etc) at the toxic waste facility. Seems like there were a few other things as well -- little things that needed fixing).

Yesterday I went out to Sam's place to cut wood -- a big oak that died and fell right next to his pond a couple of years ago. He and Deb had started cutting on it a while back. I cut the big trunk up and started splitting, but the handle on my maul broke. I'll replace that and take it out this afternoon and finish splitting, then hopefully borrow Brian's truck to haul it all back home.

Vicki cooked beef and noodles for dinner last night and we had Brian, Kristin, and Trenton over for dinner -- always a good meal after a day of wood cutting.

The Buffalo Bill Pumpkin Ale is out. I bought my normal 2 cases to last through Thanksgiving. Awesome stuff.

Gratuitous Trenton Shots

Putting the Labor in Labor Day Weekend

So Vicki's off in Fort Wayne, visiting her mom and starting the packing process for her move down here next spring. And about two Novembers ago, I bought tiles and materials to do our front porch and two bathrooms. Got the front porch and the guest bathroom done, but didn't get to our bathroom by Thanksgiving. And there was no way I was doing it over The Holidays.

So almost two years later, here's the perfect opportunity to do the tiles in our master bath, the bathroom we use every day. I took Friday off, figuring this would work best as a 4 day project. Demolition & backerboard. Tile sizing and cutting. Tile laying. And Grouting. 4 steps. 4 days.

Day 1 went as planned. Of course, I fantasized about getting the tile cut that day as well. But I had a hair cut appointment at 2:00. And Kristin invited me over to their house for dinner ... and I'll not pass up a chance to hang with Trenton. Or them, really. We had a nice time. Kristin made burritos. They were tasty. And we had some margaritas. Played with Trenton. Watched a little TV. And I went home.

Got up, did coffee and breakfast ... and had to do some planning. Mizzou's first football game of the season with Illinois started at 2:40, and I'd invited BriKri & Trenton over to watch it on the big TV. So I needed to make sure we had food. And get all the tile cut by 2:30. Went to the store and bought 4 slabs of beef ribs & some potato salad (hey, no time to make potato salad) ... made a rub, slathered, got the charcoal going in the Big Green Egg (well, mine's a "medium" green egg) and threw the ribs in the little dutch oven (to protect from the radiative heat... cast iron, you know) and poured in the hickory chips and shut-er down to 200.

And started cutting tile. You have to figure out what "square" is going to be... and I wanted to do the brick pattern ... for one thing it helps make the room look bigger, and for another it lessens the visibility of slight errors on the seams. But it increases the number of cuts you have to make.

It started raining!!! There was a slight chance in the forecast, but ... well, we got it. I moved the wet saw back under the eaves and kept going. I mean, it's a wet saw, right? And I literally cut the last tile right at 2:25. Took a quick shower and was changing when Kristin and Trenton showed up. Had the game on the 1941 Philco in the living room (I love that ... old tube set, Mizzou football... feels all traditional and stuff... I grew up listening to the Tigers & the Cardinals on the radio).

Anyway, Brian had called ... Ken had invited them over to watch the game, so he called and asked if it was OK if Ken came along. It was. He showed up, I got the game on the TV downstairs. And we had a good time. Mizzou dominated, eventually winning 37-9. The ribs turned out great. And of course Trenton was a lot of fun. He was having fun with Grandpa Ken and Papa Phil and he really, for a 19 month old ... entertained himself pretty well a lot of the time.

After the game Kristin took Trenton home ... he was sooooo sleepy but too wound up with all the commotion at our house. Brian stayed and we watched the first half of the Oklahoma BYU game.

I was pretty tired by that time. I cleaned up a little and turned in early.

Got up, did the coffee and breakfast. And then mixed up the thin-set mortar and started laying tile. Got done about noon.

I had had to cut the plumbing to the toilet ... there was not enough play to lift the ring up to meet the new height of the floor. So I hit Lowes and bought a new toilet ring and a coupler and another elbow and a wax ring so I can put the plumbing back. Plus I bought some mildew retardant paint and painted the duct-board ductwork under the house. The foil outside has corroded and I suspect it's entraining some moldy air into the house. Might need to do a second coat tommorrow. Pleah.

Had a beer and a pipe, and then came and did this.

Grout tomorrow. Vicki back Wednesday.

Blame it on Facebook

It has been pointed out that it has been a very long time since my last update.

I'm going to blame much of it on Facebook, which provides a way to give quick updates with little thought and the associated time investment put behind them. But there are others out there in my family and friends fold who are not on facebook ... plus, this makes a nice diary to go back to and see what was going on in my life.

Unfortunately, when you don't sit down soon after a seemingly trival event that is nonetheless the kind of thing life is all about, such as spending time with family and friends -- especially your grandchild :-) ....

you forget those poignant details .... which are really the only things that make this blog interesting at all in the first place. Which is really an argument for updating more often, then, isn't it?

And so here I sit, updating, lacking said details, but offering a summary.

As reported in my last post, or at least implied or suggested, or at the very least cooberatted... I've been riding my bicycle to work as often as reasonable for most of the summer.

The bad news, I haven't really lost any weight to speak of. The good news, I haven't gained any, either, and I've been able to drink higly caloric and tasty beer and eat good food. We've continued to be extremely lucky in getting to see our grandson far more often than probably most grandparents get to see theirs. And it is a joy each time. He's the smiliest little boy in the world.


One time we were babysitting over at their house this summer, and he had something in his eye. It looked a bit like mud to me... which would be bad. But his eye really wasn't red and he wasn't rubbing it ... it strangely didn't seem to be bothering him that much EXCEPT that he was uncharactaristically fussy. We suggested taking him to the doctor the next morning. But (and I can't blame them, if I were the parent I probably would have done the same thing) they couldn't stand it after they got home and ended up removing it ... it was a huge flying bug.

We went to the state fair a few weeks ago and putzed around like we usually do ... only Pam & Grandma Jean were there along with Brian, Kristin, and Trenton. We ran into them on purpose a few times, but mostly ended up on our own. I ended up buying some super glue type stuff and some "Sham Wow" type chamios' in the "Mr. Popeil" buildings, ate the requisite fair food, and had a nice time on an uncharactaristically not very hot day in August.

Thunderstorms moved in about the time we were ready to leave, and we drove Brian back to Columbia while Kristin and Trenton went back to spend another day with her parents.

Two weekends ago, Vicki's cousin Jim and his wife Carol (of Mt. Charleston and North Carolina fame) dropped by on their way from Mt. Charleston (Las Vegas) to Murphy, NC ... for a couple of days. We always have a great time with them. Carol, the pianist, was playing tunes on our little $3.00 Goodwill Special kiddie keyboard. We had our traditional happy hours, sat on the deck... we took them to the Rocheport Winery on saturday for another stunningly lovely August day with low humidity and temperatures in the 70's, where we sat at a table next to Kristin's brother Brian... had a couple of bottles of Norton, and went into Rocheport to look at the antique shops.

I wasn't planning on buying anything.

At Saunders, though, Jim and Carol sneakily bought us an espresso cup set, and I got Vicki a neclace she really liked ... but the most surprising thing was the ginormous clock.

We have had a huge blank wall on one end of our living room over the stairs. And at Saunders, above a fireplace was a huge, 50" iron clock.

Well you know me and clocks.

We have talked off and on over the years what to do with that wall, and just a couple of days before had been saying we need something really BIG.

Well there it was, and the price was pretty reasonable.

Budda bam! Ours.

I wish I would have been here the first time Trenton saw it. Clocks were the first objects he recognized and was able to articulate. I have multiple mechanical clocks in the house, which make the charactaristic "tick-tock" sound, and since he was about a year old, he would point to them, and pretty quickly anything with a "dial" on it and say "eh-ah!".

Well this is the world's largest eh-ah, as far as he's concerned, and he was duly impressed, apparently, according to Vicki. Ask him where the "big clock" is, and he points right to it.

No real words yet from him. "Nana" for Nana ... that's about the closest, and da-da for about any male authority figure. He used to mouth Ma-Ma a long time ago, but I think he's tormenting his mother by refraining from using that. It shouldn't be long now.

Last Sunday I went up north to the public rifle range with Brian and Brian and John. Sighted in my .22 at 100 yards, and John sighted in his 30.06. Those rounds are even bigger than the Monsin Nagant rounds. Big boom. And I found out I suck at 100 yards with the iron sights on the Mosin Nagant. Well... I wasn't hitting the 10" target, anyway.

This has been one of the coolest summers on record this year. The last weekend of August we had highs in the mid 60's, probably close to 25 degrees below normal and just freaking delightful weather.

Not complaining at all!

I Am Mr. McGreggor

Last week I stepped outside to load up my bicycle for my commute to work, and saw a rabbit in my garden boldly munching on some vegetation. Need to get a new battery for that electric fence.

Anyway, as I went to chase the rabbit off, it occured to me that as a kid, I rooted for Peter Rabbit.

Now I'm Mr. McGreggor.

(I wanted to get a picture to illustrate this post before posting, and I almost got one this morning ... but by the time I got back out with my camera, Peter Rabbit was gone.)

The Float That Wasn't

We'd been looking forward to Summer Float 2009 for quite some time. Made a facebook "event", discussed it with the attendees. Coordinated who was bringing what, and advised newer people what to bring and what to expect. Painstakingly packed. But I couldn't find my hand-held GPS. It was bugging me.

Kevin and Marken, as well as Brian and Kristin ... were coming down this year from our side, and John and Alli and Tomas and Deanna on the Williams' side. But then Brian had to drop out due to a business trip to the Carribean. And Kristin opted not to come by herself.

We went down with Ryan & Kristie, as usual. Met them at their house, and helped them load up their new trailer with our stuff and their stuff, which this year included kayaks and canoes. I've been especially excited about the kayaks, as I think they're more responsive and fun. I was still fretting about my GPS, but I kept telling myself it's not going to get any MORE lost while we're gone and I really don't NEED it. It's just a toy on a trip like this.

We made the traditional lunch stop at Steak & Shake in Rolla, headed down to Eminence, reserved campsites, met up with Kevin and Marken, set up tents, and headed for the river. It was HOT!

The swimming hole was pretty crowded, and we wandered downstream a ways into the shade. Had a beer and split another with Vicki. Floated on noodles, talked, and generally stayed cool until 5:30. Went back to the campsite.

I lit some charcoal and whipped up the Jiffy cornbread mix in the dutch oven. This was the dutch oven's virgin tryout. I followed the dutch oven instructions I read last month in the Missouri Conservationist, put the coals on top and below, and whipped out the other dutch oven and started the jambalaya.

Popped open a Sam Adams Blackberry Wit, and suddenly felt a little chilled. Well my shirt was still a little damp. But it was at least 90 degrees out, still. Sat in a chair and talked a while, tending to the food. And started to get queasy. Too much grease and milkshake for lunch? I felt pretty full, too. If I could just throw up, I'd probably feel better.

Kristie felt queasy, too. We'd both had hamburgers. So did Vicki. Ryan was fine.

I went and lay down for a while. And suddenly, it hit me. That tingle in your mouth with the slightly acidic and not at all pleasant taste. I popped out of the tent and went to the edge of the woods and emptied my stomach -- which still seemed quite full of what I'd had for lunch 7 or so hours before.

Did I mention how much I hate throwing up?

About 10 productive heaves and a couple of dry ones later, I was at least relieved that that would probably be the end of it. I went back and sat down.

And the chills hit, worse.

Dinner finished cooking with Kevin and Marken kind of watching it and I went to check on it a couple of times as well. The cornbread looked great, as did the jambalaya. But my stomach didn't think it looked all that great. I went and lay down again, this time with a blanket.

I got up a few times, but each time I was queasy, cold, and tired. So I gave up and went to bed.

Vicki came to bed a little later. Everyone turned in by 10.

And in the middle of the night, Vicki got up and dashed from the tent to throw up.

The next morning, we were both feeling lousy. Kristie was fine. And so we began to think... Kristin had the stomach flu Monday. Trenton got it Wednesday. We babysat Wednesday night. 2 days. 2 days. Probably the stomach flu, especially since Kristie feeling fine was casting doubt on the hamburger theory.

So Vicki and I stayed in camp and didn't go floating, much as I wanted to. But I knew I wouldn't have fun. Everyone else went.

I drank some gatorade -- which helped -- and went out mid morning to get some oyster crackers, ice, Mylanta, and a couple other things. We lay on the mattress together in the tent using Kevin and Marken's battery operated camp fan as the temperature rose into the mid 80's, and probably hotter in the tent.

I finally left the tent and sat outside where it was about 5 degrees cooler and there was a better breeze. But Vicki had it much worse than I did and couldn't bring herself to get off the mattress in the tent.

I took a shower in the shower house and came back and sat outside the tent. We talked and slept off and on the rest of the afternoon.

It was very much like having a hangover without the drunken stupor the night before. Bad headache. Nausea. No energy.

Everyone got back and said they had a good time and thought of us often. There were offers to take us home, but the thought of trying to break down the tent and pack our stuff in our condition was overwhelming. The night was going to be comfortable, and we'd feel better in the morning.

Couldn't even imagine eating dinner that night, either. All day I had a bottle of gatorade, water, and oyster crackers. I tried some coke, but it didn't sit well. So we went to bed early again.

I slept like a rock. Even thought I was home in our room at first the few times I briefly woke. Vicki, on the other hand, was not really any better AND had a migraine to boot.

I didn't feel as well as I had expected in the morning, but better for sure. Headache was gone at least, and not everything made me want to hurl. We moved slowly breaking everything down. Had lots of help packing up, and headed for the traditional pictures at Alley Mill.

It was very pretty -- I'd never seen it like this. There was more water from all the rain, but the neat thing was that because it was so hot and humid but the water was so cold, there was a dense mist a couple of feet thick over the water, and the light streaming through the trees gave the God Effect in a few places. Camera .... itch .... If I weren't with a group .... and Vicki weren't still pretty sick .... I got a couple of quick shots and had to settle for that before we did the group shot and left.

We headed in to Ruby's now Sharon's T&T Family Restaurant in Eminence -- they always have a great buffett, and it's a real neat small-town restaurant in an old building. Not a huge choice, but all of it is good, and heck... what do you need? Pancakes, french toast sticks, biscuits with optional gravy, sausage, bacon, scrambled egges, fried potato cubes and a few other things. All fresh and all good.

I was a little hungry, and I picked non-greasy, not-too-sweet or spicy fare. Vicki was surprisingly hungry as well. We both ate and everyone said their goodbyes as we took off with the Williams' back to Mid Missouri.

Unpacked the wet stuff. Vicki insisted on starting laundry. And my GPS was hanging on the coat tree in the hallway. Vicki was still feeling pretty lousy most of the time. I wasn't feeling that great, either. No energy at all. I did have to try to fix the phone... it's acting wierd ... so she could call her mom. I spent 30 minutes or so outside cleaning contacts and re-wiring it. It seemed ok for a while, then started acting up again.

Talked to Kristin. Brian came down with the stomach flu on the way to Honduras. And grandma Jean got it Thursday. So it was going around. I looked up "stomach flu" viruses on the internet out of curiosity.

Then we ended up watching a movie and going to bed.

Monday morning I just couldn't get up. I wasn't about to throw up, but the stomach wasn't at 100% yet, either. I'd read on the internet Sunday evening about the viruses that cause stomach flu. I figured it must've been the norovirus since adults didnt' seem to have any immunity to it like we seem to to the rotovirus. It had said the norovirus was highly contagious, and I decided to take an extra day away from other people.

So we got it from Trenton ... still... when all is said and done it's a fair trade. I wouldn't have had it any other way. He needed us :-)

Vicki was still a little queasy this morning. I went to work. I figure she had it worse and probably irritated her tissues more. I'd bet the virus is gone from her, she just needs to finish healing.

So now I want to go floating.

But I'm also Jonsin' for the Rockies.