Rollin'...Rollin'...Rollin' down the river...

Have you ever talked to someone who has just recently retired or is looking at that possibility in the near future and asked them what they are going to do after they stop working (for a paycheck, that is)?  They often say they are going to do this or that, travel and maybe take a cruise.  Well guess what, Pam and I just took ours...well sort of.

D&D got us a dinner cruise on the B&B Riverboat in Cincinnati for our Christmas present last year.  We just got around to getting that done, and made a whole weekend out of it.  Kinda rediscovered Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.

We hadn't been in that region for quite a while, so the two days was a nice little get-away.  I was concerned at first about the traffic and trying to see things, find a parking space and pay for several in-and-outs at the valet parking.  That proved to be wasted anxiety on my part.  Once we got there and put the car in the lot on Thursday, we didn't take it out again until we left on Saturday morning.  Everything was within walking distance or a mere 10-minute ride on the shuttle which boarded right across from Fountain Square.

Thursday night was our dinner cruise.  Having grown up on the Muskingum River, I really appreciated this cruise.  Kinda reminds me of taking the trip on the stern-wheeler in Zanesville (See article dated July 19, 2009 "Road Trip Down the Muddy Muskingum.").  Of course we didn't get to stear this one (it was about twice the size of the one in Zanesville), but the food was really good and the trip was very nice.  There's just something about taking an old riverboat ride on a big river in the evening, watching the big city lights go by, watching the lights in the little houses along the shore and up on the heights, tucked back in the trees.  Not a lot of noise, no rush ... just very relaxing. 

So we spent lots of time walking.  The first thing we saw was the evening's entertainment at Fountain Square.  They had Salsa bands playing and the place was hopping.  I like salsa (with chips) but don't dance to it!!  So until Glen Miller goes Salsa, you probably won't catch me out on the dance floor. But the music was really fun and sitting there under a tree, watching everyone doing their thing was fun.

The next day, we went to the aquarium at Newport.   It was pretty nice...a bit noisy with all the school kids there for their summer school outing, but pretty nice anyway.  That whole Newport area has been developed with lots of nice shops, good restaurants, and shaded benches for people to sit and watch the river traffic.

We took in a Reds game on Friday night (they lost -- bad managing!!) and stayed for the fireworks (the Reds do fireworks real well!!  Some say they are the best in MLB.).

All in all, this area was a pleasant surprise.  Might have to do it again some time.

It is said that a lake is one of nature's most beautiful and expressive features. That it is Earth's eye; and looking into it, the beholder takes measures of the depth of his own nature.  But I say the mighty river's powers for reflection aren't far behind.

Hooah

Another great trip, Part 1...

I used to have an old saying that "Anticipation is the essence of joy."  For those of you old enough to remember the ketchup commercial that showed someone trying to get some ketchup to pour ever-so-slowly out of the bottle onto the hamburger, you know where I came up with it.  I used to use that saying with kids at school, some of my family members, my troops, and some of the teachers who worked with me over the years.

Well, that was , and always is, the feeling we have when we get ready to take off for New York.  Packing the Jeep takes one back to the old days of loading the fliver for a trek across the mountains and plains.  OK, so maybe it's not that romantic, but it sure is fun.

Q is getting to be quite the young man these days, and is quite a ball of fun when we go exploring in the parks and the city.  He also has quite an imagination when we read his books and play with leggos.  These are some of the things that we look forward to.

This trip started out with a walk down by the river.  You really see the skyline, and the new "tower" really sticks out. 

We also got a good laugh when he and his daddy were playing "wheelbarrow" walker.  That is the first time I've seen that out of him  He's really coordinated.

Pam and Danika were the picture takers as they sat and talked on the top of the hill at the park.

But for all the greatness of the city and all the grandeur of its steel and cement, at the end of the day, it all comes down to the imagination  of a little boy playing in the dirt, building "highways" and laying out cities for imaginary people and cars.

And then the trip is over, and it's time for our pre-departure picture.  He usually puts up a fuss when we take these because he doesn't like people to leave. 

We'll be back, little man.  It may seem like a long time to you, but it's an eternity to grandma and me.

I have a warm feeling after playing with my grandson.  It's the liniment working.  (Author Unknown)

Hooah

Another great trip, Part 2...

One of the things I enjoy most about visiting D, D, and Q is experiencing the things that just come up.  In a city so big, one would think that there is a new thing just around every corner, and that would pretty much be true.  For instance...

On Sunday of the visit, there was a street fair in Brooklyn.  Pretty much all of 5th Avenue was blocked off and the street was filled with booths, food stands, fun things for kids and adults, and even such things as clowns and magic acts. 

 We stopped at one of the magic acts and instantly got taken into the act.  I don't know how this guy did it (sorry I didn't get his name), but he was fantastic.I participated in a card trick and it was simply amazing how he got the card that I picked from the deck, wrote my name on it, and somehow got it into his wallet which was in his back pocket.  Great trick, but probably wouldn't want to buy a car from him!!

One other thing that I'm sure not many of you have done is fly a kite in one of the parks in Brooklyn.  On Sunday afternoon, the wind was pretty good and it was a bit of a challenge getting the kite to fly and not get too close to the kite-eating trees.  Quinn is actually pretty good at this for only being 3 (not yet 4).  I, on the other hand, have not flown a kite for probably a quarter of a century or more, so my results were mixed at best.

But now, I guess I can cross that off my "Bucket List."  

 And another thing ... other than at a county fair, when was the last time you rode a merry-go-round with your grandson.  This is just another of those things you don't do on a regular basis around here.

So these are just a few of the things that we get to experience on our trips and they will be replaced by new ones on the next trip I'm sure.  Just down the street, just around the corner, new experiences, new smells, new sounds lure the traveler, calling to them, "Come experience this.  I know you don't have this back in Nebraska or Montana."



“What's the use of a great city having temptations if fellows don't yield to them?” (P.G. Wodehouse)

Hooah

Another great trip...Part 3...

As I said earlier, we took a couple of days early last month to go to NY to see D, D & and Q.  One thing I noticed right away was that the timing was right on -- not too hot, and not too cold...just right.  And regardless of how many times we visit, we always seem to find something interesting to do, something we have not done before with them.

It just happened to be D & D's anniversary so Pam and I stayed with Quinn while they went out to dinner.  We have sat with him before, but this was only the second time we got to stay with him while they were able to get a night out.

We also got to go down to the water park by the river.  It is really pretty cool -- we got to see several large sail boats, the kind used for the America's Cup races.  And there were also harbor tugs.

There were also ships, tall sails, that are fixed to a dock and used as a night club.

These were pretty cool sights, and we really didn't feel like tourists when we were there, watching them.  Of course, there were so many people there at the river park, it would be hard to tell the tourists from the residents.

There were so many sights, I usually have to capture these trips in two or three parts.  It's hard enough to get your arms around all the hustle and bustle of the streets and subways, and then you come upon the city's parks and playgrounds where people try to relax much like they do in Ohio or Iowa or  some other mid-west place.  The city is such a study in contrasts.

What else can you expect from a town that's shut off from the world by the ocean on one side and New Jersey on the other?

Hooah

Those lazy, hazy , crazy days of summer...

Don't know about you all, but we've been staying in out of the heat these last couple of weeks.  Our temperatures have been pretty high and the humidity has been the "two" of the one-two punch.  But just so you don't think this is an article about the weather, let me tell you what we like most about the "lazy, hazy" part of summer.

We have two hammocks up around the house, one on the deck and one out by the barn.  Carving out some time to lie in one of them in the evening is just one of those old-fashioned pass-times that the people wrote about in magazine articles and nostalgic stories of old.  It is just so relaxing to lie out there and listen to birds, see if you can see the hummingbird when you hear it flitting about, and catch the occasional fish jumping in the pond.

Pam said this was not fair, catching her in mid-nap one evening.  But since I couldn't take a picture of myself, she was fair game.

 Sitting in the chairs under the shade tree by the pond is also relaxing. 

Oh, yeah, one other thing -- it's fun to tool around the pond in the canoe.  I know the pond isn't that big, but big enough to paddle around and, if you're not careful, get real wet when the canoe gets overturned. 

So that's how we spend some of our free time here.  It sure is funny what retired people think is fun.  Not too long ago, I would have said this stuff was "borrrrrrrrrring" but now it's just...about...right.  A few days spent like this and you can become drunk with the belief that all's right with the world.

Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.

Hooah

An ounce of prevention ...

I can tell I'm starting to get old, or maybe better put -- a bit older, because I keep getting letters from my insurance company telling me it would be in my best interests to go see my doctor and have this test done or that procedure.  In my younger days, I viewed these notes with the same disdain I do junk mail or robocalls at dinner time.

However, hard-headed as I may be, I am not stupid.  So when the third or fourth letter came reminding that I was now old enough to consider getting a colon screening, I thought maybe this would be the right time.  So I dialed up my local colonoscopy guy and made an appointment.  Another nice thing about my wife and I having the same birthdays is she gets the same "invitations."  This basically became an "I'll do it if you do it" thing.

Following an exciting evening of preparation, the only thing left was to face your two worst fears:  that the doctor would actually find something, and that you would totally embarrass yourself in front of a doctor (total stranger) and 3 or 4 nurses (total strangers).  Friends of mine who had this procedure before me told me that I would be put out and wouldn't know anything that happened.  Well, that may be true, but if the doctor came in in a clean change of clothes, I guess that would tell the tale.

I guess one good thing was that the whole staff and procedure was done by strangers in a town quite a ways from mine.  I was happy to get in there, that way I felt pretty certain I wouldn't have any former students of mine doing any "work" on me.

Oh, yeah, my wife got hers done too.  No bad results for either of us.  She got a 10-year "pass" from the doctor and I got a 5-year one.  So other than the prep, it wasn't that bad, and the "ends" justified the means.

Our body is a machine for living.  It is organized for that, it is its nature. Tolstoy


Hooah