The Many Seasons of Bear

Bear asked that I take these two pictures so he could compare with his own eyes how he looks in each of the shirts, in order to establish a favorite and ultimately select that as his outfit for the next day. As it turns out, he will wear his favorite of the two (the light green one about skateboarding) tomorrow, and the default looser shirt (camouflaged Superman) the next.

Fun from Florida

I got these two pictures from Caleb Saturday evening. My phone was off, so I also did not get his call. He left me a voicemail, though. Here is a transcription of that message:

"Hey you rat bastard! You need to keep your phone on on a Saturday night and be available, so we can talk to you when we're hanging around the bonfire. So uhhhhhhhhh..."

You know it was a good time. It looks like they burned a bunch of tires and probably shot alligators or some kind of wild Florida animals.

Anyways...I miss you, Caleb and Harry. I miss you.

Yes, It's True, We Totally Visited The Hermans!!

...and it ruled. We had a blast talking late, then checking out old MPBA chums on Facebook (I probably would have spent the rest of my life never specifically remembering Natalie Phelps, but there she was), ate breakfast, went to Summerfest, grilled, watched some Red Wings, and other stuff.
Incidentally, I got a raging headache and thought I was going to barf. I did not barf, which is great because barfing ranks number 6 in my list of the worst things that could possibly happen to me.

The trip was documented much better by Cassandra, here: http://www.hermanfam-cass.blogspot.com/

Here is the one picture that I took on the whole trip:
This was taken while following the Hermanmobile (with the English "D") into Cincinnati.

Thanks, Hermans, for a great trip.

-JN

new Stephen Tait facts

• There is a lasik eye surgeon in beverly hils Michigan named stephen tait - http://www.taiteye.com/

• If you google search Stephen Tait Massachusetts the top result is his correct current address and phone number

There is much much more, but these are the new things i have recently discovered about stephen tait- DN

...

Danielle dressing Willow in the morning. Some mornings Willow is grumpy, and sometimes she is happy, but either way she is pretty hilarious.


In the summertime, 7:30 pm means story time. We are in the middle of "Kidnapped." It's good, and I think Bear can follow most of it except that this copy was published with pages 49 - 150 missing. The story line has some real continuity issues now, but we're getting back into the swing of it.

Thursday Eve

Danielle, who is totally pregnant, got this new shirt at Coles for $7. To her, that is kind of expensive -she is a bargain shopper. Also today, she got hitched. As of 1:00 pm, our vibe is capable of towing a small trailer.

Clearly this man is a professional.

Travis Conti popped his shoulder out of socket at our office's softball game today and had to go to the hospital. After the game, Chris Abraham drove Travis' truck to our house, which was nearby. While here, the Abrahams bbq'ed with us and Chris even weed whacked while I mowed.

Here are Maggie, Danielle, and Willow on the back proch. It is a friendly little porch and I like it there. Also, that clock there sets itself using advanced technology called "radio." Danielle got it for me for my birthday a couple years ago for much less than you would think. Our house needs a paint job - we know.

Then the Nelsons took in the 2-hour season finale of Lost. Two hours well spent.

Maybe $4 Won't Sound So Bad Next Year

I took this phone picture, January 13, 2007, thinking I had better document it because it might be the last time I ever see a gallon of gas for less than $2. So far, it has been.

I remember only getting a couple gallons at a time when we lived on Martha's Vineyard because of the ridiculous markup of 50 cents per gallon to...(drumroll) $1.75. It sure stung then, but I would be glad to have it now. It's all relative. Like how I bet a lot of people feel when they look at a picture of themselves 20 years ago.

But on a positive note, our internal combustion-powered Pontiac Vibe, which rules, got 36.5 miles per gallon this weekend (fully loaded down with all of our crap). It is my kind of hybrid: part awesome mixed with part awesomer.

(This is someone else's Vibe)

Decoration Day at Mackinac

In the mornings we would ride over to the bakery for coffee and donuts. Walker and Bear are "just kids" so they could not finish all of those comically sized donuts. That was all the challenge they needed. By the way, nobody in Mackinac takes credit (which is fake money because it is not real).

We went for a walk in the morning and discovered some tree whose leaves smelled pretty great at first but then wreaked like sweaty butt crack when it got on our hands. And, like sweaty butt crack, that smell would just not go away. I washed and washed but they just don't make water hot enough.

Yes, that rock is actually much bigger than the Mackinac Bridge -just like it looks. It is not an illusion.

The great elk of the north will Bear upward.

Kevin and Dad caught some huge pike. Whatever the legal size is, they are like an inch bigger than that.

Kevin gave Walker and Bear a lesson in the finer points of sling-shotting.

Sticking a Willow in some Dirt

The Nelsons are the proud new owners of two "corkscrew willow" trees. They are like regular willow trees except they...are twisty. Based on the this-is-what-they-look-like-full-grown pictures, they kind of look like willow trees that had a sleepover and got their hair crimped on a dare and got fun of the next Monday at school but carried themselves with confidence and just the right amount of self-deprecation and ultimately advanced socially as a result. Ultimately, these trees will help screen our yard from the road.

Bear and I dug a hole and Willow helped fill it in. I find this picture particularly illustrative of the beautiful, bitter, circle of life -that existential wheel we all turn.

There is so much rabbit crap mixed into that tree's new dirt that it will probably grow buck teeth. Seriously, a lot of rabbit crap -which I am told is about the best thing there is to feed a tree. Rabbit crap. Next best is liquified rabbit (rendered down to a pulpy mass), but is that really worth it? Plus, there is the opportunity cost to consider. If you don't liquify the rabbit, then it can make like a ton of crap over its lifetime. But then you would have to factor in the cost of feed. I don't know. We had the rabbit crap, and didn't have any liquified rabbit -so the decision to go with the rabbit crap was that much easier. Plus I think we can all sleep a little better at night that way, too.

Willow's favorite part was the watering. Eventually negotiations with the hose broke down to the point where I was chasing both kids around and blasting them. At one point Bear said, "I never want to stop planting trees." -Which made me think of John Denver. And then I was humming that public service commercial from the 80's the rest of the evening...

plant a tree for your tomorrow
it's your tree that cleans the air
plant a tree
trees for America
plant a tree today for all the world to share

Thank you John Denver. We will never forget you.

A Visit With the Priests & Mom and Dad

This Saturday we went up to Kevin and Cheryl's and met up with Mom and Dad. Can you tell who's legs belong to: Burt, Danielle, Cheryl, John?

These kids are all considering their next move. The kickball went into the chicken field where there was a severely aggressive rooster making the rounds. In the end, I was the poor sucker who went in after it. Apparently, you never turn your back on a rooster.

Kevin drilled Bear on the ins and outs of riding Walker's dirt bike. That is the real deal, folks. There is a lot to remember, but in no time he was riding all over the yard.

Some evidence.