Memorial day would be a perfect opportunity to thank the countless young men and women who find it worth their life for me to wander and ponder. It would be a great time to honor by name all of my relatives who have served in the military. It would be appropriate to count my many blessings.
So, instead, I will talk about gnats.
It is slightly surprising at the beginning of every summer when Kristen and I actually have more than two minutes to spend together. Typically one of us is arriving in time for the other to take off. The last couple of days have been nice. Kristen is still mid-decompression from one of her crazier years, but I think yesterday I saw her jaw unclench for a second. We've even had time to take a couple of walks with Greydon.... TOGETHER.... I know, the luxurious summer life awaits!
We wanted to take a walk yesterday, and wanted to go up to Angela's place for the afternoon. We figured we would wait and go for a walk up her way, the whole killing multiple birds, one stone thing. There were a couple of choices of where to stroll... we settled on a park that was a short drive away.
The park had a path that wound around a pond, there were ducks, geese, and most importantly goslings. We went after dinner so there was a slight breeze in the air and the sun was soft. Now if I was a "glass half full" kind of guy this would be a great place to stop. If you have met me you may realize that I'm not exactly a card carrying member of the Polyanna Glad Game Guild.
This little pond was trying to tout the title of Lake.. which is just sad. It was a puddle, actually it was backwater formed from the dumping of ten or so different drainage ditches, or creeks if you are from Utah.
The first real sad moment was when the mommy and daddy goose where walking with their adorable, seriously adorable, fuzzy little babies along the edge of the water that was so litter strewn it caused me to purse my lips and shake my head, yep, that bad. Litter was mainly between the path and the water where you wouldn't walk anyway, so it wasn't being picked up by park maintenance staff.
I want to know how a surgical glove ends up littering a fake pond? Was someone driving by and thought... ooh, I need to get rid of this glove I've been holding onto. Did someone accidentally drop it while pulling a hankie out of their pocket, or crackers out of a snack bag? Are they going to go put it on later and wonder where they dropped it? Is someone performing medical procedures pond side? I have to hazard a guess that anyone willing to perform medical procedures in that arena wouldn't be preoccupied with proper hand washing and glove useage. Is there a medical facility dumping their waste illegally... one glove at a time?
Greydon loved watching the birds eat the bread Angela brought. It was funny that feeding the ducks turned into a seagull pandemic Alfred Hitchcock would be proud of.
Half way around the lake as we stepped over the culvert and waved to the cars on the freeway Greydon was getting a little done. The solution, ingenious, was that Kristen and Angela would collect larger rocks from the path, dump them on his tray, which he could then redistribute evenly as we walked along. By the time we were 3/4 of the way around the backwater, passing the 20 foot tall razor topped security fencing that surrounded the detention center ... (yep)... the rocks were no longer interesting enough. As soon as we pointed out the car and mentioned going back to Aunt Angie's place he was happy... even through the clouds of gnats. Maybe gnats aren't mosquitos, but they still bite.. proven by my neck this morning. If mosquitos carry West Nile virus.. what do gnats carry? I'm going to be mad if I break out in Monkey Pox or something...
So, the moral of the story? happy Memorial Day, may your monkey pox not require the use of a latex glove.
Here's a cute pic of Greydon... he's 13 now.
3 comments:
He is growing so fast he really will be 13 before you know it. We will enjoy him as much as possible while he is little. Happy Birhday to you today. Gift is on it's way soon.
I don't know where you get your Pollyanna outlook...........just bulldoze the pond and it will be well!!!
My gosh g looks like he's ready for school or something;; quick, shrink wrap him or something to slow him down!
getting guest room ready and working on bed for G; if you don't want to use the crib.
You want to talk mosquitos; be prepared........just douse yourself each day in skin so soft and you may not be anemic by the time you return to monkey pox carrying gnats!! Love, Muzz
Well, he is still as cute as ever! But he is getting big and looking way grown up in his jeans!
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