Horse Manure Park

The rain finally stayed away, so tonight was night #2 of tee ball.  A few tears were shed tonight... a skinned knee which finally convinced our ball player that "long pants" are a better choice than shorts when it comes to playing ball.  The big news is Ava hit a single on her first at bat (okay,  ALL the kids hit singles... and doubles... and triples... to quote my brother-in-law, Jon, the game resembled a "goat rodeo"). Still, we had fun! Ava's first official "at bat." Safe at third!

First stop, Gull Lake Recreation Area... Back from camping at noon today.  Had a great time under the stars Friday and Saturday.  The Budahn/Bowman clan were there too and we solved a few of the world's problems around the campfire in the evenings.  There are still many problems in the world, so more campfires are needed. The only casualty this weekend was when Ava (accidentally) slammed Neil's finger in the car door.  He's a tough little bugger, though.  A few tears were shed, but he was none the worse for wear a couple minutes later... and his finger was pinched but good .  He either has a high tolerance for pain or he hasn't learned how to milk it yet.  I'm not sure which. Anyway, we went for Zobarz pizza Friday night (yeah, I know... really roughing it, right?) and the kids made S'mores in the evening.  On Saturday we didn't really have any plans, just sort of improvised.  We played at the playground for a while and then went down to the beach. 

It was a rainy day yesterday, so I decided to catch up on some low-priority tasks, such as updating my iTunes with some old songs from my CD collection. It turned out to be a very interesting day of reflection for me. In mid-1994 I bought Counting Crows' album "August and Everything After." It remains one of my favorites, but one song in particular really moves me, even to this day.  Actually, it helped change my life.  You see, music does that to me. A little background: 1994 was a blur to me. I was going through a very tough time. I was 24 years old, had a worthless (so it seemed) bachelor's degree and suddenly I found myself going through a divorce, which totally blindsided me. My life was a screwed up mess.  I had no direction.   Life had no meaning.  I was angry.  I was lost.  It would have been easy to give up. I sure as hell wasn't interested in women. I tried dating, but I hated it. Women were nothing but trouble, anyway. Then in January

It's taken a while to get all the kinks worked out, but it is worth the wait... The official Farm Fest 8 invitation has been posted right here: Farm Fest 8 - August 20, 2011 We'll see you in August!

I forgot today was Father's Day until a co-worker wished me "Happy Father's Day" as I was walking out of work.  I got some nice cards from my babies and my present is in transit - so my wife says.  Or did she forget too?  Hmmmm.... Dad and me I love this picture of me and my dad.  I suppose I was about three years old when this was taken, and judging by Dad's clothes, I am guessing he just got off work.  He worked for Mid-America Dairymen for many years.  He was the butter man. Anyway, I miss my dad everyday.  I really wish I could have had another 20 years with him, but it wasn't part of the Plan. In other news, my daughter asked a terrific question tonight.  One of those questions I've never really thought of.  We were watching a cartoon where a rocket ship blasted off: "5...4...3...2...1...0...Blastoff!" Ava turned and looked at me with that thoughtful look on her face and asked, "Dad?  Why do you count backwards when a rocket

I'm still alive, blogger friends, just really lagging on updating my blog.  It is summer, so that means things have gotten a little busier. Ava started tee ball tonight.  Actually it was just an informational meeting and she was pretty disappointed she didn't get to play.  However, she got her t-shirt and we bought a glove for her (pink, of course) and a batting helmet (pink, of course) and practiced in the backyard this evening, so she was happy.  Her first game is Wednesday evening.  She's on the "yellow" team called the "Pirates" and she thinks that's cool. Jon and Sara and the kids were here last week and Beth had a garage sale.  Things were pretty slow and it didn't go as well as she had hoped.  Jon took me golfing on Friday and I enjoyed it much more this time around.  I still totally stink, but I didn't lose any balls on the back nine.  I consider that an accomplishment. So now I start another week of work.  Our next weekend off

Well my friends, I have taken my first tentative steps into the world of classical music.  It's a whole new adventure for me and I am ready to open doors to a whole new world. My interest in classical music goes back a ways.  In fact, I have two Mozart CDs which I dated December 1989 (I used to inventory my CDs back when life was simpler).  I've always had great respect for classical music and appreciated it, but I've never really tried to understand it until recently. I am reading a book on Mozart - I figured that's a pretty good place to start.  I haven't been disappointed.  The man was just absolutely extraordinary.  He was a virtuoso by the age of six and started composing around the same time - I can related to this, because he was roughly Ava's age when he started to become famous.  Many thought he was a midget because a child couldn't possibly play and compose with such feeling and technical proficiency. When he grew up, he was a rebel (for his