Made it home from Kentucky

August 8, 2009

We made it home from Kentucky last night. We went the 60 miles or so between Cincinnati and Georgetown, Ky. each way without going on any major highways. Most of our trip went on Route 27. As it turns out it was one of the better roads I have ever been on. It was smoothly paved almost the whole way. It had one lane that turned into two lanes whenever there was an uphill climb, and the views were not that bad. It took longer than the higway, but was worth the time spent. My son got to revisit his relationship with cows, horses, and even goats. There were fields of corn WITHOUT any fireworks signs in them. CJ even worked on his animal noises for us. You know it is obligatory to "moo" whenever you pass a field with cows in it. He was able to make elephant sounds when we passed a place that sells bird baths and statues, as one of the statues for sale was an elephant. He improvised when we passed a hay field by shouting "Hey" as we passed. He then came up with an original song about corn as we passed a corn field that went something like "corn, corn, corn...corn, corn, corn, corn". Beth and I are easily amused, so we liked it. It also continues to disprove the theory that sugar has no affect on children whatsoever.

As for training camp, it was fun. The scrimmage was shorter than I had hoped it would be, but we got there early enough to get good seats, got cheaper parking than expected, and the weather was outstanding. Beth and CJ are not interested in football nor the Bengals, but were awesome to put up with it to make me feel good. I like them.

As for today, we attempted to do something Beth wanted to do again. We went to Findley Market in downtown Cincinnati that is like a farmer's market that is there permanently. It is one of the draws to downtown in an area that needs a draw. We had never been, and it was cool. We tried to feed CJ before we went so he would not jones for every food they were selling (more the desert stuff than the vegetable stuff), but he managed to find room in his hollow leg to ask for food. He scored a couple of samples that looked pretty good. Beth got some 2/$1 cucumbers and some tomatoes, and we learned that it is something we may do again someday.

When we got home, we found that our next door neighbor had put blacktop sealer on his driveway. Normaly, this would not be significant, but we have lived here 8 years and had never seen him do it before. I do mine, but I am on the even year plan, so I only do it every other year. Every year would be very anal as it is holding up just fine. However, I did wonder how come my neighbor jumped on this blacktop bandwagon after so many years. Then the pieces came together as we reviewed the things he has accomplished this year:
1. Bought an edger for his sidewalk (and used it)
2. Planted flowers
3. Put down mulch
4. Put a fountain in his back yard (this should have been the clincher)
5. Got a dog (actually inherited as his daughter moved somewhere she could not have pets)

HE RETIRED THIS YEAR

It all fits. We actually knew he retired, but forgot that there is an unwritten code that you need to start doing these things to be considered permanently retired. My next hope is that he starts to get a nicer lawn, because I have found that weeds will spread from lawn to lawn whether you treat your own yard against them or not. I am hoping that if he gets actual grass instead of weeds, perhaps they will spread to my lawn. I am not obligated to do this as yet, as I still have to go to work for 20 more years.

I am going to go help Beth get the salad ready for tonight. She has not read the post yet about fantasy drafts at Hooters, so it safe to be in the same kitchen where the knives are. Until she gets her own orange shorts...