WHAT I DID THIS SUMMER.......

Not much really; pool patrol was practically a full time job, though not as controversial as beach patrol. I read a few books, saw a few movies. I continued to walk 4 miles a day and accept accolades for my tan and weight loss from all circles of acquaintances.

I didn't go to Slovakia.

I lunched with my Hubbell friends on a couple of occasions. For future visits, I must remember to tone down my enthusiasm for retirement. Some of those folks are pretty disgusted with their work situation; I'm not sure my grin, tan, and weight loss were truly appreciated. They fear for their jobs and I was smiling like a taco in a bowling alley! Oh well.................



We hosted our third annual G family reunion. I bought a pop up canopy for the occasion. It set up easily, as advertised. Unfortunately, I broke it when taking it down. I returned it to WalMart, fully prepared to argue that the product was defective; that it was in fact not idiot proof. I hoped to coerce an unsuspecting employee into calling me an idiot. I envisioned changing the name of the store to JIMmart. Alas, they accepted the return, no questions asked.



I created a new game with Miles and Landon, though Miles is the only one who plays. (And sometimes Julie.) Whoever sees me wearing something other than a bathing suit yells "Bingo!"
You've got to catch me pretty early in the morning to win.

It occurs to me that a variation of this game could have been played with my father. If you ever saw my dad in a bathing suit you would yell "BINGO!" Not much of a game really; Helen Keller would have as much a chance as anybody. Dad was not a bathing suit type of guy.

What else? Couple of trips to New York. Yankee Stadium; I behaved. Also went with Julie and the boys for the train ride experience. Julie disappeared for several hours doing God knows what, but we perservered. Good times.


Interestingly, I didn't play much baseball. I witnessed Miles morph into "Aqua Boy," choosing, more often than not, the pool over our field of dreams. I did, however, finally get Landon to actually catch a ball with his glove. The leather remains a foreign object on his hand, but he throws really well.


Oh yeah, I got a hair cut. actually, I cut my own hair. No remarks like, "dude, what's with the 'do?" I guess it looks okay.


I almost blogged about Tom Watson several week's ago. A 59 year old professional golfer, he almost won a very prestigious tournament. He didn't, but he gave new hope to men of my age. No doubt about it, 59 is the new 29.

This week, my baby became a somewhat reluctant participant in the circle of life as a mother of a kindergarten student. Miles is now susceptible to a world of outside influences. He will soon be coming home with new words, new atitudes, new buttons to push. Hang on; Miles ' Big Adventure has just begun..............

That's about it. I live, I love, I look forward to spending every day with my bride and Julie and her family. I look forward to Amy and Sara's next call, next visit. My almost endless summer continues. Florida awaits.

And so it goes...............