Benjamin enjoys his backyard slide on Christmas Day 2009. (click any pic to enlarge)
Regular Life
In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. – Robert FrostBrowsing Posts in Fun
A photographic round-up of the Silver Dollar City Christmas train ride. (as usual, click a pic to enlarge it)
My mom tries to finish off a piece of fudge while the rest of our crew poses. My brother was sober, I assure you.
I cropped the following pictures. Hey, I get to cheat a little while I’m stuck in a train seat, right? I also turned the old storyteller black and white, because the light shining on him made him look like a Smurf.
The next morning, our first day in what some call “Las Vegas without the casinos,” Shannon said there was no way she could walk anywhere, much less on hilly terrain. “Maybe I’ll just stay here while you guys go,” she said.
“No, we’ll figure out something,” I said.
I called Silver Dollar City and found out that they have wheelchairs available, but no guarantee we would get one. I got on the phone to medical supply places and found one to rent, delivered to our front door.
About a half hour before we were to leave, I took Benjamin and his cousin to the local playground. Quickly bored with the equipment, they wrestled, pushing each other against the surrounding iron fence. Less than a minute after they moved a few feet away from it, Benjamin fell backward and his head clanged against the fence.
Crying ensued, as did our departure from the playground. Just inside the condo’s front door, Shannon’s chariot — the rented wheelchair — welcomed us.
I waited to post this because the photos would have given away something Shannon preferred to keep a secret.
How many times does something recur before it is considered tradition? For the third year in a row, my folks planned a winter trip to Branson, Missouri, for fun at Silver Dollar City and other area attractions. We weren’t able to attend the first year, but, as I wrote in my ill-named “Things to Do in Branson When You’re Alive” series, in 2008 we had great fun.
Instead of using the weekend our family celebrates Christmas, this year we used the Thanksgiving break. Unlike last year, this time around we had to keep moving or tuck ourselves into rarely available corners to keep from getting trampled.
Thanksgiving morning at my parents’ house, Shannon awoke with pain in her left ankle, but after undergoing physical therapy for illiotibial band tendinitis, she was determined not to fall farther behind in training for December’s Dallas White Rock Marathon relay. She didn’t want to let down her team, she said.
She decided to walk instead of running, and while hanging out with my family I occasionally caught a glimpse of her bundled form striding valiantly past the driveway on the rural blacktop. At the appointed time, I called her mobile phone to let her know it was time for her to come in. I got no answer. A moment later she again came into view and I called again. She didn’t react.
At least she was getting good use from the second generation iPod Shuffle I bought her from Apple’s refurb department.
“Guess I’ll have to run out there and get her,” I said.
I asked her how her ankle felt. “It hurts a lot,” she said.
Visions of Shannon hobbling around steeply-graded Silver Dollar City danced in my head. Although I had never tried one, I was sure sugar plums would have been better.
We had a great time with visiting family and copious food, and then loaded up in three vehicles for the three-hour drive to Branson. Before anyone asks, we all would be going significantly divergent ways after that, so carpooling didn’t make sense.
“If your ankle hurts that much, then maybe we should go back for Mom and Dad’s wheelchair,” I said about 10 minutes into the drive. “They said we could bring it.”
“No, I don’t want to do that,” Shannon said. She was trying not to focus any more attention on her plight, and hoped that by morning her ankle would feel better.
Instead, it got much worse.
(to be continued)
At a recent Cub Scouts den meeting, one of the boys brought his mother to help explain and showcase the violin. It is one of my favorite instruments, so despite my usual reservations about taking Benjamin to a meeting that ends a half hour past his bedtime (on a school night), I looked forward to the evening.
I took along my digital recorder to capture some of the live music. What I got was not what I expected.
In this clip, the young lady explains the bow, and Benjamin’s input bewilders one of his fellow Scouts who happens to be just as vocal. If not more.
A transcript follows after the more link below, for those who either have no way to listen or cannot make it out.
These sound clips should take some of you back to your childhood. Sadly, they may take some of you nowhere because you weren’t born yet. Or, and this might be sadder still, you just aren’t geeky enough.
Naming the clip is encouraged.
1. 2.
3. 4.
5. 6.
7.
And, finally, a bit longer, more musical number.
3. 4.
5. 6.
7.
And, finally, a bit longer, more musical number.
I wrote this in anticipation of a movie slated for a 2010 release. For extra phantom bonus points, name it.
(click to enlarge)
We had a great weekend visiting my family in Arkansas. Shannon and her mother, who already had plans with other family in the area, joined in for part of the festivities. That’s why she wasn’t in the above picture.
I included a couple more pictures for this teaser post, after the jump.
My six-year-old son sketched four frames to tell the story of the Cloud City battle between Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker. I had him narrate it after I grabbed my recorder, and later I mixed it with the scanned drawings to create a video. (sorry if you’re at work and this is blocked — I had to use YouTube this time around)
J. Wilde’s is one of the more colorful places in San Angelo. It was closed when I dropped by on Sunday, but I got a few closer looks at the outdoor features.
(click to enlarge)
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).
About Mark
Cubicle geek by day, proud husband and father by choice. Living in Texas by some weird twists of fate.
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