#2 & #4 Hard at Work

Big Dawg is about 85% recovered, at least well enough to put in a few hours at Woofables with Peanut. 

Rather Be At The Dentist

Well, this happened. The man-child caught a summer virus, and with all his summer running, he became very dehydrated. Ike got so dehydrayed that his eloctrolytes got all out of whack. 

The combination of a fever (as much as 103), and lack of fluids led to total blackout. After a 919 call and a visit from paramedics, we took the fateful trip to the ER where he was examined and checked in for observation.

All tests came back negative, so he was released less than 24 hours later. He needs to push the fluids and eat, eat, eat. All's well that ends well... so far. There is a lot of summer left. 

Graduations

Big Dawg walks away from West High School with highest honors. He'll run cross country and track for Luther College, and he'll play violin. Hopefully he'll find time to take a class or two.

He's following in the footsteps of one of his older sisters, The Peanut (pictured here). She too is celebrating a graduation. After she left Luther, she did a tour with The Peace Corps, then returned to complete a Masters degree in Social Work from the University of Chicago. 

There are few words to describe the pride a parent can have and express about their kids. What ever they are (those words, not the kids), I have them in multiples. 

Book 'em Danno

We went to Kalona, IA to score some plants at the local nursery, and then we went into town to score some fresh baked artesian goods. We god the goods (goodies?) And saw a few charming shops during our "adventure". 

Not Much of a Prom

Ike, like many HS Seniors, got gipped out of stupid/memorable Senior activities and events. He missed two homecomings and at least one prom., but not this year.  West High opened up the Football field for a social gathering that was an informal prom.  Students did not take it too seriously, but intended to make it fun.  So here we see, Big Dawg in his prom attire.

Irreverent is the operative word. 

A Tree Blooms in Bertram

Spring is always welcomed in the upper Midwest. The long winters make this seasonal change so inviting. Sadly, an Iowa Spring is also a very unpredictable season with mercurial temps and weather - 70 degrees one day, sleet, and frost warnings the following day. 

As the days grow longer, the sunlight is welcomed, but deceptive. More than once we'll blast out the front door anticipating a comfortable stroll to the mailbox, only to be greeted with the bone chilling reality that we left our winter coats in the closet. The price of optimistic thinking, I suppose. 

These are not like the lovely waves of Spring I remember from my days in the Carolinas with Azaleas, Box Woods, and Redbuds in a cacophony of warmth and color.  

But in the very least, gone are the mounts of snow to be replace by a blooming pear tree, an albeit brief harbinger for the scorching summer ahead.  I'll take it this in all it's glory, and await the arrival of the Orioles, Blue Birds, and Grosbeaks. 

Comma Day!!!

Well, I gotta say a tiny punctuation mark isn't quite as rewarding until it sits between a 1 and three 0s.  Last Saturday I got to insert that comma where it has been earned.

        1,000 Consecutive Days - Running at least two miles! 

            

800, A Painful Distance

Two times around a track is a hard distance. For a 400 you plan to start at 90% and finish at 93-94% (assuming 100% is an all-out sprint). An 800 is different. Start at about 85% and guage the competition and how you feel. Stay with the lead if you can, and/or hold back just a bit to take prisoners and finish strong. 

Tonight was not Ike's best (2:03), but he left it on the track, and he continues to improve his racing intelligence and maturity. As he grows into his body and gets the next level of coaching and competition, he'll be a beast. I'm very proud of him.  

Find a Penny

I wonder

See a penny...

Pick it up?

Good luck?

Bad luck?

Heads up.

Tails down.

"Like a bad penny"

Do you stick around?

I do.

And you know what?

Today, I'm a penny richer.

How 'bout you?

Carbo Loading

Athlete of the week for the track team. Ran a great 800, but was pinched-out from a break away finish. You'd think a half mile event would spread out, but not in this heat. Proud that Big Dawg is figuring out pace and timing for a half mile race, AND he's stepping into his game. He's just going to get better.

Golf

Crowded at Altmaier Disc golf course today. Actually, it looked busier than Brown Deer Golf Course.  This got me wondering... do you scream "FORE!" If your disc drifts out of the fareway... or do you scream "INCOMING!"?

Signs of Spring

April 1 may be a day of fools, but I disagree. Today was the opening day for the  Major League Baseball season.  "Play Ball!"  Perhaps the only fool is a Cubs fan, but they too will enjoy the first pitch. Why not?  Right now they're tied for the division lead. 

The other sign of Spring is the return of our raccoons. This guy has decided that, after eating any scraps in our bird feeder, it makes for a very comfortable bed. 

His brother, sister, mother, father, cousin, (or neighbor) swings (acrobatically) between a tree and our other feeder. It's an impressive display that even PT Barnum would be impressed with.

Spring must be here. Hooray!

Tape Measure Please

So an intense discussion ensued, and before you know it, everyone was standing with a tape measure. 6'3", 5'10", and 5'6" respectively. So now we know. In my prime, after a good night of sleep, I would have clocked in at 6'. Saddly thousands of miles, compressed disc's, and an ancient shrinking spine puts me solidly at 5'11"... less at the end of the day. That's how we stack up. And so it goes...

Breaking out of Quarantine

I noticed that it's been more than 3 years since the last post.  My efforts to revise the blog have been lame at best.  Perhaps we can consider this break as transitional. 

So here are thumbnail updates:

• Beaner is a successful young realtor in IC, and a bride in waiting (Nov. '21)
• Peanut is wrapping up Grad School in Social Work at U. Chi. after an aborted Peace Corps. stint (China). She'll likely be placed in the Chicago School District to begin her work next fall.
• Chalupa is working remotely from various Air B&B locations (moving roughly every six weeks with her boyfriend). She works out of San Fran, and he out of Seattle.  Their currently holed up in L.A. after stints in Taos, Sedona, Leadville (CO), Victor (ID) among others.
• Big Dawg is staring down the barrel of graduation, and exploring his college prospects to include: UCSD, Berkley, Colorado, Carolina, and maybe Luther.  Considerations are to continue XC running and his music pursuits, or go right into academics... heading out towards environmental law.  So he may qualify to become a security guard for a waste treatment plant? 
• Sidetrack continues to lead our efforts to become global gourmet dog biscuit barons.  Woofables' pawprint now reaches coast-to-coast and this summer we're tripling our production/distribution capabilities. 
• As for me... since the last post, I've transitioned (professionally) twice, and am now the Managing Director for the Iowa Startup Accelerator.  Basically I oversee programming and development for a portfolio of Venture funded startup companies. 

That's the update for now, with more to follow as my dormant writing ambitions re-establish some traction in the blog-o-sphere.  

[as for the photo, never leave a can of sparkling water in your car when temps drop below zero for an extended period of time... explosive results]