I Love Saturdays

Buh-Bye

Tomorrow we leave for Florida for a week or so. The folks we’re visiting don’t have internets at their house (how do they live?). Hence, no posts until late next week, maybe even next weekend.

Let me leave you with pics from the first spring at our new house.

This is the only azalea in full bloom. We have several others whose blooms, I’m afraid, will peak while we’re out of town.

Here’s some of the others, which, as you can see, are not yet in bloom.

The dogwood.

Another view.

The magnolia’s not blooming, but this is even prettier.

Brother’s o.k., too.

World’s Cutest Baby Girl

Being her Dad, I’m biased. But still.

The Transition Post

This is the first post on the new blog (here was the last post on the old blawg). I’ve been totally absent from blogging for the last two weeks or so because we were out of town. Like I said in the second to last post on the Alablawg, it was mostly for a wedding, but we got to do lots of other stuff, and, best of all (o.k., not really) we picked up the tandem. Here’s some thoughts about the trip, followed by some pics.

First, granted our mini-van is a dork-mobile, but I love that thing. I can not imagine a vehicle that would have made our 3,100 mile trip better. The space is outstanding. We packed: one large suitcase; one small suitcase; one carry-on bag; one book bag; two (2) pack ‘n plays; one large duffel bag; one double jogging stroller; one bag of miscellaneous stuff (food for trip, video camera, books to read in car); one medium sized box of baby food, diapers and similar stuff; one large diaper bag, and; two (2) babies in their car seats. Even with all of that in the van (not in a carrier on top or on the hitch) we could still comfortably seat four grown adults without feeling at all crowded or cluttered; we put all of that in there without having to remove, lower, or put anything on the rear seats. And when I looked in the rear view mirror, I could see right out the back window. The mileage was also great, a bit better than 25 mpg. Combined with the large gas tank, that meant we were going almost 600 miles between stops for gas. It also rides comfortably, is loaded with safety features, and is at the perfect height. No need to step up or down when getting into or out of it (or loading kids into it). You just slide right in. Now I know that if sometime during the trip some kind of disaster had forced us to navigate on dirt roads and over rock gardens I would have been wishing I had a Hummer, like all the cool people do. But right now, I’m thinking the forty five hundred bucks I spent on my used van was money well spent.

Second, I just don’t get Cracker Barrel. In fact, after three days of eating on the road, I was about ready to become a vegetarian. I guess that’s one big difference between being an adult and being a kid. Time was the idea of McWendyBurgerBell for three days straight would have had me as excited as wherever it was we were going. Now? Ugh, I’d sooner live on lettuce and rice cakes than eat another one of those slop covered pieces of cardboard they call a burger.

Third, we’ve only been in the flatlands for a month or so, but I really miss riding in the mountains. We were in Northeastern PA for part of the trip and I got two nice rides in. Each of them averaged about 1,000 ft of climbing for every ten miles. That’s tough, but what goes up must come down. And the country was beautiful. You’re either on rollers through farmland, or going down into cool hollows along streams, or snaking along up the mountain, or zipping down the other side. I don’t know what I liked best.

Fourth, we listened to Stephen King’s “The Cell” during the ride. Worst.Book.Ever. Note to Mr. King: No-one reads your books because you create powerful and memorable characters, or because you have some kind of special wisdom to dispense, or because you help us see the world in new ways; we read them (or listen to them) because you can tell a good story. So tell the dang story already. And finish it. Unanswered questions work in good fiction; they make stuff like yours worthless.

Fifth, we saw the Simpsons Movie while in PA. Funniest.Movie.Ever. Really, it was good. I was worried, as I am a huge Simpsons fan, that I would be disappointed. I had not looked forward to a movie this much since LOTR and the Matrix sequels. The Simpsons was not perfect, but my experience was much closer to LOTR than it was to The Sequels Which Never Happened.

Sixth, I tried to ignore the news, but one story really got me: The Mike Vick dog fighting thing. I don’t like Mike Vick. I think he is easily the most overrated athlete in all of professional sports. I don’t think any athlete since Derick Coleman has achieved less success with more talent. And I love dogs. I own a dog. My step brother used to have a pit bull. She was a wonderful dog, though her breed has been given a bad name by losers like Mike Vick. I think folks who fight dogs or abuse dogs are scum. I guess that’s why the story interests me.

All that said, though, I don’t think it ought to be a crime to have dog fights, and especially not a federal crime. How someone else treats their dog has no impact on me or any other person. It might hurt my feelings and it would certainly make me mad, but I don’t want to put folks in jail because I have negative emotions towards them. Sure, their dog suffers, but so did the cow I had for dinner last night. Suspending Vick from the NFL, or even permanently barring him would be fine, and I hope he loses every single one of his endorsement deals, but putting the guy in jail because he injured dogs seems – to me – extremely disproportional.

Alrighty, now the pics.

“You wanted to take a picture of me, right?”

Generally, that dog isn’t worth shooting. But she’s great with the kids, and they really like her.

Where’s your head, Omi?

In their new wagon.

“Hmm, keys, hmm.”

My mom used to carry me in this thing.

Mom and Malcolm at the beach.

This is Omi and I right before the wedding, where I’m explaining that she won’t have to worry about this kind of stuff because she’ll be living in a convent.

Finally, the tandem. It’s a 1985 Santana Arriva. I’ve spent the last couple of days tinkering with it, and it is just about road ready. This Sunday will probably be the first ride. I cannot wait.