Family Times
Created | Updated Dec 29, 2003
Family Times
On the days where the weather is very nice or even a little warm I want to take a day off to be just like this day. The office where I work is stuffy and antiseptic compared to the outdoors. I will sit there and wonder what it would be like to work outside at that time of year. In the fall the farmland next to the road will have combines harvesting the crops, the air will be filled with the aroma of the wheat crop. This sweet smell will be the reminder of the events to come; County fairs, Football games on the deep dark green plush grass. The aroma of the wheat will trigger your mind to a time to come when you can set back and enjoy the bounty of the year’s harvest. The air will also hold a layer of dust on a still day that clings like a fog near the ground. This dust will give the sunset a very mystic look and will add to the beauty of the horizon at that time of year with the long days. This sight makes you glad to just be alive.
I work in an office so I will only see daylight at noon or at break, so I enjoy the outdoors whenever I can. I like to walk outside at noon; it gives me a chance to escape to see the birds, plants and feel the breeze. You get to know what kind of day it is, sometimes the weather is so very nice it is hard to go back to work.
I walk to get some exercise; this in turn helps my back and keeps me flexible. This moderate exercise also helps control my weight and is good for my heart. The walk will also help me on a new outlook when I do get back to work. I will feel more refreshed and my mind less cluttered. You can tell other co-workers how you enjoyed the fresh air and bit about what you saw for scenery. I once went out to walk during an eclipse, I cannot remember what kind; but it seemed a strange type of darkness outside, not cloudy but just darker. The taller trees had a shadow cast from the leaves that was like a double outline, something like a double exposure snapshot. It had three different shades of darkness to the shadow just offset slightly from each identical leaf shape on the pavement. I would have missed this if I had not been walking by the tree that shaded the paved road that day. The walk is somewhat like a mini vacation just to refresh yourself in these 30 minutes. I do not seem to go for my walk if a lot of things are going wrong at work; it seems I do not want to break my concentration.
Most times I plan my time off to be one week or more, but I will take one day off at a time to enjoy a longer weekend or when I know a weekend may be very busy. I like to take the third week in June off as my first summer vacation with my family. That time seems to work well; you just get back to work and before you can be bored with it you get the holiday for the Fourth of July weekend.
The third week of June is good also because waters in the lakes of Minnesota are warm enough to swim in, yet cool enough that the fishing has not gotten into a slump. I have tried earlier and later vacations and they have not worked out well for me. We ended up with this date through the fine art of compromise. The kids have just finished school in early June and are content to just sleep in late, stay up late and are not ready to go someplace. The kids that are old enough to drive will go to the D.Q. to eat and just hang out each night to meet their friends. It is a ritual that cannot be broken. I could not at first understand my oldest two sons as to why they could not eat at home and have their friends over to our home. Then one summer night I ended up at the D.Q. and then I knew; everybody was in a good mood, and talking about their day. The girls all had very nice tans, wearing shorts that would show off their legs. The boys and girls would drift from one car to the next parked around the outside of the parking lot; that is separated by a road for the drive through window. They just had to talk to everybody. It was something like a mini music festival; from what I could relate. The closest thing I had like this as a teen; was the drive in restaurants like the A&W in the late 60’s. These were great, or even better if you could get your older brother’s hot late model car for the night and just cruise. I had my own car at 18; but before that I would borrow one from an older brother. My oldest brother would only on rare occasions; let me have his 64 Chev two door hardtop. Once when I was with him in his car along with one other older brother we went to a larger town that had a A&W. It was just about 1/4 mile from the edge of town, where the speed limit was 30. He must have been in a good mood, because I asked him if I could drive as we walked to the car and he did not say anything, but just tossed the keys to me and motioned my second oldest brother to get in the back seat. My two older brothers were good drivers. They did like a high performance car, and could burn rubber when they wanted to cut loose and enjoy the hum of this well-tuned V8 with a four on the floor. I never asked them anything about how they could shift this car just right and get rubber in starting out and between the first three gears; but I knew they could do it. I did not have many skills or talents as a teen; but I took great pride in how I could drive. When we went to the A&W it was a perfect summer evening and dry. The shine of the 64 Chev glistened under the lights as we pulled in the lane. After we were finished with our food, I started the car and it just jumped to life in an instant; the whole car rocked from the energy that resulted from gunning the engine. The people next to us may have wondered how a young man as I could afford this car. As I pulled out of the driveway from the A&W; I drove just perfect; burning rubber starting out and at each shift; from low to second, second to third and for the first time ever by anyone; a short burn between third and fourth. This all happened within the 1/4 mile before the speed limit sign. I know this even surprised my brothers, but I just acted as if I could do this anytime, no big deal; and they never said anything about it. In the way brothers are towards each other some words do not have to be said to understand each other. Years later I found I did have good hands and control as I picked up skills with these hands. I did drive my own car about three years later in local drag races and ended up with two first place trophies.
My boys will operate in this mode of sleeping in late for a while then they will want to stay home to earn some money. This is their first chance to earn some real money. They are very optimistic on how they will spend their hard earned money; so this is not a good time to go on vacation. If we wait for them to decide when to go on vacation we would not go at all as the summer would slip past them. We picked this part of June to go and not miss some of the best times of summer.
Our family vacations mostly center around lakes and water. If we take some days off in the winter we hit the pool and whirlpool in a hotel. We at first would camp out in a tent by a nice lake and swim or fish and also just take a boat ride around the lake to relax. At the campsite when my daughter was very young she did love to work the dot to dot drawings to make a picture. She was good at following the numbers up in succession, but I helped her when we did the letters of the alphabet. After eating supper, when all things were cleaned up I would ask her what she wanted to do. Most of the time she would say “lets dot the dots” and pull out the book as she climbed up on my lap. This was fun for her and relaxing for me. My daughter is the youngest of four children, so I know how they grow up too fast. I wanted to spend time with them when they picked what they wanted to do; we mostly play it by ear on a trip. If you do not closely plan each item you are less disappointed if plans must change.
We also hike from one of the outlined trails that the County or State Park will have. One trail we went on was very steep along the edge of a river. I did have quite a workout to get back up the hill; it was very gratifying to see other parents pay the dues to explore this trail. We went from camping out in a large tent and screen house to a tent trailer camper with a stove. These campers always look so very good at a camping and travel show in the winter; so beware.
At many of the State Parks of Minnesota we like to take advantage of the nature films they have in the early evenings. The State Parks do this very well and Minnesota has an excellent park system. We have also visited very good State Parks in South Dakota. One that we went to for just one night had mostly volunteers working at it. That night they were in charge of showing the nature film. Rain was predicted so they ran it early and cut fast, past the credits to help us see it before getting wet. We just finished the end and the soft warm rain hit. We felt fresh in the rain and left with a good feeling as we had beat mother nature from shorting the movie. The smell of the rain, the sounds it made hitting the very tall trees, and gentle thunder in the distance would let you unwind and fall to sleep; to the unchanging rhythm of the rain.
On a camping trip just west of Paynesville Minnesota we used a larger camper and it had a full bathroom. That spring I had worked almost every weekend and each night on my moonlighting job. The work was inside a hot, dusty, dry shop. When we got the camper set up the kids wanted to go swimming so I went to watch over them. The campground was on the edge of a clear, clean lake with an excellent, sandy beach. The swimming beach had a slide standing in the water. It didn’t take long before they went from wading to sliding down the slide into the water. This cooled them off well and they really enjoyed it. I let them squeal with excitement as they took the plunge into the warm water. This looked like pure unadulterated fun. I was still warm and clammy so when they came out of the water I tried out the slide. This was a blast; no wonder they were squealing so; it cooled you off, but it still was not a shock to your system. I could have stayed in the water for hours as I wanted to soak up the summer and sunshine because I had missed so very much of the summer, working. I felt I really deserved this, like most things in life; if you work hard for them you will enjoy them more.
We went back to the camper my wife had started the steaks on the grill; you could smell them all the way back up the hill from the beach. I think that no other evening can come close to being this good. The whole family is together, you are sitting back around the campfire after enjoying an excellent meal; you can just drink in the pleasant summer evening watching the sun go down nice and slow.
On the days where the weather is very nice or even a little warm I want to take a day off to be just like this day. The office where I work is stuffy and antiseptic compared to the outdoors. I will sit there and wonder what it would be like to work outside at that time of year. In the fall the farmland next to the road will have combines harvesting the crops, the air will be filled with the aroma of the wheat crop. This sweet smell will be the reminder of the events to come; County fairs, Football games on the deep dark green plush grass. The aroma of the wheat will trigger your mind to a time to come when you can set back and enjoy the bounty of the year’s harvest. The air will also hold a layer of dust on a still day that clings like a fog near the ground. This dust will give the sunset a very mystic look and will add to the beauty of the horizon at that time of year with the long days. This sight makes you glad to just be alive.
I work in an office so I will only see daylight at noon or at break, so I enjoy the outdoors whenever I can. I like to walk outside at noon; it gives me a chance to escape to see the birds, plants and feel the breeze. You get to know what kind of day it is, sometimes the weather is so very nice it is hard to go back to work.
I walk to get some exercise; this in turn helps my back and keeps me flexible. This moderate exercise also helps control my weight and is good for my heart. The walk will also help me on a new outlook when I do get back to work. I will feel more refreshed and my mind less cluttered. You can tell other co-workers how you enjoyed the fresh air and bit about what you saw for scenery. I once went out to walk during an eclipse, I cannot remember what kind; but it seemed a strange type of darkness outside, not cloudy but just darker. The taller trees had a shadow cast from the leaves that was like a double outline, something like a double exposure snapshot. It had three different shades of darkness to the shadow just offset slightly from each identical leaf shape on the pavement. I would have missed this if I had not been walking by the tree that shaded the paved road that day. The walk is somewhat like a mini vacation just to refresh yourself in these 30 minutes. I do not seem to go for my walk if a lot of things are going wrong at work; it seems I do not want to break my concentration.
Most times I plan my time off to be one week or more, but I will take one day off at a time to enjoy a longer weekend or when I know a weekend may be very busy. I like to take the third week in June off as my first summer vacation with my family. That time seems to work well; you just get back to work and before you can be bored with it you get the holiday for the Fourth of July weekend.
The third week of June is good also because waters in the lakes of Minnesota are warm enough to swim in, yet cool enough that the fishing has not gotten into a slump. I have tried earlier and later vacations and they have not worked out well for me. We ended up with this date through the fine art of compromise. The kids have just finished school in early June and are content to just sleep in late, stay up late and are not ready to go someplace. The kids that are old enough to drive will go to the D.Q. to eat and just hang out each night to meet their friends. It is a ritual that cannot be broken. I could not at first understand my oldest two sons as to why they could not eat at home and have their friends over to our home. Then one summer night I ended up at the D.Q. and then I knew; everybody was in a good mood, and talking about their day. The girls all had very nice tans, wearing shorts that would show off their legs. The boys and girls would drift from one car to the next parked around the outside of the parking lot; that is separated by a road for the drive through window. They just had to talk to everybody. It was something like a mini music festival; from what I could relate. The closest thing I had like this as a teen; was the drive in restaurants like the A&W in the late 60’s. These were great, or even better if you could get your older brother’s hot late model car for the night and just cruise. I had my own car at 18; but before that I would borrow one from an older brother. My oldest brother would only on rare occasions; let me have his 64 Chev two door hardtop. Once when I was with him in his car along with one other older brother we went to a larger town that had a A&W. It was just about 1/4 mile from the edge of town, where the speed limit was 30. He must have been in a good mood, because I asked him if I could drive as we walked to the car and he did not say anything, but just tossed the keys to me and motioned my second oldest brother to get in the back seat. My two older brothers were good drivers. They did like a high performance car, and could burn rubber when they wanted to cut loose and enjoy the hum of this well-tuned V8 with a four on the floor. I never asked them anything about how they could shift this car just right and get rubber in starting out and between the first three gears; but I knew they could do it. I did not have many skills or talents as a teen; but I took great pride in how I could drive. When we went to the A&W it was a perfect summer evening and dry. The shine of the 64 Chev glistened under the lights as we pulled in the lane. After we were finished with our food, I started the car and it just jumped to life in an instant; the whole car rocked from the energy that resulted from gunning the engine. The people next to us may have wondered how a young man as I could afford this car. As I pulled out of the driveway from the A&W; I drove just perfect; burning rubber starting out and at each shift; from low to second, second to third and for the first time ever by anyone; a short burn between third and fourth. This all happened within the 1/4 mile before the speed limit sign. I know this even surprised my brothers, but I just acted as if I could do this anytime, no big deal; and they never said anything about it. In the way brothers are towards each other some words do not have to be said to understand each other. Years later I found I did have good hands and control as I picked up skills with these hands. I did drive my own car about three years later in local drag races and ended up with two first place trophies.
My boys will operate in this mode of sleeping in late for a while then they will want to stay home to earn some money. This is their first chance to earn some real money. They are very optimistic on how they will spend their hard earned money; so this is not a good time to go on vacation. If we wait for them to decide when to go on vacation we would not go at all as the summer would slip past them. We picked this part of June to go and not miss some of the best times of summer.
Our family vacations mostly center around lakes and water. If we take some days off in the winter we hit the pool and whirlpool in a hotel. We at first would camp out in a tent by a nice lake and swim or fish and also just take a boat ride around the lake to relax. At the campsite when my daughter was very young she did love to work the dot to dot drawings to make a picture. She was good at following the numbers up in succession, but I helped her when we did the letters of the alphabet. After eating supper, when all things were cleaned up I would ask her what she wanted to do. Most of the time she would say “lets dot the dots” and pull out the book as she climbed up on my lap. This was fun for her and relaxing for me. My daughter is the youngest of four children, so I know how they grow up too fast. I wanted to spend time with them when they picked what they wanted to do; we mostly play it by ear on a trip. If you do not closely plan each item you are less disappointed if plans must change.
We also hike from one of the outlined trails that the County or State Park will have. One trail we went on was very steep along the edge of a river. I did have quite a workout to get back up the hill; it was very gratifying to see other parents pay the dues to explore this trail. We went from camping out in a large tent and screen house to a tent trailer camper with a stove. These campers always look so very good at a camping and travel show in the winter; so beware.
At many of the State Parks of Minnesota we like to take advantage of the nature films they have in the early evenings. The State Parks do this very well and Minnesota has an excellent park system. We have also visited very good State Parks in South Dakota. One that we went to for just one night had mostly volunteers working at it. That night they were in charge of showing the nature film. Rain was predicted so they ran it early and cut fast, past the credits to help us see it before getting wet. We just finished the end and the soft warm rain hit. We felt fresh in the rain and left with a good feeling as we had beat mother nature from shorting the movie. The smell of the rain, the sounds it made hitting the very tall trees, and gentle thunder in the distance would let you unwind and fall to sleep; to the unchanging rhythm of the rain.
On a camping trip just west of Paynesville Minnesota we used a larger camper and it had a full bathroom. That spring I had worked almost every weekend and each night on my moonlighting job. The work was inside a hot, dusty, dry shop. When we got the camper set up the kids wanted to go swimming so I went to watch over them. The campground was on the edge of a clear, clean lake with an excellent, sandy beach. The swimming beach had a slide standing in the water. It didn’t take long before they went from wading to sliding down the slide into the water. This cooled them off well and they really enjoyed it. I let them squeal with excitement as they took the plunge into the warm water. This looked like pure unadulterated fun. I was still warm and clammy so when they came out of the water I tried out the slide. This was a blast; no wonder they were squealing so; it cooled you off, but it still was not a shock to your system. I could have stayed in the water for hours as I wanted to soak up the summer and sunshine because I had missed so very much of the summer, working. I felt I really deserved this, like most things in life; if you work hard for them you will enjoy them more.
We went back to the camper my wife had started the steaks on the grill; you could smell them all the way back up the hill from the beach. I think that no other evening can come close to being this good. The whole family is together, you are sitting back around the campfire after enjoying an excellent meal; you can just drink in the pleasant summer evening watching the sun go down nice and slow.
