The Dad Grind

If there's anything I'm learning to hate, it's repeating myself. Go brush your teeth. Go brush your teeth. That's cool, brush your teeth. Neat. Brush your teeth.

This is the way of things. Every day. Every night. It's... painful.

Looking For Creative Solutions

My current big-picture deliemma is trying to figure out how to motivate and intrigrate the kids into the kind of outdoor lifestyle I've been looking to get back to. Asking them to live in a van is bullshit, and I understand that. But camping regularly in a kick ass van may be fun. But the age-old question of juggling time and money comes into play. How do we balance it out? Well, for me, it's trial by fire. Let's go.

Methodist Mountain

The other day, I took the family up Chaffee County Road/U.S.F.S. Road 108 up into what's locally called "The Boot" on Methodist Mountain. We opted for the BattlePatrol, my designation for the 2006 Nissan Do-Everything Pathfinder. Patrol is an homage to the Nissan Patrols of Australia and yesteryear, a real Toyota Land Cruiser fighter. At any rate, the whole area burned a new years ago in the Decker Fire, and thus had been the first time any of us had been up there since it burned. I was so happy to see all of the vegitation up there. Plants and bushes waste high. It was incredible.

The General Malaise

As a father, trying to kick this project open again has been very emotionally difficult. Forcing myself to commit to taking a few minutes with an update seems exponentially more difficult after caring for three kids. The freedom is still here, but it's to be earned these days. After a long day of running to the grocery store, the butcher shop, the comic book store, and the grocery store again, and picking up my daughter from club...

I did manage to squeeze in a nap today in between errands and chores. All in all, it wasn't terrible.

State of the Union

Yesterday, I woke up to news of our hasty exit from Kabul. Life changing videos and images came pouring over my news feed. I can't even begin to fathom or comprehend... anything in regards to that.

This country fucked up. Plain and simple. Just like Vietnam. Just like Iraq. Why don't we learn? Frustrating is such a benign word to use. Just a thought for the evening. Hold your loved ones close. It's crazy out there.

"Signs of Life" Tuesday, August 10, 2021

A long overdue status update is coming!

I'm inside today trying to escape the smoky haze from the ever-present wildfires around the west.

The BattleWagon is parked at my parents house acting as a storage unit at the moment. They are remodelling bathrooms by themselves, which is super inspirational. Retirement projects for me likely won't be nearly as ambitious.

The BattleCart, a 1985 Toyota Tercel 4wd SR5 Wagon, is my daily commuter. It only takes me downtown and back, which is maybe a mile or two round trip. It's been rock solid, though.

I've been slowly accumulating tools since the Great Loss of pre-Covid nonsense. The Matriarch has obtained a Master's Degree in psychology of some sort. She's incredible, now working for a group who's mission is to help people in unsafe relationships. My oldest starts 6th grade here this year. He's stoked, and we are stoked to have him. My daughter is in 2nd grade starting Monday, and as ornery as ever. My youngest is 2, going to full day headstart this school year.

My brother's around this resort town we can barely yet luckily afford to live in. He and I work at the same incredibly awesome pizza restaurant and micro brewpub, an eclectic establishment that has a fine crew and good soul.

That job will possibly breed some more side projects for this blog, which will I hope will be my public journal. In the meantime, I would invite you to join in my Tumblr, "The Chronicles of an Average Dad", where I will be posting content that falls into that bullshit. (If you're a dad, you know that I say bullshit with love, but also, it's still, usually, bullshit.) If you're on Facebook and enjoy respectful and thought-provoking conversation, I also invite you to check out my "Respect" page, a place with daily prompts of questions, sometimes light-hearted, others very difficult, but in a place where everyone can be heard and acknowledged with people who value respect over all else.

Peace be the journey, y'all, and we'll keep you posted.