photo

adventures / Monday / photo / Roatan / SCUBA / video — Comments Off on We were in Roatan, Honduras
8
Jul 19

We were in Roatan, Honduras

Welcome back. This is what has been going on the last few days. We skipped town a week ago Friday night and went to Indianapolis. We had a pizza and stayed in a hotel where a travel baseball team, full of youth and life and energy and dance party ideas, was staying. Ordinarily that’s not a problem, but we had an early flight to catch.

Which we did! We caught a plane! Bare hands and everything! And so the fly flew us to Atlanta. And then another plane flew us to Roatan, Honduras on Saturday afternoon. A couple of nice guys took our luggage and we got on a shuttle bus which drove us across part of the island to our resort. On the way we met the most obnoxious child in the world. The resort is a small place, so you tend to see the same people over and over. And we saw that kid, Evie, and her adults over and over throughout the week. She didn’t improve much. Or any, really. It would have been cute if she’d had Little Orphan Annie’s charm, but that role has been cast. And while I would never say anything out loud, I really wanted to say Evie’s Mom “I’d never be one to tell a person how to parent, but you should start.”

The teen years are going to be tough, and the adult years may not be any better. Pretty much everyone that had the displeasure came to this conclusion.

But that’s a person, and we were on vacation. This is a dive trip, and the resort, Anthony’s Key, is great. It’s a dedicated dive resort, which is growing out its family things. So you can take the whole family! (No Evies allowed!)

We signed in on Saturday afternoon, got our luggage and took a quick snorkel before dinner. I saw three starfish in those few minutes:

On Sunday we started diving. Three dives a day. Two in the morning, one in the afternoon. And I made a new grouper friend on one of those first dives:

And then The Yankee made friends with a turtle:

Here are some more clips from our first dives:

There’s a lot more to get through and show off over the course of the rest of this week. Maybe longer. Just remember to keep an eye on your gauges.

In the meantime, we have pictures!

Do you see the little white fish below? He’s also in the video above.

There’s beautiful coral around Roatan. I found I could stare at it for the entire sequence of dives.

But if you’re here for the fish …

This one is me. I am not a fish:

The Yankee is at least part fish, though:

On Sunday we went wreck diving:

Sitting at 110 feet under the surface is the Odyssey. The freighter, at 300 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 85 feet tall, is Roatan’s largest wreck dive, and one of the larger ones in the Caribbean, as well. It was sunk for divers in 2002. People see grouper, barracuda, tuna and sometimes sharks. We saw grouper and one barracuda, later in the dive I caught a glimpse of a tarpon.

But the coral formations are lovely.

Friday / IU / photo — Comments Off on I know The Answer
28
Jun 19

I know The Answer

I had lunch with a former student today. Alex “The Answer” Eady graduated a year ago and has been doing news on WTIU here locally since then. We’ve been able to get together a few times over that period with her busy schedule. Today, though, was a sad meeting, because she’s skipping town.

I’ve watched her work for three years now, and now I’ll have to see it from afar. Her next stop is Virginia, and big things are in store for her. She’s got all the talent, charm, work ethic and know how one needs to be the next big thing. Her time is coming and she’s going to take advantage of it in a big way.

I’ll just miss the lunches.

But there’s always social media. And with her move, I’ll have former students, and now friends, working in 18 markets across 13 states.

Monday / photo / Twitter — Comments Off on It was a quiet weekend
24
Jun 19

It was a quiet weekend

This is the Hemerocallis daylily. But you better enjoy it quickly; each bloom only sticks around for a day or so.

We went for a little bike ride on Saturday before the sunny weather turned gray. And then on Sunday we lost power for about seven hours. I was trying to remember the last time I was out of power for that long. I’m guessing it’s been 25 years. But the microburst we encountered yesterday was pretty serious and the local utility company doesn’t really clear the power line paths very well, besides.

So the power went out around 3 p.m. and we sat and read. We decided we’d rather go out for dinner than grill out as another storm cell began moving through. Guess where we went:

And after Cracker Barrel, we made it back home to find more darkness. So we read some more.

Finally as the sun slipped away, the power company’s app kept pushing back the projected repair time. I started kicking myself for not buying extra batteries while we were across town having dinner. So went to the big red box store and got big armfuls of AA and C batteries.

Just as we pulled back into the driveway, the neighborhood burst into light. So we have batteries for next time.

adventures / photo / Twitter / video — Comments Off on Still feels like an anniversary to me
21
Jun 19

Still feels like an anniversary to me

We got roses for our anniversary and they’re now decorating our kitchen. Aren’t they lovely?

You know how it is. You decide to take pictures and then someone has to be goofy about it. And then someone else laughs at the goofiness and then just encourages the instigator. It’s an old story. It happened to us last night. I took the extra photos and made a little slideshow.

We saw this guy last night after dinner while we were out for ice cream.

(Update: He finished second in his age group.)

adventures / family / memories / photo — Comments Off on Happy anniversary to us
20
Jun 19

Happy anniversary to us

Moves, trips, gains, losses. It’s all just noise in the way of things that matter.

The times she does a favor for me matters not next to how she wrinkles her nose when she giggles. The times I’ve done something for her are inconsequential to the feeling of all of those times she’s fallen asleep in my arms.

You can count the big things. I would chart the shared knowing look, the now routine lunch, the still-excited feeling I get when our time apart has ended, sitting together and talking about absolutely nothing, all the many times she’s patiently sat with me while I thought through something out loud, the peaceful quiet when we read next to one another, the number of times a day I can think “This is one of those moments.” These things, and all of those like them, are what make people a pairing, anyway. I long ago learned to count the things that matter.

The only trouble is I lost count long ago. Or maybe I can’t count that high anyway. This is the number the calendar would tell you: 3,652 days married. Or, if you prefer a bigger number: 5,298 days together. The number of laughs and smiles and adventures is too high. The tally of memories, great hugs, silliness, seriousness and hot dates would stretch too far. The list of blessings is too extensive to know, probably, and would be deeply humbling to understand.

So let the number be this: ten years ago today, my uncle performed our wedding service. When he agreed to do the job he said, in as many words, that he would tie us in a knot we wouldn’t soon be able to unravel. It was his way to put me at ease, I’m sure. It did, and I still thank him for all of that. I’m grateful for that and all of the important parts that make up everything between then and now, and the simple thought of what still may come.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →