July 4th!

The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays. I am a sucker for anything patriotic, so seeing all the red, white and blue just pulls me in. The 4th is usually the highlight of the summer weather; bright sunshine, warm temperatures, cookouts on the grill. I love all of that.

Except this year.

This seems to be the summer without a summer here in northern Vermont. The 4th this year was cold, dreary and, of course, rainy.

I skipped the usual Derby Independence day parade. More because I slept past the start time than an actual decision on my part. That right there took away some of the magic of the 4th. Yes, the parade can get a little tedious. There are only so many fire trucks, tractors and politicians one can look at before rapidly losing interest. But the parade is a tradition here and I always see people I haven't seen in awhile as well as get the chance to buy some maple cotton candy. But between the weather and my sleeping late, I will have to wait until next year.

One tradition that didn't get passed over this year was my trip to Lake Eden. My good friend, George, has a house on lake and always has a great party. Plenty of food and drink, fun people and, as the evening wears on, fireworks. The weather did not cooperate this year. The thermometer barely edged above 60 degrees. A drizzly rain managed to fall on and off for most of the day. But the rain didn't dampen the fireworks. As night finally fell, the first blast lit up the sky with vibrant colors. Up and down the lake the skies exploded with color in celebration of the birth of this great nation. I smiled to myself as I watched. This is what I love about the 4th; celebrating our freedoms (the ones we still have for now anyway) with people that I care about.

Happy Birthday, America!

Old Friends

Last Friday brought me to the Haskell Opera House to see Steve Bertrand perform. Steve is a singer/songwriter from Los Angeles. But before that, he was one of my classmates in high school. This show was a homecoming for him.

My good friend Sean McCarthy, who is an amazing musician himself, was playing guitar with Steve that evening and I never miss a chance to see Sean play. The show itself was very good. Steve is a very gifted singer and songwriter and it was a good show.

But what made it special was the chance to see it with some of my closest friends. I went with my old partners in crime, Mark and Matt. No matter what we do, I know that hanging out with those two will result in plenty of laughs. We have done this so many times that when we do see each other, the humor picks up almost where it left off. Jokes from years ago will resurface as if it were from yesterday. A person is lucky if they have such friends in life. Along with Mark and Matt were their wives Julie and Kim. They probably wonder about the three of us. And of course, no evening would be complete without Wonderlady. Melissa is always a integral part of the group and is able to keep up with the zingers that are always flying her way from one of us.

The music we heard was very good and is worth checking into. But for me, what I take away from the evening was the chance to once again spend it with some of my favorite people in the world. Who could ask for a better evening?

Graduations and Birthdays

It was a busy week for me. Graduations and more than a few birthdays.

My son graduated from 8th grade on Tuesday night. It seems strange to think that he will be going to high school next year. I am pretty sure it was only a year or so back that I was taking him to kindergarten. I really don't know where the time goes. He made the honor roll for the third time this year, so I was incredibly proud of everything he has accomplished and I know he will do great things in high school and beyond.

My Son Ryan and his diploma

Saturday brought a graduation party for the daughter of my friends Christine and Brian. I hadn't seen Ashley in awhile and was so pleased to see what a fine young woman she has become. But again, I can remember when Christine came home from the hospital with her. It was surreal to see her grown. Parents always warn their kids to appreciate their youth because time has a way of flying by once you are out of school. Kids, if you are reading this, your parents are not wrong. To think these two kids are already reaching milestones made me feel old. Still, it was wonderful to see Christine and Brian again. It made me realize how much I miss seeing them. They should be commended for raising such a great kids as they have with Ashley and their son Josh who is the same age as my son. We all try and be good parents, they hit the mark.

Brian, Me and Christine

Ashley, the proud graduate

Of course nothing like capping off the week with your birthday just to make you feel a little bit older. It was a pretty quiet birthday compared to the big party a year ago. Lynn and her kids came over as did Lucy and Todd. I got more gifts than I probably deserve and plenty of good wishes from friends near and far. What more could anyone want on their birthday.

So now that the chaos of June is settling down, I am waiting for the warm weather to make it's way to northern Vermont and am hoping for some quiet, peaceful days. Let's hope that weather gets here soon.

Up!

First of all, there will be no Terminator Salvation review from me. Decided at the last minute not to see it and judging from what I've been told by people who did see it, I made a wise decision.

However, I made an equally wise decision today to go see the new animated Pixar movie 'Up'. As anyone can tell from the ads, it is about an old man named Carl, who, after his wife dies, decides to keep a promise he made to her years ago that they would travel to South America. Carl sold balloons at the zoo for many years, so his mode of transport is to tie thousands of balloons to his house and float it away. A young boy ends up along for the ride and in the process Carl learns about letting go and embracing life's many adventures.

As with all Pixar movies, the animation is wonderful. The movie is filled with bright colors that enchant kids and the child within all of us. Pixar has no equal in the computer animated field. The other thing that sets Pixar movies ahead of the plethora of other children animated movies is the story. There is always heart to the stories they tell, along with a message, though it is never preachy or shoved down your throat.

It is hard not to feel for Carl as the opening scenes quietly detail the love and devotion he had for his late wife. So we are happy to watch as Carl turns from a curmudgeon to someone who learns to be happy again.

This is without a doubt one of the best movies I will see this summer. Don't be fooled into thinking this is nothing more than a children's movie. Take the time to go see this wonderful film; you will find it an 'up'lifting experience.

Nature - 1 Me - 0

A few weeks ago, a wind storm swept through parts of northern Vermont. One fatality of this storm was my shed. Imagine my surprise when I got home and found my shed crumpled up and tossed over the bank. I can't imagine the strength of the wind needed to rip a building off the foundation where it has stood for six years. It certainly gave me a healthy respect for the power of nature.

So nature won that round. But as a consolation prize, my lilac tree had more blossoms than I had ever seen before and the apple blossoms on the tree in my back yard looked great this year.

Yeah, nature can be destructive, but I can build a new shed and I will never grow tired of seeing a sunset like the one this evening.

I'll call it a draw.

Simple Pleasures

They say it is best to enjoy the simple pleasures in life. I do find this to be true. Some of the most satisfying times are simple things like watching a sunset, or staring up at the night sky, counting stars. Or, as I just did, watching the Red Soxs beat the living bejeezus out of the Yankees! That's right, the Yankees just went down to the Sox 7 to 0. Nothing quite like watching New York get their asses handed to them by Boston.

Indeed, the simple pleasures are best.

http://www.redsoxnation.com

Rock Wisdom

It is funny how what is basically a fortune cookie line of wisdom can actually strike you when it has guitars blaring behind it. For whatever reason, this line from Semisonic's song 'Closing Time' really struck me and made sense to me:

Closing time - every new beginning comes from some other beginnings end...

Okay, maybe not the deepest thing you will ever read, but for some reason I had never thought of things that way and it made me smile. Maybe it was the guitars.