Say What?

They say that you can’t go back home again; maybe not but I did. I was out on my bike yesterday and I found myself not far from the home I grew up in. I decided to go a little off my intended route and cycle through the old neighborhood—something I do maybe once every couple years. Anyway, yesterday was the first time I’ve ever seen anyone out in the yard and when I did I didn’t hesitate to stop and introduce myself. The owner’s name is Byron; I forget his last name. He was out edging the grass along the sidewalk and I biked up to him and told him I was one of the original residents of his home and that my dad had this house built 40 years ago. His face lit up and he put out his hand and we exchanged greetings. I looked around the yard and told him that my dad had put in the fence and I helped him a bit but I mostly remember just trying to walk along the top rail all along the perimeter of the yard. I told him how I'd loved it here. I mentioned the tree swing in the backyard and ...

I brought Rachel to Coles to have her hair cut and high lighted the other day. While we were sitting there waiting for her stylist I heard a woman's voice from across the way say, 'Kevin...is that you?' It was a neighbor lady (Luann Coburn) from my old neighborhood whom I hadn't seen in a dozen years or more. We chatted for a few minutes before Rachel was led away to have her hair done. That was a nice touch to my day. I left Coles to run over to BestBuy while I killed time waiting for Rachel. As I was parking my truck I looked over in the truck next to me and there was another familiar face I hadn't seen in over 10 years; a friend from high school: Gary Sink. I yelled over at him and we both got these big smiles on our faces. We stood in the near 100-degree heat in the parking lot and talked for 20 minutes catching up on the last decade. We said goodbye and I went into the store thinking, wow, two in one day—that's pretty odd . The next night Tammy and I went t...

In church each year on Father's Day, our pastor has all the dads stand up for a moment of recognition. It's become for me one of the prouder moments of my year and I always look forward to it. I stand up to say that I'm proud to be Rachel's dad...well...step-dad. I'm proud of the love she has for me and amazed at the unconditional love I've been given for her. When Tammy and I first began dating a little over seven years ago, I wasn't really looking to be a step-dad again. I'd done that once before and it was not easy. I love(d) David and Joe but we never achieved the bond that Rachel and I share. We celebrated Father's Day yesterday as I had to work today. I got up early and was on my bike by 8:00am headed 50 miles southwest to LeSueur. It was a hot day and I rode as well as I've ridden in a long time. I'd had my bike into Flanders the day before and had some adjustments made so that it's now back to its original setup. Here's my r...

I got an email from my older brother a few weeks ago telling me that he'd found the super8 mm home movie tapes which he'd lost several years ago. They were small, 3-minute movies from the late '60s and early '70s; no sound, just movies of us mugging for the camera. He asked if I was interested in them and I told him I absolutely was. I got them in the mail a short while later and took them to National Camera Exchange to have them digitized. I got them back last week and have been adding some background to a few of the better ones. Some of the films are quite good and some are not so good. This first one  was taken in 1968 while my brother Bryan was home on leave from the Navy. Your typical home movie stuff where all us kids are mugging for the camera. I'm the overly energetic red-headed kid. The second video  I think is from 1971 and is taken in the basement of our home in Bloomington, Mn. The final video  is an eclectic mix of several of the film reels and h...

It was dance recital weekend for Rachel this past weekend. Tammy's folks came into town as they always do to watch her. Every year I think it will be the last year her father will make the trip but every year he surprises me and finds his way here. The recital was great. Rachel is so poised and beautiful on stage. She continues to grow as a dancer and her love for it is as stong as ever. This was the first year I took part in the Dads' Dance and now I'm left wondering why I took so long to get involved. There were 20 of us dads and we had a blast out there dancing to Puttin' on the Ritz. We had our top hats, tuxedo shirts, black pants and black canes. We actually put in several class sessions to get the moves down and I think everyone put in some time on their own, too.I know I did. I wasn't sure how I'd react to being on stage. I was somewhat worried that I'd freak and forget the moves but that didn't happen. I had a blast! The only time I messed up w...

I seem to have so many things to get done this spring, so many that some days I’m not sure where to begin. I’ve got some projects in the yard which have me a bit preoccupied. One of those projects I was able to get done this past weekend when I found someone to come and grind our stumps out which were left behind after we cut down our Aus trees last winter. I would’ve thought it would be easier to find somebody to do the job than it was. I found a guy in the Yellow pages less than a mile from home. He came out last weekend while I wasn’t home to size up the job and he was to give me a call back with a bid. He never called back. Tammy saw him out back looking at the stumps so I’m (sorry) stumped as to why he never called to at least give us an estimate. I called another guy on Wednesday and he said he’d be by the next day around mid morning to quote us a price. When he hadn’t shown up by late afternoon I called his number and he said he was planning on coming out on Monday instead…hmmm...

I picked up Rachel at dance last week and her teacher poked her head in the truck window to tell me that they were looking for dads for the dad's dance and she needed a 'yes' from me. My default answer was that I had to work and wouldn't be able to attend the practices...whew...I really dodged a bullet with that one. I could tell that Rachel was really counting on me to get involved and over the course of the 20 minute drive home I'd pretty much changed my mind although I didn't tell her just yet. I got home and both Rachel and Tammy let me know that they were really really really hoping I'd do the dad's dance, "okay, I'll do it!" They were so happy—that alone was worth it I suppose. My first practice is tomorrow night. We'll find out then when the other practices are. There still is a chance that the practices may interfere with my schedule and I really won't be able to make it but I'm actually looking forward to it. This could...