A View of the World
15 June 2007
Day 19: Negotiation
We were supposed to run/jog today, but the daughter pleaded to rollerblade instead. Being the kind-hearted dad, and not wanting to faint away in the early morning 80+ degree (already!), I caved. Exercise is exercise, and it was good to get those muscles that blading had stretched the day before back into use, before my legs ceased up. It was another 90+ day, so we managed to stay inside (AC on 78 during the day) until dinner time. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the cicada craze (brood XIII). But out in our neck of the ex-urbs, they are pretty hard to find. We headed out to Bull Valley, where some had been sighted, but no luck! So we drove around with the windows down, the summer mix CD blaring out the windows and headed for the ice cream shoppe! I love summer!!
Total time outside: 2 hours
Total time outside: 2 hours
Labels: cicadas, exercise, ice cream, summer
¶ 11:00 PM 1 Comments
14 June 2007
Day 18: 90's begin
The first of a string of 90+ degree days to come. While I really like summer in the Midwest, I would like to arrive in a reasonable fashion, not like a mid-December blizzard! We need to pace ourselves, and having late July temps and mid-June makes me wonder what the rest of the summer will be like!
Got the roller blades out (last use: October 2006) and managed a mile and a half without falling down. While much easier than jogging, it can still work up your heartbeat - and a sweat at 6:30 in the morning. A little padding around the yard in the evening, pulling up weeds that seem to thrive in very hot, very dry weather conditions.
Total time outside: 1 hour
Got the roller blades out (last use: October 2006) and managed a mile and a half without falling down. While much easier than jogging, it can still work up your heartbeat - and a sweat at 6:30 in the morning. A little padding around the yard in the evening, pulling up weeds that seem to thrive in very hot, very dry weather conditions.
Total time outside: 1 hour
Labels: exercise, summer, yard
¶ 10:00 PM 0 Comments
13 June 2007
Day 17: Lots of sun, little outdoors
Short post:
- Water yard (6-9am)
- Morning run (8/10 mile)
- Lunch on porch
- Lots of work (business/home) and warm temps keep me inside
12 June 2007
Day 16: Summer Temps
It's starting to get "summer hot." Those temperatures where clothing gets skimpier and (for some people) patience grows thinner. We road our bikes this morning for about 4 miles, with the comment from my daughter, "Too bad we didn't bring money to stop by Dunkin Donuts" (the apple don't fall far from the tree!) It was approaching 80 degrees by the time we got home and into the cool house. The paper is predicing even warmer days ahead!
The evening brought lawn work (tomorrow is trash/waste pick-up day). Sitting on the front porch with a cold beer after all that yard work enjoying the neighborhood is a nice reward.
Total time outside: 2 hours
The evening brought lawn work (tomorrow is trash/waste pick-up day). Sitting on the front porch with a cold beer after all that yard work enjoying the neighborhood is a nice reward.
Total time outside: 2 hours
Labels: exercise, summer, yard
¶ 10:30 PM 0 Comments
11 June 2007
Day 15: Begin Summer Exercise
Today begins a summer exercise program suggested by my daughter. We will go out every morning and alternate between jogging, roller blading and bike riding. The goal is about 30 minutes of exercise, where we are exercising at least 1/2 of that at an elevated heart rate. This is supposed to improve your aerobic capacity. So today was an easy start of 8/10's of a mile. Easy, right?
Ha! It's been a loooong time since I tried to run for any extended period of time. This was a bigger challenge than I expected. We made it, but were both quite winded by the time we got home.
The evening brought some post-board meeting refreshment at the local watering hole.
Total time outside: 1:30
Ha! It's been a loooong time since I tried to run for any extended period of time. This was a bigger challenge than I expected. We made it, but were both quite winded by the time we got home.
The evening brought some post-board meeting refreshment at the local watering hole.
Total time outside: 1:30
Labels: exercise, school, summer
¶ 10:45 PM 0 Comments
10 June 2007
Day 14: Choir Picnic
It's the last day of the church choir season and time to celebrate. We had a picnic at the home of one of our sopranos. It was your typical summer fare: chicken, cole slaw, backed beans, rolls, pasta salad, fruit salad, soda and dessert. The weather was perfect! We ate inside and them went out for more socializing and sharing summer vacation plans. I got more sun on my already pink arms and face, but enjoyed it all the same.
By the time I got home, I was exhausted from too much sun and socializing. Sorry family!
Total time outside: 2 hours ¶ 6:00 PM 0 Comments
By the time I got home, I was exhausted from too much sun and socializing. Sorry family!
Total time outside: 2 hours ¶ 6:00 PM 0 Comments
09 June 2007
Day 13: Sunburned
Ouch. How come you never notice you're getting sunburned until its too late? This was another marathon garden day, and I was so focused on getting the garden under control, I didn't think twice about the radiant sun. I'm trying to get control back in my herb garden. Seems that the mint, lemon balm, pennyroyal, lavender, and hyssop all decided to get out of control. Problem was I spend too much time away from the house last summer/fall and didn't realize the extent of the damage. So this year is dedicated to pulling out insane root systems and reclaiming my garden. It's gona be long and hard, but I figure it will be under control before the summer is over.
Total time outside: 7 hours
Total time outside: 7 hours
Labels: garden, herbs, summer, sun
¶ 8:00 PM 0 Comments
08 June 2007
Day 12: Graduation
Tonight was 8th grade graduation. Not a lot of quality time outside, unless you count standing around the school waiting to get in or dragging your child away from her friends! Dinner at hibatchi restaurant, graduation event, dessert at home with family, all makes for a memorable blur until the photos get uploaded and added to the scrapbook.
Total time outside: 15 minutes
Total time outside: 15 minutes
Labels: graduation, restaurant, summer
¶ 10:00 PM 0 Comments
07 June 2007
Day 11: Another evening out
It's the big 8th grade 'graduation' dance, and I was the dutiful father, snapping photos of my daughter and her friends. It was a 'red carpet' themed event, and all the boys and girls were in their party finest. For the boys, black shirts/pants and a white tie was the preferred look. The girls - everything from the 'little black dress' to near prom regalia. It was interesting watching the awkward junior highers' as they attempted to be grown-up. Weird to see kids I watched go through elementary school start looking like their mom/dad - at 14!
After this it was another school board meeting, discussing board goals for the coming year. There was time after the meeting for a 'tall cold one' at the local watering hole with outdoor seating until 11pm!
Total time outside: 90 minutes
After this it was another school board meeting, discussing board goals for the coming year. There was time after the meeting for a 'tall cold one' at the local watering hole with outdoor seating until 11pm!
Total time outside: 90 minutes
Labels: graduation, school, summer
¶ 11:30 PM 0 Comments
06 June 2007
Day 10: Walking Across the Lawn
Well at least it wasn't my lawn... but it wasn't much. Work pretty much kept me in the house or in the car most all day. I did manage to leave choir practice and then walk down to the Woodstock town square, where I walked across the lawn while the community band played. The town and square is where they filmed the Bill Murray classic, Groundhog Day. It was a beautiful night, and it was a perfect slice of Americana.
Total time outside: 15 minutes. ¶ 9:30 PM 0 Comments
Well at least it wasn't my lawn... but it wasn't much. Work pretty much kept me in the house or in the car most all day. I did manage to leave choir practice and then walk down to the Woodstock town square, where I walked across the lawn while the community band played. The town and square is where they filmed the Bill Murray classic, Groundhog Day. It was a beautiful night, and it was a perfect slice of Americana.
Total time outside: 15 minutes. ¶ 9:30 PM 0 Comments
05 June 2007
Day 9: Hoops in the driveway
B-ball, roundball (US not Aussie), hoops, whatever you call - now we've got it! We got a portable backboard and ball for our daughter's birthday (a little early) to provide some incentive and reason for all of us to get out of the house this summer. It was quite the challenge to put this together - the loading of the 365 lbs. of sand was the killer. I didn't realize how much effort holding 50 lb bags of sand took - especially when you have to pour it down a 1 inch hole that is 38 inches off the ground!
Several hours later I was able to enjoy a solid 30 minutes shooting the ball "around the world" and not being too embarressed at the results.
Total time outside: 1 hour, 30 minutes. ¶ 8:00 PM 0 Comments
Several hours later I was able to enjoy a solid 30 minutes shooting the ball "around the world" and not being too embarressed at the results.
Total time outside: 1 hour, 30 minutes. ¶ 8:00 PM 0 Comments
04 June 2007
Day 8: Almost missed it!
Mondays. You either ease your way into them, or they come crashing down around you. This was a crashing Monday. I didn't get outside in the morning (the daily papers were already in), ate lunch at my desk (too much going on) and almost missed seeing any sun at all. Thank goodness I could spend some time strolling around the Lowe's Garden Center (covered outside space) after dinner. Not much, but outside.
Total time today: 15 minutes (the minimum) ¶ 11:11 PM 0 Comments
Total time today: 15 minutes (the minimum) ¶ 11:11 PM 0 Comments
03 June 2007
Day 7: Rest
OK - 7 hours of yard work for a person who sites in front of a computer most of the day is over-doing it. It's Sunday - the day of rest. I'm resting. Sometimes inside the house, sometimes outside the house. I stopped and picked up some annual herbs: basil, savory, parsley, rosemary. They'll get planted this week. Not today. Time to rest.
Total time outside: Let's call it an hour. ¶ 8:07 PM 0 Comments
Total time outside: Let's call it an hour. ¶ 8:07 PM 0 Comments
02 June 2007
Day 6: Yardwork between the rains
The great thing about June rains is that they make plants explode - grass grows, flowers blossom, shrubs expand - you get the idea. But it also makes for more effort when you haven't been disciplined in your yard maintenance. So, it's another Saturday yard marathon. I'll soon be able to spend a minimal amount of time weeding and dead-heading plants, and the occasional grass cutting - making my summer outside that much more enjoyable.
Total time outside: 7 hours
The great thing about June rains is that they make plants explode - grass grows, flowers blossom, shrubs expand - you get the idea. But it also makes for more effort when you haven't been disciplined in your yard maintenance. So, it's another Saturday yard marathon. I'll soon be able to spend a minimal amount of time weeding and dead-heading plants, and the occasional grass cutting - making my summer outside that much more enjoyable.
Total time outside: 7 hours
Labels: garden, lawn, summer, yard
¶ 11:00 PM 0 Comments
01 June 2007
Day 5: Summer Rains Begin
As today is Friday, why not start the weekend off with a nice thunderstorm? This provided a great opportunity to go for a leisurely drive in the country. It's easy to stop on a 2-lane county road to try and capture a fleeting rainbow or the sun streaming through clouds. Our final stop was to one of the dams on the Fox River, which provided a nice reflection of the setting sun, and some fun, fill-flash portraits.
Total time outside: 2 hours ¶ 10:55 PM 0 Comments
As today is Friday, why not start the weekend off with a nice thunderstorm? This provided a great opportunity to go for a leisurely drive in the country. It's easy to stop on a 2-lane county road to try and capture a fleeting rainbow or the sun streaming through clouds. Our final stop was to one of the dams on the Fox River, which provided a nice reflection of the setting sun, and some fun, fill-flash portraits.
Total time outside: 2 hours ¶ 10:55 PM 0 Comments
