The dragon’s roar fills the air. Moksha ascends the stairs alone as the mythic lizard turns his way.
Simon calls out to me, “Hey, Mark, Dex doesn’t want to go, can you take Tav?”
I need a good angle for my picture, and I don’t want to miss the blast of dragon fire. Tavish wraps himself around me and I climb the stairs two at a time. Moksha takes him so I can ready my camera. (click any pic to enlarge)
I’m not sure I believed that a group of moms could go from not running at all in July to running a half marathon in December, and in a few cases the whole enchilada.
A few years ago my wife, Shannon, helped start a local moms’ group when some sought more personal connections than they found in a fast-growing group with 250-plus members. A number of them exercised on a regular basis, but few considered themselves runners.
Since 2005 I have used my blog to share what’s happening in our lives. Four days from when this publishes, I begin the final year of my 30’s. What better time to look back on what my 30’s brought before I started a public journal?
I turned 30 in the dreaded year 2000. By the time my birthday arrived, it was fairly clear that the world was not going to end as a result of the rollover from 1999. It also was fairly clear that Prince’s song “1999″ would never be the same.
We had moved to northwest Arkansas in 1999 so I finally could leave information technology and follow my dream of writing for a living, for exactly half the pay I had been earning. The funniest thing about that was the number of people who asked me, “Is your wife going with you?”
That was only the beginning of a period that can be summed up by that overused word, “change.”
Alvis and I enjoyed a much more relaxing time the next morning, right about sun-up. Fog lingered in the launch field, so some in this photographic round-up are a bit hazy.
Enjoy and, as usual, click any pic to enlarge it (none of these were cropped).
While our wives and children were away on Monday night, Alvis and I sampled an exotic taste.
If you ever are in World Market, as I think two straight guys definitely should be at least once when they are without their families, do as we did. Or, better yet, don’t.
(click any following image to enlarge)
I didn’t let the lewd gesture ruin it for me.
About a month ago we attended my high school class’ 20-year reunion. As one of the 99 people eligible for the event, you are guaranteed to see someone you know, and probably someone you’ve known since kindergarten. Sure, there might be a 20-year gap in your knowledge, but the history is unlike what many folks experience at these functions.
If that doesn’t do it, consider this: we lived in a town of about 6,000 people that’s (at least) 10 times the population of any town in a 29-mile radius. Our nearby options for socializing were few.
(concluded from Part Four)
Sunday, May 31 – Second Verse
When it comes to John F. Kennedy’s assassination, it seems the only thing people agree on is that he was shot. Visiting the site doesn’t help one form a strong opinion one way or the other (not this one, anyway), and I had very little prior knowledge of the topic.
We leave Medieval Times’ wenches, knights and royalty behind us and head to the nearby Dealey Plaza, where the 35th President of the United States made his final public appearance.
(Continued from Part Three)
Sunday, May 31 – First Verse
When I wake up, it doesn’t even cross my mind that Simon will end up in a choke hold. And, believe it or not, it isn’t because of the picture he took of me. If you can’t whistle while you’re wearing Super Trooper sunglasses over your regular glasses, then when can you?
Breakfast is a casserole Shannon made from a recipe. With nothing on our agenda until late afternoon, we hang out at the house for the morning, and then snack on homemade salsa and sandwiches in anticipation of the large meal to come.
Shannon and Amy go shopping while the rest of us see Drag Me To Hell, the latest Sam Raimi film. It isn’t as much fun as the Evil Dead film series, and the well-done creepy scenes were almost completely ineffectual against talking moviegoers seemingly set on ruining the mood. No wonder people are choosing more and more to wait until they can rent a film.
It’s this kind of hanging out, just as we would with local friends we can see any time (but don’t nearly often enough) that stitches the weekend into a rich tapestry of… oh, boy, somebody stop me now, please.
Then comes the uncommon event we all have been anticipating — something I had consulted the guys about before they had booked their flights. We load up in Homer and head to Dallas.
(continued from Part Two)
Saturday, May 30
Do you prefer real maple or the artificial pancake syrup?
To start our first full day as a complete unit, we watch Simon make breakfast. Using the ingredients Shannon had grabbed at the store based on the list he had sent, he whips up a batch of blueberry chocolate chip pancakes. I quickly finish mine and wish for more. For me that’s something, because I normally can’t get through a short stack without getting nauseated. Shannon had bought whole grain instead of just whole wheat flour, but they turn out great.
Sadly, Moonshot eats only one bite of her stack after slathering it in maple syrup. Of the six of us, the Canadians and I are the only ones who prefer the real stuff. They mention, however, that what I have (from Vermont) is much different from what they have back home.
On our somewhat loose itinerary, this is our stay in town day. No trips over major highways, no venturing into the city.
(click any of the many pics to enlarge)
(continued from Part 1)
Friday, May 29
Simon, Amy, and I stretch sleep from our joints as Shannon returns from taking Benjamin to school. Carefully eying a package Moksha Gren had shipped to our house with explicit instructions not to open it, we scarf some caramel rolls (the kind packaged like canned biscuits), get presentable, and hit the road to retrieve Moksha and Moonshot.
We miss the airport photo op because they already are waiting at the curb with their bags. I maneuver into a somewhat parallel position, but a shuttle bus comes along to urge me out of the way.
