Kate & Mike

Kate & Mike got married this weekend.  We had a blast with everyone – cousins, brothers, sisters, friends.  It is nice how everyone can slip into the familiar so easily.  Even though we only see each other periodically, I love that we are still great friends and that we can make each other laugh and think.

I love October Baseball!

Let the post season begin!  The Red Sox are back in the chase for another title, and I can’t wait for the games.  Nothing like seeing the Fenway faithful in scarfs and mittens cheering on the home team late into the chilly New England night.  I know they play in California for this first series, so these first two games will be almost impossible to watch live.   I’m hoping for a Sox-Cubs series this year, it’ll be just like 1906!

Zuma!

Add this to my wishlist:

Yamaha Zuma 125

The Yamaha Zuma 125.

Big Pictures

These are great pictures from the Boston Globe.  They make me want to be a better photographer.

TED talks

Some of these TED talks are amazing.  I just watched this one on my lunch hour and I was amazed (especially at the end).  Kieth Barry Does Brain Magic.

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.  Most of the videos are 20 minutes or less, and I have found that most of them are at least interesting, and quite often amazing and enlightening.  I particularly liked the neurosurgeon who talked about her own stroke, the photographer who helped a young Vietnamese AmerAsian orphan get adopted, and Benjamin Zander’s talk on music and passion.  It’s a great way to refresh your brain during the day.

Wish List

Want.

Wish I was Going to the Sun…

Saturday June 27 (tomorrow) is the 75th anniversary of the Going To The Sun Road.  Lisa and I were on this road two years ago on our McAllistour adventure.  It cuts right through and over Glacier National Park and is breathtaking in its scope and beauty.  The landscape, animals, geology, geography, and the sheer poetry of driving on this road is one of my favorite memories from that trip.  I wish I was there again!

I remember almost hitting a deer that jumped out of nowhere onto the road and galloped beside us for a few strides before disappearing back into the forest.  I remember sitting in a kayak on the glacial Lake MacDonald with Lisa and hanging our feet into the icy cold water.  I remember seeing snow six feet deep at Logan Pass – in JUNE!  I remember hiking up to Hidden Lake.  I remember eating jerky, pb&jelly, and grapes for lunch by a crystal clear stream.  I remember huckleberry ice cream.  I remember waking in total darkness and seeing more stars than I ever have before.

Good times, good times indeed!

Things I Learned

These are some of the things I learned from my weekend away with my brothers and dad.

1)  We are still just kids who like hanging out with each other and playing.  When we were little and living back in Andover, we were each other’s best friend and playmate.  I remember being in the backyard, or the front yard, or MonkeyLand, with just one or three or four of my brothers and time seemed to stand still and fly by in an instant all at once.  We’d have GI Joes or Matchbox cars, or a wiffle ball and bat, or a kickball, or nothing at all but our imaginations.  The same quasi time jump/time skip happened over the weekend.  It was both standing still and moving at light speed.  We had toys (Pigs, fire, cornhole, beer!) and our imaginations.  We laughed out loud – sometimes too loud or too late.  We mocked, mimicked, rode, rowed, belched, burped, talked, lied, and created our own class of servant monkeys.

2) We are all adults and are handling our grown up lives responsibly, lovingly, and happily.  Periodically one at a time, discreet phone calls were made to wives and kids, silent text messages sent to say we made it and we miss those who live closest to us.   Stories about our lives – friends, frustrating jobs, economics, politics, health – and about lovely crazy kids, happy kids, thoughtful wives, filled the miles in the Man Van and hours around the cabin and campfire.

3) Even though we are miles and states apart, and even though we are weeks and months from visits, we are closer than ever.  Maybe my sappiness or emotions get the better of me sometimes, but I have to say that with each bit of history between us and behind us, the story of this brotherhood I am proud to be part of is one that defines a huge part of my identity and my life.  And I miss a lot of it.  And I treasure all of it.

4)  Monkeys doing human things would be both frightening and AWESOME!

Stormy Weather – All Boats In

I am taking an intro to sculling class at the Thompson Boat Center. The Potomac has always been a place I’ve wanted to get out on, enjoy, and visit. Rowing is an exercise I enjoy, too. It is meditative, hard, easy, relaxing, exhausting, and beautiful when done correctly.

Today is supposed to be our first day on the water but the weather is a wee bit eerie out there. Hurricanes, 70mph winds, hail! I think we’ll stay in the boathouse today!

Free Music

I’m digging the All Radiohead channel on AOL Radio.   I also get into the All Springsteen channel, too, once in a a while.