Blur

No, not the mid-90s British punk band. Although their Song 2, which I can only assume was named with as much creativity as Dave’s Song #41, was pretty catchy back in my FM radio listening days. Blur as in how the first month+ of the school year felt. Life is full and moving quickly.

It’s hard to find a few hours to sit down and do this. As I’ve written before, it can often feel like a chore and one that seems to hang heavy over my head the more I procrastinate or make excuses about not being able to find said few hours. But, whenever I do finally sit down, I am thankful for the perspective it brings.

Lauren takes far more pictures than I do; it’s a big part of her job after all. Since I’m not on the socials and not with her for most of them live, there are tons that I never see in, even close to, real time. This monthly blog ritual requires me to go through the entire previous month’s photos on our wireless hard drive that. I go through them all as the thumbnails slowly develop into images on my screen. It’s a great way to remember and reflect on all the life we’ve crammed into the month. It doesn’t change the pace at which we do life, but it does keep me aware of it…and if nothing else, that awareness at least nudges me in the direction of slowing a bit.

The onset of school and routine brings the fall sports season with it. Everybody has their one for this season with the exception of Henry who some how ended up in multiple. 😂 Caroline has field hockey practice, a club sport through school, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fortunately, it’s right after school, at school, so that simplifies the logistics there. Charlotte is doing tennis lessons on Mondays and Thursdays. Since it’s right after school, the boys have to go with her and that’s how Henry ended up in one more sport. His main one for the fall is flag football again, which is a Tuesday practice but he is also joining in tennis lessons because, let’s be honest, the boy needs to move. Jennings is playing rec baseball, which practices on Wednesday. So, yes, we have every weeknight covered. Caroline’s games are usually Mondays and Fridays, so it is not atypical for at least a combination of us to be out until 7 or 8p before coming home for dinner. It’s one of the joys of being a parent, though, to watch your kids do something they have talent for and love.

Most are self-explanatory, but the bottom right you ask? Yes, that is Henry geared up, engine started, and ready to race. He has been looking forward to go-karting since the spring when I told him about the kids’ racing league at Victory Lane Karts here in town. They hold a 6-Saturday race season for kids three times a year. We signed him up for flag football since that didn’t sound like “enough,” so he has only raced one Saturday so far. It is quite the experience though! Like everything these days, some people have taken it to the extreme. We saw 10-year-old kids with their own helmets and full racing suits there to compete. Henry jumped right in and figured it out on the fly though. Proud of him for being willing to go out and do it in that environment.

Here’s a few non-sport related moments from the month 👇

Left-to-right, top-to-bottom: J with a nice largemouth caught on a combination of fake worm and a piece of sausage dog. One of the neighborhood kids put him onto the hot dog bait. This has been his pastime while the twins are at tennis. Next, double trouble looking for more after their haircuts. Char being Char…I was not present but I’m willing to bet she picked that out and put it on herself. Next, managed to coax about a half days work out of those two…it was fun to teach them how to use some tools and measure twice. They did good work, just not much of it as my grandad used to say. Got the first fire in on the new patio - it's been great to get a little taste of fall weather. L had a work dinner one Friday night, so we grabbed some hot dogs after C’s game and had a nice Friday evening breaking in the Solo Stove.

You may be wondering why I had the boys randomly measuring, cutting, and nailing 2x4s. Well, the learning opportunity was not just that, they were getting some real, on-the-job experience on a little project I decided to undertake. So much for that slowing life down thing. I started a project back in August to close off a storage area under the deck stairs on the patio and then add a small storage shed for lawn equipment behind that. We had the storage under the steps before, but the shed is a new endeavor. So far, so good…it’s just one of those things that tends to occupy all the “spare” weekend time until it gets done. And since I’m averaging getting a half day of work out of the boys per month, that means L has a good bit more time with the kids on the weekends.

Here’s the current progress and we’re racing to knock the rest out!

We also passed another milestone this month in Jennings’s cancer story – the 5-year anniversary of him receiving cells through the RESOLVE trial was September 17th. That 5-year mark snuck up on me, but it was good to be able to take a bit of time that day and reflect. I truly believe that those cells were instrumental in preventing another relapse. Recalling that season and all of the work it took to get him onto that trial, what a blessing!

We learned that one of our Memphis friends passed away this week. They were our neighbors during our time on Mud Island at Sean’s House. He and his wife had just recently retired. They were a special couple, and he was a special man…so gentle and kind and compassionate. They would often come out to talk whenever our crazy kids were running around screaming and playing in the square right in front of their house. They never once complained about all the noise and toys left out interrupting the serenity of an otherwise peaceful, picturesque community. One time, during our first stay, we casually shared with them that the two of us were going to get a sitter, go out to dinner, and spend some time connecting. We got to the end of the night and were told that our bill was paid - they had called the restaurant and taken care of our tab. Knowing them and calling them friends is one of the many blessings we count from that season of our lives. The news was yet again a reminder to pause, slow down, to not let the pace of life distract us into missing what is truly important during our time in this life. Thankful to have known Bill and to have called him a friend.

“But the Lord answered her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are anxious about many things, but one thing is necessary.” Luke 10:41-42a