And another thing...

Another storm is about to whiz on the Metro here in a few minutes. The radar has been on a 23 hour continuous loop and dumping on flood-endangered and flood-stricken areas for several days now. One fella was doing his job on a bridge inspection when the whole damn thing collapsed and they found him a few days later trapped in the wreckage. Sad fate for him and his family. Floods are freaky. I had not been a part of a major flood and can do without the experience. We had a sump pit swell in 2007 in my basement that led to a basement your could float a toy boat in but that hardly qualifies to what others have been through.

Summers are different now. A few years after you graduate from the last continuous year of school that you completed, it finally hits you: summer months are still work months, only hotter. Now we have some plans to make it a good summer but you live the glory years of summer through your kid(s). Our wee one has more crap to look forward to than a fasting dung beetle. She has already had several things going on with more to come. She has planned events and mostly just time with other family members. Shannon has done a fantastic job of putting things together and making sure that everyday is covered with something and by someone. It is a good thing and I am thankful.

Man, it's not like it used to be....

I had a full-time-plus working Dad in the summers and I had freedom. I had a wood-burning kit that featured an appliance to plug into an outlet capable of 400 degree temperatures to turn little planks of cedar into useless crafts, a 12-speed bike with unlimited miles, You Can't Do That On Television and Mr. Wizard on Nickelodeon when they had actual watchable content, an entire pan of Hamburger Helper and a Snickers bar and a huge garden to water a few times a day when McCook made its annual trip to within 10 miles of the surface of the sun. That was summer. I was either lying upside down in an old recliner in the air conditioning or poppin wheelies in the streets. It was a different time and place I realize but that was summer for a lot of kids during my time and several before my time.