Why Don’t He Write
Guess you are wondering where the posts have been? They have been working, that’s where. Summer is a busy, busy time for me at work. Summer is a busy, busy time for me at Boxes in Fields.
Last month after the Kid participated in the local regatta, he was given a grant to attend a month long sailing camp in the next city over. He did so well we continued classes for the month of July, too. Classes are Tuesday and Thursday from 3-630pm and Saturdays from 9-130pm. This is great, right? Great except the next city over is 45 mins one way. The Planner is taking the Kid to class on weekdays and I am picking him up. Most Saturdays I take him, return to work, and then go back to collect. Most Saturdays, he is the last kid standing as I come screaming into the club’s parking lot.
If you know Boxes in Fields, you are probably asking the following questions to yourself. Why do we not just stay there in the next city over? Doesn’t that seem like an excessive amount of driving? Don’t you drive more in one round trip to the next city over than you do in a whole week at home? Trust me, if possible to stay in the next city over, I stay. Blogs are written, bills are paid, and books are read all the while I am freezing waiting for him at the local public library. Anything to kill a few hours worth of driving. So, why all the driving then?
Work, that is why. Summer hours require anywhere from 5-15 extra hours a week for me at work. These extra hours were arranged at the beginning of summer and were expected. These extra hours are being saved for a real vacation at the end of summer. We, the Planner, the Kid, the doggo and I are taking a trip to Casper, WY to see the solar eclipse. Yeah! However, that decision was before knowing about sailing camps and the continuation of sailing camps. Now, the Planner and I volley the Kid around trying to get him to class. There have even been a few days when friends who were already going to the next city over have dropped him off. Why the sudden issue for lack of time by the Planner? Two part time custom jobs, that’s why. Job one, a paying job mind you: design, build, and install a custom kitchen counter. Job two: design and cut out 40 wooden fish for a local nonprofit summer art class. Okay, that would be because I really, really wanted to do this craft with my summer programs at the beginning of the month. Hey, nothing wrong with taking advantage of a situation when presented. Besides, the fish were a hit and I even got to make one! The planner has his and I have mine.
In between the Kid sail days and the Planner sail days every Tuesday all summer long and yes that is the Sailor helping to launch the boat, along with my additional work duties each week, it has been busy, busy, busy. But hey, we are on a countdown to Solar Eclipse 2017 so it will be worth it in the end.
Week nights, not spent driving to the next city over, have been spent volunteering time to collect bait fish for a local non-profit shorebird rescue center. This outing is something done as a family unit after the heat of the day has passed. Fish are collected, blue crabs and creepy looking spider crabs are returned, and fun is had by all.
Most of the fish collected are finger length mullet, however, a few whoppers are caught in the cast net such as this “horse mullet” as the locals call it. Close to 18″ in length and looking more like a freshwater carp, this horse mullet was thrown back to create more little mullets. Nothing is more important than quality family time.
Moments such as these are fewer and fewer as the Kid gets older and older. Trying to teach him about the finer things in life can be difficult. Like these alien plants growing in the tree line. Once again, I divert to the fact all things unknown at Boxes in Fields are referred to as alien. Something went missing, space alien. Odd tracks in the mud, space alien. Strange flowers and flower pods, space flowers.
Even in heat of summer, there are still beautiful wildflowers growing. They are exquisite, intricate, and demand attention. Fair warning, you are not the only creature observing these sensual sights. Ahh, summer and all its fun. And with all its fun, blog postings get pushed on the back burner. Things will slow down and blogs will return again. Life is for enjoyment, not work. Umm, you thought writing a blog was fun. Well, it can be work too. Pictures that won’t load, posts that are mysteriously lost (aliens, just saying) and thoughts that jumble and won’t make sense of words written. However, blogs are fun. There are times when I sit down to write a new post and I get lost re-reading older posts. As a result, this leads to more work when errors and miscommunicated thoughts are found. It also reminds me of all that has been accomplished at Boxes in Fields, with its ups (chickens) and downs (no water) and progresses made (from bare undeveloped, trash filled land to a sound, built for bad weather built Shop Box). Writing, as it turns out is more than just words on a page. It is a glimpse into real life, be it right/wrong/or otherwise. To err is to human.