Friday Flashback
Even though I have been accused by some of being a “joiner” I have decided to continue the Flashback Friday tradition this week. As you may recall from last weeks post, the style was high collars. This week when challenged to come up with something a bit more revealing, I had some difficulty. It seems that I either wear normal shirts, or none at all. Not really a lot of tank tops or v-necks in my wardrobe. So I thought I would post this lovely photo of myself circa 1982. I was hanging out at the pool in College Park, in Irvine, where I lived. During the summer we could get a swim pass by taking a test to see how well you could swim. If you could make up and back without any problems, you got one of the coveted tags. It was an elastic tag with an ID number on it. The wearer had free reign to swim in any of the association pools as long as a lifeguard was on duty. It was a nice little symbiotic circle that worked out for the parents. The elementary age kids all got swim passes and the high school age kids all got to be “lifeguards”, so the net effect was during the summer no kids were ever in the house! I spent most of the time at the pool swimming laps for points, or playing Marco Polo. Has anyone played that game as an adult to realize just how dumb it really is, but when you are a kid it seems like the greatest thing ever. And no day at the pool would be complete without some time doing breathing trials… we would see how far we could get without needing air. By the end of summer if you could not make it all the way to the end of the pool, you were some kind of wuss. In this particular photo I am also enjoying one of my favorite childhood treats, the Ring Pop. They were sold at the candy shack at the main pool. I would get them during swim meets and then save them for later. Well. that is Flashback Friday for today… and for those that have only recently come to know me… not the full shock of thick hair, and ask yourself… where did it go…
Two Moments With Sally Today…
Christie called me today at about 4p.m. to find out if I would like to come home and instead of having dinner, go to the park with Sally. She found a nice park near our home that has swings for Sally and it turns out… she loves them! Seriously, if she was tall enough for Space Mountain I would take her on it. A nine month old little daredevil. I would push the swing as high as I felt comfortable and she would just laugh and laugh. Some kind of fun being the daddy pushing the swing. Before I pushed, Christie did the pushing, so I could take some pictures. Here is my favorite one…
When we got home it was time for dinner. Sally has moved on to Stage 3 dinners. The jar is much bigger and the food inside has actual chunks of food in it. She is digging it for the most part. The pasta dishes are her favorite so far… though she has not had Mac & Cheese yet, since Grandfather Jimmie gets to serve that first. Tonight was Spaghetti & Meatballs. The first few bites Christie gave her went well, and then she grabbed the spoon and it was all downhill from there… so we captured the moment on film, since every kid has pictures where they are covered in spaghetti.
Isn’t she cute. Everyday is something new with her… today we just enjoyed the simplicity of time on a swing and dinner everywhere. (And for Aunt Becky… we took her directly from the high chair to the bath, so she was not filthy for long!! Just think… one day you guys will have one of these!!). Well that is all for today… I am going to go watch my new Tivo now and see if I can find any shows on Falconry.
How many hours of TV could I watch?
So the upstairs Tivo… the older one that we have was starting to act a little funny the other night. We turned the tv on the other night and the screen was frozen, so we tried to reboot the system and had all kind of problems. It seemed to work the next day, but then that night when we tried to watch tv, it started to act weird again. So I hopped online and found an amazing website that gave complete instructions on how to upgrade the Tivo and save all of my preferences and recorded programs.
So I got a Hard Drive for cheap and then set about the task. It required a computer that could boot from a CD-ROM and the lovely Linux disc that I got from the same site. I put the old Tivo hard drive as the primary master (hda) and then put the new drive as the Primary Slave (hdb). Following the directions explicitly, I got the system copying and it took about an hour to do.
In the end I was able to reboot the system and now I have 180 hours of recording time and a fresh new now skipping and freezing hard drive. Isn’t technology grand!
Welcome A New Blogger
The world of blogging has a new member. Sharon J. Farley has joined our ranks. Take a moment and welcome her with a nice comment.
Flashback Friday #1
Our friend Susie has been posting a flashback friday photo. This week as I looked at the picture and saw the one that my wife posted I decided that I would take the plunge and do a flashback friday post myself. Here I was in the middle of a country road in early autumn. The lighting was wonderful and even though I was on the road I had the chance to sit there and pose quite nicely for this shot. Seriously though, what did they think in the 70’s and 80’s about these backdrops?? That nobody would think they were weird. I even remember that people had wallpaper in their houses that looked like this. Very odd… anyway… the theme this week has turned out to be clothes with unusual necklines. I am not a huge fan of very high necked clothes. In fact looking at the pictures of Susie & Christie made me uncomfortable. Then when going through some pictures of myself I found this lovely shot of me in a turtle neck. I was pretty shocked there is a smile on my face. I can’t even believe I was wearing this. I am not a huge fan of turtle necks now, and have never really been, but on this day, on this road, in the middle of the country, I thought they were great.
Helpful Signs
Christie had a recent post in which she chronicled several adventures we had over the weekend. We were amazed at some of the signs we saw. Her post reminded me of a very helpful sign that I saw while on holiday in Washington DC. We were there to celebrate my 30th birthday (can you believe it has been 4 years!!). On our nighttime tour of the city we got to go to the Roosevelt Memorial and walk through the whole memorial. It is a pretty interesting place… although not my favorite spot in DC. These signs were posted everywhere, since there were water features or “fountains” if you will all over the place. What is particularly interesting about this sign is that they did not just say… “Don’t throw coins in fountains!” Instead they tried to guilt you into not doing it, since you would clearly understand that your actions would damage the fountains, and they assumed that the guests there would never want to see a fountain damaged. The whole thing made me think of other signs that could be posted… “Running red lights can damage your car” or “Driving slowly saves gas and can keep you from getting a ticket!” Oh well… most things in DC were very politically correct, so why should it be any different for signs in memorials.
In Memory of…
Memory is an interesting thing. I am the kind that tends to only walk down memory lane when I have a few minutes to relive stories of the past. I don’t usually give myself the credit for having a good memory, until I start telling the stories of my life. Yesterday was one of those kind of days. Christie, Sally and I were driving around in South County yesterday looking for places where Christie could shoot photos. We were working our way back home and Sally got pretty cranky about being in her car seat. We decided to stop at a park and just get out for a bit so we could all stretch our legs and play for a bit. I was looking for Heritage Park that I used to go to as a child, but could not find it. So then I said we could go to Harvard Park also close to where I grew up, but there is no playground there… so I said lets just go into College Park where my family lived in Irvine, since I know there is a park in there. We parked on Mayten, and had some fun play time. While we were playing with Sally, Christie and I were talking about the place and the time in my life. I told her about the Martin family and the part they had played in my life. When we were done at the park I though maybe we should just pop in and say hello, so we did.
John & Linda Martin lost their son Little John not long ago. John was a bit younger than me, and over the years we were not really close friends, but we were a sort of extended family. Our families had a shared history, and that could never change. Our impromptu visit to the Martin house in Irvine, came at what I believe was a God moment. One of synchronicity. Without remembering we had arrived at their home on John
s birthday weekend. In fact today would have been his birthday. Linda was immediately moved to tears to see us standing at her front door, since in cleaning her house she had just dusted a bible my dad had given their family. She was thinking of our family and then here we were standing there. She was able to talk and to cry and to share what her family has been through both good and bad in the last few years. I was glad that God had used my family in that moment to give Linda a safe place to cry and remember.
John and I had not seen each other in a few years before his passing. We were not particularly close, but we shared a bond of brotherhood in Christ. I know that one day our families will all gather in heaven and relive the moments shared in the late 70’s & early 80’s in Irvine, California. We will talk of moments like John having mashed potatoes all over his face, races won and lost, and two families in one house while we looked for a place to live. We will also talk of all the good memories that have gone on after those times. Most of all we will just be able to remember. So I dedicate this post to Little John and his wonderful family. You are in my thoughts and prayers today.
