Back to School 2014: Letters from Drew

This guy headed off for his first day of Fourth Grade today! 

 Fourth Grade!

He continues to amaze me with how grown-up he's getting. I mean, listen to this letter I got about a month ago, relaying his some of his summer adventures and travels.

"Dear J dog, it's soooo hooooooooot dagaaaay here, it feels to me like the world is in slow-motion, so I thought I'd write back to you today on this fine Thursday here. Where do I start? Ah I know. I'll start at the beginning. So it all started when it was Saturday after I learned I was staying at grandma and grandpa's in Bloom-in-ton so I had to start packing for three days there and a week with the other grandma & grandpa (both new records). So the next day after church they came over and picked me up. When we were there I upacked. (sic) At 9:00 I read and went to bed. The next morning I woke up at 5:00 in the morning my time and I was pooped. Grandpa said we might not go earlyer (sic) that night but the weather changed and we ended up going. All three days we had the same routine. So after we went kayaking the third day. I showered and grandma & grandpa took me to mom and dad to go to gamdg Hughes. The next day we woke up at there (sic) house and I was in the guest bed and I was not the first awake. next paper -->  I was actually almost the last one to. That day we went swimming at our cousin's city pool. A few days later on Monday me, Levi, mom and dad went to Lagoon. If you know what Lagoon is, in your next letter write to me that you know but if not I think you should look on they're (sic) website. After we were done we went back. A few days later we packed up and hit the road. After that things were pretty normal, dad taking naps, mom going to work. On Tuesday we went and saw the M[redacted] cousins. Then on Thursday me, mom, and the kids drove to Axtell for three days, and I can tell you, I got eaten (sic) by mesquitoes (sic). I almost got bitten by a spider while watching fireworks! We watched the parade the next morning going to the Reber's house is always fun. The second to last day were there, me, Laini, Levi, and Uncle Matt went swimming. The next day we started packing and left. After that everything was normal! And now you have part of my summer.

Love, Drew"

And conveniently enough, Grandmary and Grumpa sent me pictures of Drew and his cousins playing at the grandparents house.

l-r: Nathan, Elle, Amber, Drew's back

The twins do solemnly swear they are up to no good, 

which Nathan can't believe, and Cannon just grins off and tries again.

Finally, for some quiet, a DVD started playing in the library, so the "big kids" could goof off in there.

More from Grumpa:

 Drew on the water kayaking and then refilling his poor empty belly.

Gunlock State Park, Utah

 Blink, and you miss it.

Breakfast inhaled.

Hey. He's a growing boy and paddling is hard work!

Keep writing Drew!

Happy Birthday Daddy Grumpa Max!

See this handsome young lad here?

Well, it's his birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

(I know he's reading this and giving me exactly this face right now! Or this goofy look.)

You know what? I don't care. We came too close to honoring this birthday in a completely different manner so I'm going to put up all the photos I like. That I'm conveniently an entire country away so you can't swat at me is of no matter.

I love that we stay in touch through all the new technology, that you try so hard and send me articles, and book links/suggestions, and have me order stuff from Amazon.com for you even though you obviously are tech-savvy enough to do it yourself, and we get the train-of-thought-middle-of-the night odd e-mails, and we have our weekly chats on the phone (when Mom shares the phone lines). I know that even if we don't talk every day that you are thinking about me. It goes both ways.

But I'm really glad that we get all the in-person quality time when I come out to visit for the long winter holidays. Thanks for leading the way up "hills" (easy hikes, my foot!), through calm still waters,

through the rocky valleys of trials and tribulations, for being there when we need to shoot off our mouths and let off some steam, for teaching us how to stand up and protect ourselves,

but mostly for being a great dad, grandpa, help-meet and healer.

I know that you're up the creek without your paddle right now, and that you are "rudderly" sick of momentary restrictions on your normal natural way of relaxing, but patience. Please. You have to stick around down here with us for a long long long long time - so in the eternal scheme of things, this isn't even a tick of a second. You need to be better for our next date on Sand Hollow. Maybe we can paddle further out than the shallows this time?

You are my rock and my heart.

Happy Birthday!

Here's to many more.

Photos from Dec. 2011-Jan. 2012 trip out West to Utah: kayaking on Sand Hollow, hiking in Snow Canyon, Johnson Canyon, and Temple Quarry, and shooting in an undisclosed location

Happy Father's Day 2012

Painting by Auntie Nettie c. 3rd Grade 1980-1981

Even though the dad in this drawing is not the blonde/silver haired kayaking fox that's my pop, I couldn't think of a better picture to post for Father's Day.

Thanks for instilling a love of the water in all your kids.

Hope you can get out on the lake soon.

xo,
me
your favorite daughter in the whole widest world

Dam it: Wandering through Windham, May 2012

And after a little longer Blogging Break than I anticipated, prepare for the posting floodgates to open again .....

I unexpectedly needed to spend some time back in CT with a friend and her family at the end of last month. It was a sad visit, and one evening, after an afternoon of rituals, family, friends, and food, I found a few hours of sunlight left to burn. Loathe to return to an empty house quite yet, I turned myself and the car loose on the back roads of CT.

Like a homing beacon, I felt drawn to a place where my father and I had spent quality time together. (Of course, it wasn't until I just typed that did I realize why I felt the need to revisit this particular setting from my childhood. Our sub-consciousnesses are strange.)

My brother has blogged about how our father has passed down the love of being on the water. He used to take us canoeing out at the local dam, and later used to spend hours out there kayaking--solo, or with a family member. The dam and park were also areas where we spent time parked with dad trying to hash out adolescent angst, or out on foot, walking around the high dam walls over by the airport -- processing many an issue, or in one notable case, ending a long-term relationship.

Of course, it'd been decades since I'd been out at the actual dam, and I got lost the first time. Not so much lost, as misdirected/overshot/needing to reattempt the entry. I circled around the back roads, through misty afternoon showers, summer sunsets, and then found the correct route to where I wanted to go.

I must have looked pretty strange, climbing up the steep stairs in a somber funeral dress, but I had to go, exchange the air in my lungs, breathe in the mist, and look over the horizon for some perspective.

The pounding of the waters through the sluice gates, the rush of the rapids down the river, the birds singing in the aftermath of a summer shower, and a light breeze up on the dike? As soothing to my soul as the sight of the rolling green hills of "home."

Since it was a quiet evening, and barely anyone was around, I also took a moment to explore the grounds of a converted mill building. When I was growing up, it was abandoned and not nearly in as good shape as this. Can't you picture what a reading nook/work studio would be up there in the clock tower? (I picture big comfy couches, wooden library desks, baskets of yarn ...) I think the windows open/bevel, so you could get a cross breeze and feel the mist off the river.

Back in the car, I headed back up the road to the boat launch area. A storm had gone through earlier and sunset was drawing close, but that hadn't stopped some intrepid kayakers, local fishermen, or others drawn to the water. With all the years that have passed, it's hard to remember how intimidated we were paddling through that culvert to the other side of the lake. Of course, we were smaller, and not as comfortable on the water as we are now. Sitting lower in a kayak helps too.

So dam it all ... Thanks Pop. Thanks for the time, patience, love of water, driving lessons, water lessons, life lessons, and so so so much more than I can say. Please take care of yourself and keep wearing that safety equipment when you are out on Sand Hollow. I'm not ready to cross the breakwater and deal with the rapids that my friend and her family just had to. K? Thanks.

Kayaking Kohorts: January 3, 2012

January 3rd:
61 degrees. Flipflops. Shorts/capris. No wind. Blue skies. Clear sailing.
This is why people vacation in southern Utah in the winter.

Postcard for Grumpa: Cape Cod

Cape Cod, Brewster, MA
October 1, 2011

Pardon the audio quality

Synopsis:

Dear Dad, Wish you were here. Look at all the sea kayakers. It's a beautiful day on the beach. Even Mom could handle this today. It's gorgeous. Too bad you are too far away. Maybe you could drag J back and do an tour. Down here by Brewster.Love you, Auntie Nettie

Photo of the Day: Retail Rafts

Spotted in an Ocean State Job Lot, Eastern Connecticut, June 2011 via cell phone

Sadly, I have no room in the studio or real reason to purchase any of these flotation devices. If I was closer to a reservoir, or the Bronx River actually allowed paddlers ...

Photo of the Day: Kiboshed Kayak

Southern Utah; January 3, 2011

presented with this comment:

Another vacation and national holiday, and guess what I don't get to do?