Passings, Parties and Personals

Pool Party!

Here’s the meat and potatoes of this blog installment.  Sometime around mid-July, I don’t recall the exact date, Taylor and I spent the afternoon having a pool party.  Earlier in the day while Taylor and Linda were away, I took the pool from its usual resting place on the back patio and moved it to the front yard.  The front yard being one of the few places around our house which boasts both grass and sunshine, seemed to be the perfect venue for a pool party.  I found a nice level spot and started the filling process.  While waiting for this task to complete, I retrieved her slide from the play area and set up at pools edge. 

Linda and Taylor returned from their outing just as set-up was reaching a conclusion.  Taylor was very excited to see her pool and slide in the front yard.  It took much convincing, but after a while Linda was able to shepherd her inside to get dressed for the pool while I finished up the final details.

The afternoon was spent lounging in the water, snacking on cantaloupe.  One of the hidden joys of parenthood; the ability of 40 year old man to play in a pool on the front lawn all afternoon without being labeled “crazy”. 

Wait a second… please stop the blog please.  Can I get some fact checking here?  Did I just say forty?  That can’t be right, maybe a typo.  Fore-tee maybe? Well that doesn’t make sense in context.  Hold old a second… damn… really...  When did that happen? Well, it looks like the facts were correct in this case. That’s unfortunate.  Back to the blog I guess…

No great story came out of the day, but I did manage to get enough footage for a movie that hopefully captures some of the happenings, some of Taylor’s budding vocabulary, and some of her ever-expanding personality.   Enjoy.

  

Obviously I started messing around with a new toy in the software.  Perhaps I overdid it a bit… Here are some pictures of the day.

Taylor enjoying a moment with her ball

Lounging... notice the Taylor twist on the sunglasses.

Showing off the pearly whites.

Sharing some cantaloupe with Daddy

Putting up with the photo-shoot portion of the day.

This and That...

A lot has happened since the last post.  It seems “Not Too Bad…” most useful purpose has become a place to post creative things I’ve done.  Well, there is another aspect that was supposed to be involved on these pages, and that is keeping people up to date on happenings around here.  I’ll try not to write a story, but I’d like to touch on a few high points.  The apology was enough reading for one post. (If you’ve made it this far I admire your stick-to-it-ness.) 

Your Taylor Fix

Taylor poses with her loot

First and foremost, Taylor turned two years old!  This year I didn’t get very much video of the party.  I was able to capture the last half of the “Happy Birthday” song after accidently turning the camera off instead of hitting record at the beginning.  There were a few pictures taken.  I’ll share some of better ones here.  

As to the blow by blow happenings, I’ll just point you to last years post concerning her first birthday.  Pretty much like that.  The only difference is this time Taylor turned two.  I don’t want to undervalue this difference.  That’s like saying the only difference between the pot holes in our road and the Grand Canyon are the size of the holes.

Nature is an incredibly complex array of mysteries.  How do birds know when and were to migrate?  How does a salmon return to the same stream from which it came to continue the endless tradition?  How do two year olds suddenly know, now is the time?  Now is the time to fall to your knees to enhance a show of disproval.  Now is the time to immediately test just how serious each iteration of  “Don’t do that” is.  Now is the time to change eating habits on a daily, nay, hourly basis.  In all seriousness, the change was sudden and astounding.  Oh, she is still that sweet little girl I knew at 18 and 22 months. Sometimes you just have to wait for the real Sybil, I mean Taylor to return.  Those small episodes are little to endure for the return we are getting. Here are a few select pictures from her birthday.

Taylor enjoys one of her new toys

Cake with her friends

"Mmmmm... cake!"

Yes, more cake... same great taste, now with less mess.

Here are a few more pictures taken since the last installment in this blog, and a little mini drama captured on "film".

Taylor takes the twins for a walk

These kids will drive you crazy!

Posing with her jewels (at Ms. Patty's)

Tending to the plants

Coloring with Daddy, the "Big Girl" pose

Tending the flowers (at Ms. Patty's)

Must always keep the hands and feet clean

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"The Gift"

"The Stare-down"

"The Peace Offering"

"The Rejection"

"Rejection is forgotten... Oh, a cookie!"

Back to jumping on Mommy and Daddy's bed (hope I built it sturdy enough)

Getting Away

In early August we packed up the car and headed out to visit friends for the weekend.  I’m not sure if I would have used the word “friends” before our trip, but I feel pretty comfortable using it after.  Our hosts were Johnny and Sue.  Johnny was a life long friend of my father's dating back to his days as a boy in Delaware.  I didn’t see him much growing up as we had moved to the great white north, but I did hear stories about him.  Dad was never one to sit around a spin a tale of days gone by, (or maybe I didn’t listen closely enough) but when he did, chances are Johnny was an integral part of the tale.  I saw him a few times when he stopped by the homestead on one if his numerous cross country trips and we had shared some hunting adventures. 

This visit was the first time we’d sat and talked since my Dad's death and all that ensued.  In all honesty we didn’t really talk that much then either.  There were obviously other, more pressing matters on the table, and believe it or not I was less outwardly social than I am now.  I felt surprisingly comfortable on the visit.  It may sound strange, but it was almost like I was sitting there talking with Dad.  They share the same sensibilities and straight forward, honest approach to life.  It felt really good to have Taylor and Linda there.  Neither of them have had much contact with anyone from my side of the family and spending the time with Johnny and Sue was the next best thing.  We’ve already discussed more trips with maybe some fishing out on their boat.  I look forward to spending some more time together, and having their influence and stories of Dad, part of Taylor's early years. Of course there are differences that stem from varying interests and life experience, but the core is very similar. 

I’m sure Dad gave me plenty of good advice while growing up.  I’m also ashamed to admit I can not readily recall much of it.  One piece of advice I’ve never forgotten and still struggle, mostly ineffectively, to fulfill is “Don’t tell me, show me.”  He would often use this when it came to golf, although it could work its way into many different circumstance.  Come to think about it, I’m not sure what he would think of this blog.  There is a whole lot of telling, and not much showing.  I also fail to live up to this advice with all my various ideas and plans that never come to fruition.  Maybe what I need to do is attempt to tell stories.  Then I could “Show you, by telling you.” 

I bring this up because Johnny inadvertently (I assume) imparted two pieces of wisdom during my visit that I’ve thought about.  One I’ve tried to take to heart and already make some changes.  That being, “If you don’t have much, take extra care of what you have”.  The other, I’m just not quite sure about.  I talked about some of the stories I’d thought about writing for the blog.  (Johnny is a big proponent for me writing more.)  The problem is, I’m afraid some of my subject matter may put off some of my readers.   They involve growing up and deriving subsistence from the land and not the local Burger Shack.  It’s not offensive in the sense of being vulgar, but the subject matter is touchy and perhaps misunderstood by most of those who haven’t partaken in such activities on a daily basis.  Things such as trapping, hunting and fishing.  Mostly trapping and hunting.  Johnny said don’t worry about offending people and just write.  As someone who lives in a constant state of self-analysis, sometimes to the point of non-action, I’m thinking it may be very hard writing stories with the belief that half of my audience might be offended.  Maybe I’ll ease into it with some tame stuff that minimizes the hard truth of the subject matter.  If anyone out there has any feedback or advice on what to do I’m all ears…

Speaking of feedback and the like, this post is the last time I’ll be using the original mailing list I created.  I find myself feeling very pompous, narcissistic, and intrusive every time I send out a blog update email.  To counter these perpetual feelings, I’m wiping out the blog contact list.  If you still want to get updates when the blog changes and or posts are made just drop me an email or leave a comment here and let me know.  I’ll be happy to keep you abreast of the goings on.  For the others hopefully the blog has been and will remain interesting enough for you to check by once and a while and see if anything is new. 

"You talkin' to me?"