Other things I forgot...

I recently spent a long weekend in Grand Forks with the family. I was at a continuing education conference for two days and Tami did some stuff with the guys. The highlights of the weekend were:

1. Sunday brunch with Todd and Christie, whom we haven't seen for a couple of years. They are doing well, still teaching and teaching. We are going to try to get together next summer in GF at a soccer tourney and later in Bismarck for some golf.

2. A Prairie Home Companion was live from the Chester Fritz, and Tami and I always love to see and hear Garrison Keillor. Hunter really liked the live music and skits, and Luke and Will both "sorta" liked it.

3. Watched the Fighting Sioux beat Michigan Tech Friday night at the Ralph Engelstad arena. Great venue, even our nosebleed seats were pretty decent. Boys got to see good hockey and experience drunks on the bus ride back to the hotel. (Hunter: "Dad, I'm really glad you only had one beer. Most of these guys are really being stupid.")

4. Family time. Nothing like being cooped up in a motel room and/or a minivan with three grade-school age boys. Tami is nearly recovered.

My friend Cameron from work is interested in homebrewing, too, so maybe I'll have somebody to join forces with since the R@fink continues to live 106 miles away.

My most recent flimsy excuse....

This is a true story. About three weeks ago, I went to my cardiologist and got a very good report. Then I decided I should get myself in better shape. 3 days after that I have Pneumonia, and haven't been worth a shit since! I'm finally recovering but a long way from !00%.

In the meantime, I finally got my homebrew catalog from The Northern Brewer, and I'm very excited to get my kit together and do some homebrew.

We did manage another day of snowboarding,but the snow has been crappy (or nonexistent) most of the winter. Maybe next year.

Coaches meeting for Soccer on the 28th. The first tournament in the first weekend of June so lots of work to do. Luke and Will will be playing together for me on the U10 team, and Hunter will play for the Capital City U12 team.

Recently watched the DVD from the BRHS76 20th reunion,and I've been through the website. Nice work y'all. I do have a conflict with the July reunion weekend dates as I'll be in Fargo for the State Soccer tournament Friday thru Sunday.

Which got me thinking...It's time I got my own DVD filled with pix and history and stuff. If I actually get it done I'll send it to Terry. Never let opportunity slip by....

Which National Anthem?

I've been seething of late about the current Administration's abuses of American freedom. Instead of "enforcing" the law of the land, the President and his posse have just been "makin' and interpretin' those laws" on their own.

In light of the upcoming Winter Olympic games, where some American citizen will win a gold medal and thereby earn the right to mouth the words to "The Star Spangled Banner" on national television, I am proposing a (national) contest to rewrite the words to the national anthem to better reflect our current situation.

At a minimum, you must find something to replace "...the land of the free, and the home of the brave."

Just send me your ideas in the comment section, I'll do my best to sift through and pick out the New and Improved Anthem. If it's really good, I'll send it to one of my favorite blogs where they actually have readers!

Okay, so I've not been diligent about posting...somebody's got to keep the economy going so our Preznit can continue to spy on "free and brave" American citizens- oh wait, Karl told him to call it terrorist surveillance, which does not give me the same warm fuzzy feeling I got when he said "No Child Left Behind" or "I'm the education Preznit."

Be that as it may, I've survived the Holidays, the family time, and the playoffs. Now it is time to snowboard! But, of course, we have no snow. I've been tracking the snow reports for Red Lodge and Bridger Bowl, and will just have to go on short notice whenever it actually snows. The boys are all outfitted and ready to go, just need a little cooperation from the snow gods.

On the mundane side, several employees have moved on to greener pastures (that is not a slam) but it has meant wading through hundreds of applications, narrowing the field, interviews, rehashing, finally hiring, realizing one of those was (gasp!) a mistake, rehiring....oh, you get the idea. I think I've got it under control but I'm not holding my breath, either. The "well oiled machine" takes a lot of oil, maintenance, and parts.

The Future? Not too long until the summer soccer season starts. I'll be coaching Luke and Will on their U10 team, and Hunter will play with the same team but in the U12 division. No big vacations planned (yet). Not sure if they'll all play baseball, too.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Well, we're down to one more Saturday of soccer and one cross-country meet and then the sports are over for awhile and I can try and get in some hunting.

I see by the calendar that my old Dad is 79 today. The nicest present he got was a bye week for the Vikings. Hope you had a good day.

It was the pheasant opener this weekend which means only 3 1/2 weeks to deer season. I am really excited to get up to the cabin for a long weekend with the guys.

Still trying to figure out how to get up to Minot to see the R@fink and try some of these homebrews of his.

I've had a few thoughts about some of the recent political events, but haven't managed to get them keyboarded in here yet.

First Saturday of Autumn

Well, we got through the Bismarck Soccer League Jamboree. The kids play 3 "half-games" and with three boys you can guess how long we were out there. I really think soccer is finally starting to make headway against the traditional American sports uphere in the northland. The place was jam packed with kids and parents, so obviously somebody thinks it is fun.

I see that my old friend Bob R@kfink worked on a batch of home brew this weekend. It was an Ireland style Red Ale, and it makes me thirsty just thinking about it.

I had suggested to him that we get a few other home brewers out there together for an American Oktoberfest late September '06. It would be a great chance for a tasting and a little backyard football or goose/duck opener for those so inclined. I don't know which of you is into brewing (or drinking, for that matter) but it would be a chance to do something really different and fun. Reply in the old comments section if you are interested.

I'm in the busy season at work, and want to get out hunting a few times, and tomorrow may be the last golf game of the season, and who knows what the rest of Fall will hold?

Writing by a real writer

I thought I'd start with a post from a writer who can really write. This is from a collection called Passages Toward The Dark by poet Thomas McGrath, and is simply titled "Poem":

My little son comes running with open arms!
Sometimes I can't bear it,
Father.
Did I, too,
Open your heart almost to breaking?

I've been thinking a lot lately about my relationship with my father and how things have changed...my three boys hug me and kiss me and tell me all kinds of stuff (some of which I probably don't want to hear). I don't remember saying much to my Dad that didn't absolutely have to be said, or listening to much that he said. Conversation just to converse was non-existant.

But then I remember that at least I've still got a father. The dad's of all of my friends from high school and early college are gone. Heart attacks. Diabetes. Emphysema.

My old Dad, who is hardly the picture of health, just keeps on going. He drinks a little too much beer, and watches a little too much football, and still can't carry on much of a conversation, but he's there, and I just need to grow up and spend some time with him before he's not there.

When I read McGrath my heart just about breaks because I know the love of my children, and I know I felt it for him, and he probably for me. Do I have it in me to ask him that question?

First whine

An experiment without all the scientific trappings. I hope to get some stuff on here that people who know me want to see, and the rest of us might find interesting/entertaining/useful.