A Veritable Mish Mash of Random Things, P. 2
More, a Little Bit About Everything
Today, a few rando thought about a few rando things going on.
SHE’S A LITTLE RUNAWAY
Little Bean’s spring running camp concluded this past weekend with the collection of participation medals and an afternoon of water play where literally everybody got wet.
She’s in the half mile group and she’s quite slow! Most of the time she’s come in last or second last, and often she doesn’t even appear all that concerned about running. Her good friend, who you see in the picture, is the athletic one who is always giving the faster boys a run for their money.
I kind of feel like this is my fault. I was never much of a trophy pursuer when I was a kid, though Lord knows my parents tried to activate some sort of competitive gene in me. I played soccer and baseball and track and field. I bowled (obviously, I grew up in Buffalo). I would occasionally feel inspired to try to do at least better than last time, but mainly I just wanted to have fun. It was clear from Day One that the Olympics were not in my future.
Same with Little Bean. She skips and runs backwards. There was even a race where she tried to help some slower kid. As near as I can tell she’s neither interested in coming in first, nor even in beating her previous time.
But she does enjoy being outside, being on the grass. She does cartwheels badly, and stretches badly and smiles a lot.
That desire for her to excel is just my own parental head and I need to get over it.
That evening she asks me to hang her latest medal next to the one she got from the last Running Camp. And the collection grows, small reminders that she’s just a kid and being outside for the sake of being outside is fine. We run on!
A TOWERING FIGURE
This weekend will be the beginning of my fire tower research in New York. My Falcon Guides trail guide will be a year long commitment to all things Empire State, but I’m delighted that we’ll begin by meeting Linda, the grand-daughter of Helen Ellett. During World War 2, Helen was one of the first women fire watchers assigned a tower in NYS, in this case Dickinson Hill. She served for nearly 20 years.
When we meet Linda we’ll talk about Helen’s important role in the state and learn more about Grafton Lakes State Park.
Fire services in the west had women working up in those towers years earlier, but it took the war to finally push the east coast into breaking that ceiling.
And Helen was one tough lady, serving at the tower with a pet dog AND a pet racoon. When she was told that she’d be unable to drive up to the tower everyday due to muddy roads, she was delighted. “I’m going to be paid $100 a month for this job and I can ride my horse every day,” she said. “I thought that was great.”
Stay tuned here for updates and stories about that project. Has anyone hiked in the Adirondacks? I’d love to hear your stories.
3RD GRADE
This week is Little Bean’s final week of second grade. Time often feel like it has so very little actual meaning. Being a parent is like having an organic sand dial just sitting there across the table from you eating carrots. There’s never enough time in my life now, there’s never any completion. We’re at that stage where her life just seems to gain daily momentum and my job has just become trying to keep up, trying to direct what I can and hope for the best.
I can’t be the only one, right? I’m not discovering anything new here, am I?
I mentioned to her the other day that I couldn’t believe she was about to be a third grader.
“Why,” she asked.
“I seem like every time I look at you you’re older and smarter,” I said.
She shrugged. “Well, third grade is what’s next, daddy.”
Third grade is what’s next. Let’s go.
Housekeeping and a Favor: As we slide into summer, I’m going to be on the road more - sometimes with the family and sometimes solo. We’ll have Volume 2 of the Rocks That Rock series hitting the stand in August, and the primary research on the NY Fire Tower guide taking place through summer and fall. We’ll continue with my monthly syndicated column and I’m still writing the back page over at NH Home Magazine.
Ultimately, my primary writing platform will be right here. So, the favor - we have a solid base of subscribers and a much larger community growing here and I’ve loved all your suggestions and input. But as the new books approach, I’d love to continue to grow.
Would you all mind sharing Day By Day with your own followers, or perhaps in social media communities where there might be a fit? Just click the button below to share, or cut and paste and share. I’d be ever go grateful!
On we go!