Football Epilogue

I have a problem. One of many, but we'll just focus on this one here. My driveway isn't draining properly. I had a new one installed three-ish years ago and have for the most part been happy with the job. The old driveway was long past it's prime. It was narrow and crumbling. Somehow, with my deciding to keep the house in my divorce it was decided that a new and improved slab of asphalt would help the process of moving on. I must here give kudos to my folks, proud sponsors of the improved driveway. When strong second opinions and some financial need occur, go to the ones you can appreciate (and be reminded of "that time when..."), see your folks folks. Digressing... One main feature of my driveway is that it is nearly flat. It is also about the size of a regulation pickleball court. It allows for the kids and I to engage in basketball, boot hockey, catch, badminton, etc. without having to "game-on/game-off" in the street. The one drawback of its i...

I don't know who ever dubbed it "summer vacation". Summer is most certainly not a multi-month holiday or anything that us Americans assume much of Europe is like. In reality the "vacation" is an archaic remain of an agrarian society where kids were needed at home to help tend crops. Farming is now technologically advanced to the point that many farm kids have three months to kill. Better synonyms to describe triple-entente of June, July and August are chaotic, busy, stressful, fast paced, hot, tired, crabby, bug-laiden and "when does school start again?". That said, it's not all awful. I do enjoy the extra time with the kids. They are at good ages where they are agreeable to most things. When they're not I still have enough clout to move them along as I feel necessary. There are a lot of fun activities we've partaken in as well: fishing, bonfires, camping, basketball, pickleball, swimming, bike rides, yard projects (as I call them ...

It's been a little while since my last post. Frankly, life, work, family, etc. has been busy. So here I am, at a localized ground-zero for doing a bit of writing and sharing in my life. One of the recent bright spots has been the installation of a new driveway at my house. The old one was well passed it's life expectancy. While it proved to be not too bad for shooting some baskets I had a slightly bigger vision of the space than merely parking cars. The driveway was nearly flat, making it a great surface for other endeavors. Racket sports, namely. The width and length of the driveway were ideal for pickleball ; a sport I fondly remember from gym class and was simpler in terms of space and equipment requirements than tennis or racquetball. Initially, I over thought it. I'd need a net and lines and gear. Today I realized that the plastic tape, originally adorning the end of my newly finished athletic surface tied to a couple of stakes made for an adequate net and the boun...