My Dad

This is my dad. He’s the kind of guy I want to be when I grow up.

One look tells you he’s wise and strong, but also kind and humorous, and full of love.

What you might not be able to tell is that he has one of the meanest dad looks around – the kind that when delivered over the dinner table to young giggling girls, strikes fear into their hearts…but also fails to quell the giggles. And you might not be able to tell that he’s a perfectionist who cuts down decking to fit meticulously around stone boulders, or who arranges his vast array of work tools into impeccable logical order. You might not be able to tell that he works tirelessly to complete the task, and to complete it well. You might not be able to tell how smart and clever he is, always thinking of the best solution. You might not be able to tell how he reacts calmly and carefully to life’s upsets. And you might not be able to tell how much he loves his family, though I suspect that, no, you can tell that.

 

If you look close, you might be able to tell how much I love him.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I love you.

Traverse City Recess

Now that things are looking pretty official, it’s time to break the news: Tony and I will be moving in the next few weeks! I’ll be conducting my “recess” in Traverse City instead of Rapid City for the foreseeable future (but I won’t be bothering to update this blog address, so no worries about chasing me down).

We found a place in our favorite downtown neighborhood that we couldn’t pass up, so even though our house is still on the market, we’re relocating. The new place is actually quite a bit older, clocking in at 120 years old. But she’s looking good for her age: the current owner is finishing up a thorough renovation, as you can see from the few photo’s I’m including here. If you want to see more, let me know in the comments, and I’ll add a post with house pictures a little later on.

Kitchen, living room/stairs, dining area. The dishwasher is not actually blue – that’s protective plastic.

As you can imagine, we have been pretty stressed out, and remain so. Tony has a huge project hanging over him at work with a deadline timed almost perfectly with the house purchase closing. And we’re supposed to take a work trip sometime in the near future. My sister is also coming for a visit (If you’re reading: this is not a guilt trip! Totally want you to come!) at the end of the month. Around all this, we will figure out the logistics of moving and setting up a new home. We are old hands at these things, so it’s mostly just annoying at this point. Okay, I’m simplifying; it’s stressful too, but at least this is a local move and not another 1,000+ mile move.

Sunset over Torch Lake last night. I will miss this, but I will find other lovely sunset views to frequent. And this will still be here, and I will still see it.

In Stasis

This winter is turning out to be a tough one for me. As one might expect, we’ve had lots of cold days this year. I generally do all right in low temperatures – I dress in layers and stay active, which keeps me warm. But that only works to a point (at least for me – I know there are far more intrepid souls who brave the sub-zero temps with panache), and it does not work on days when the mercury stays in the single digits (Fahrenheit).

This day it was still -10F at 10:00am. Too cold to play outside.

Our Petey Puppy doesn’t do well in the cold, either. We did get him some boots – which he loves about as much as you’d expect – but we haven’t gotten much use out of them. Just about the time they came in the mail was when my knee finally started pitching a real fit.

Gets sore paws when it’s below about 15F, but thinks it’s swimming weather if it’s 20F or above…

I saw my physician about my knee last year, and he “prescribed” insoles to support my arches. They helped, but didn’t fix the problem. I’ve hardly run in the past year, but had been doing okay walking as long as I watched my footing on the downhill bits. Then, a couple weeks ago, I had to jog Petey a few steps to get us through a salted patch in the road (really bad news for his paws, and he’s too heavy to carry). It took some limping and a bunch of four-letter words, but we made it home.

Unrelated to anything in this post. But aren’t they cool?

Thankfully, my doctor is still convinced I can fix this without surgery. I’ve started physical therapy, and my PT’s say I’ll notice an improvement within a couple weeks. So guess who’s been diligently spending time doing her PT homework in the basement? I might be stubborn, but I’m not stupid 😉

At least the cold and wind create beautiful things…

So the knee has been a big issue, but it’s not the only one. We’re also hesitant to make long-term plans (like being temporary snowbirds), because our house is still on the market. We went a few months with little activity, but have had three showings since we returned from Ohio last month. I think we’re being both optimistic and realistic about it. It’ll sell eventually – hopefully soon-ish!

Not much walking or running is required for these photography forays 🙂

It’s an odd thing, feeling hamstrung by a house we love, and don’t actually need to get rid of. However, we’re looking forward to the move, and the opportunities that will bring – like more chances to walk around the frozen waters of the bay in a pair of shorts and a light jacket 😉 Before you ask – yes, that is what I was wearing. No, I was not warm enough – it’s what I had on after yesterday’s physical therapy, and I was racing a setting sun.

Since I’ve been so quiet on the blog lately, I figure I ought to mention: I do post at least one photo a day on my Snap Happy Gal – Facebook page. It’ll give you an idea of what I’m up to, and give you a bit of eye candy so feel free to follow there. If you don’t FB but still want to see photos, I also share images on Flickr.

Wordless Wednesday

Click if you’d like to see larger versions. Bonus points to anyone who can tell me where they’ve seen that top tree before 🙂  Happy Wednesday – I hope your day is full of shining stars!

Pardon My Absence, I’ve Been Projecting

If you’re a frequent follower, you may remember me congratulating our friends on their recent Traverse City home purchase. Sure, it’s not their first home, but Tony and I felt like the landmark occasion warranted a housewarming gift. The only problem with that is we did not know what to get. What do you get people who have been married for several years and have a fair collection of stuff they intend to drop off at Goodwill before they complete their move?