I had planned to go out on a more adventurous romp through somewhere more interesting than my own backyard. An expedition, maybe. I had noticed there has been an awesome fog sitting on Whitemud Creek at Smyth Crossing every morning these days as I drive or bus by. I thought it might be interested to take the dog over there. But I was good: I did my chores first, mowing the lawn, cleaning up the yard, and tending to the dog. And then we got rain.

It is finally nice enough outside to escape the bonds of home. It being my flex day yesterday — and also in the mid-twenty-cees — I think it would be a fair calculation to say that I spent more of my waking hours yesterday outside than in. Lovely. Claire and I enjoyed the backyard for about an hour and a half after breakfast, she continuing the effort of breaking in her swing set while I made sure that every plant in the backyard was sufficiently soaked. The little girl was absolutely fascinated by (a) the water, trying to help out whenever she could, (b) the flowers, which I’ve finally convinced her not to paw and pluck, and (c) the spiders, who require her protection as [...]

I’ve been giving away lettuce by the bushel. And I don’t even really know what a bushel is. Apparently the steroids I put in my garden soil this year kicked into high gear and suddenly I’m cursed with an abundance of leafy green foliage beyond the capacity of we simple folk to consume it in a timely manner. I wandered around the office and had a few “nibbles” so I brought in a couple bags of fresh-picked-greens for those lucky few. But, alas, there is still more and with this warm summer just kicking into gear I’m thinking there is going to be much, much, much more to follow. If you’d like some FREE LETTUCE send a self-addressed stamped ziploc baggie to our address and [...]

I don’t usually like to gush about television (other than to lament about how I often watch too much, lower the bar, then still watch too much) but in the last few weeks or month every single one of the shows I had been following ended for the season giving me, essentially, absolutely no reason to watch anything. And then it occurred to me that (quite possibly) the next time I actually care about a broadcast series of shows (barring specials or other short run crap I will inevitably stumble across) I’ll be doing so with a baby in my arms. Not that it’s terribly significant, relevant, or correlative — it’s just odd to consider. My season recap of the only three shows actually worth [...]

Aside from a whole lotta work accomplished on the weekend relating to, specifically, the fence, I’ve not much to report. Yes, between mom, dad, Karin, and I we managed to paint and/or hang a good half of the remaining fence board so that we are both (a) out of paint until I get to the hardware store, and (b) nearly enclosed as a yard. As a result, Sparkle has been given nearly free run of her kingdom. Having gone from a nearly wide open field to a box with a single eight-foot opening, she requires little supervision (not quite NO supervision, yet) when she is alone in the yard. Oddly, she has discovered a new love. And considering the mess I get to admire of [...]

It’s Friday afternoon and what could be better than sitting in the middle of your own backyard, laptop computer open in front of you, and the first of the second thousand blog posts clean and fresh with unaltered potential barely visible in the glare of the afternoon sun? Ok, don’t answer that. Sparkle is chewing something meaty, she’s laying on the hunk of blue carpet edged along the back of the black-dirt property-line. The nearby construction is still lingering, their Friday still an hour or so away. The neighbor is sitting amongst her own dirt, perched in a lawnchair and reading something that seems to barely hold her attention. Karin just came home to, escaped from the office an hour early to burn off some [...]