West Virgina, almost home

When I was a kid I was always bummed at the end of a vacation (but hey, who isn’t, right) especially when the family would travel to West Virginia to visit relatives. That long drive home (7 to 8 hours with potty and food stops) felt grim, especially after Labor Day weekend, the weekend of the Clarksburg Italian Heritage Festival, which we attended quite often. My lone consolation was a pepperoni roll from D’Annunzio’s Italian Bakery, which we would stock up on along with Italian bread on our way out of town. But this most recent trip I was even more bereft than usual. I don’t know. Maybe I was just stressed because of the job interview I had the day after I returned. Also, I had to make sure that I returned in time to pick up Addy from her first day of school. This was the first year that I was not with her to take photos before she went off to school that morning. But with divorce comes a change in traditions.

I left early that morning. Up at 4:30am, after not getting to bed until 11:30pm because I was up late talking with my aunt, my mom’s twin sister, I headed out onto the road at 6am. It was still pitch dark out, and it was raining. It had been raining all day the day before and there was no sign it was going to let up on the day of my departure. It did not. I drove in the dark and steady rain on US 50, which winds and turns. I couldn’t make myself go more than 40 miles per hour. But before I hit Parkerburg the sun began to show itself and I found a place to stop and get gas. Gradually, as I headed north, the rain let up, and by time I hit Columbus, Ohio, it had stopped entirely. The clouds had parted and the sun shone through.

Despite the improved weather I was not feeling any better really. There was a part of me that just didn’t want to leave West Virginia, that part of me that, as a kid, believed that one day I would live there and marry a nice Italian girl and raise my family. Of course, living there would have been vastly different than visiting Clarksburg. Visiting meant running to the Dairy Mart for candy and Chilly Willy slushies and freeze pops and bubble gum; and hiking up town with my cousin, John David; and walking the railroad tracks, even over the trestle over the river; and running wild all over Northview, the section of Clarksburg where my relatives reside; and staying up very late, playing outside in the yard, chasing lightening bugs and whipping apples at each other and up in the air for circling bats to chase; and hanging out on the big back porch of 103 Hall Place. It was all fun. There was no work to be done, not by us kids anyway. Whereas living there would be like living anywhere else, full of work and responsibilities and bills to pay. And yet, I still wonder if I couldn’t be happy there, happier anyway.

What did it matter? My responsibilities waited for me in Michigan — my apartment and family and the need to find a job, and most importantly Addy, may daughter. How could I ever live two states and 8 hours away from her?

Addy did not make the trip to West Virginia with me this time, which was too bad. I was sorry she hadn’t. She had cousins down there that she could have played with. And of course all the relatives would have enjoyed meeting her. And I’m sure she would have enjoyed meeting them. Next year, I plan on taking her. That’ll be nice, and fun. And I bet it will make the return trip a bit easier. Don’t you?

Let Single Dad Week begin

Colleen’s off to NYC for work today, which means that I’ll be doing the single dad thing with Addy for the remainder of the week.

She’s on her Spring Break and fortunately spending her days with a very cool babysitter. Addy loves hanging with older girls/women. Of course, she loves hanging with most anyone. Unlike me, she is quite the people person. Gets that from her mom. Wished I was more like that sometimes.

Anyhoo… Addy being on Spring Break makes my single-dad duties a little easier. I don’t have to worry about getting her up and ready for school in the morning. And I don’t have to pick her up from school. Also, we don’t have to deal with homework. Although Addy does need to work on her times tables — 7s through 12s mostly. Just need to get her dinner and rest is hang time.

We’ll probably watch movies, play video games, maybe a game of Sorry, and wrestle and have tickle fights. Nothing like a good tickle fight to boost your spirits, which I’m going to need today.

Why? Because today marks another step in the transition from being married and living in a home with Colleen and Addy to being divorces and moving in with my parents and living as a separate co-parent with Colleen. Life is going to get a bit more complicated. That’s for sure. And lonely. But it is what it is, right.

I’m not sure if Colleen being away will make it easier or harder? I’m conflicted about that. It was definitely hard this morning knowing we were entering this new phase, knowing that she would be gone all week and by time she retunred Addy and I would be gone. How will things be different once we finally do see each other again?  Took me awhile to finally get out the door this morning. <sigh> The rainy weather seem appropriate today.

At least, Addy and I have our trip to Indy to visit my brother, his partner Jim, and their daughter Riley to look foward to. We leave Friday morning for the weekend. Normally, I’d be a little stressed about packing and logistics but Addy’s already got that all organized in her head. She runs through the list of to-dos daily.

Reason 13z-.kl7…

… to leave Michigan: K-12 budget that is set to pass cuts per pupil spending by $165.oo. That’s $53 less what was previoulsy proposed. Big wow! Especially when you consider that the budget has already been cut by approximately $10 million in the last few years. And no doubt my rep Chuckie Moss(back) will say that it is still no enough, but then a jack ass like him who responds to constiuent emails with cut and paste responses was already a reason to move.

I’m hearing that song louder and louder every day  — California here I come…. And I know, the state finances aren’t very good out there either, but there not as bad here. Besides, there’s a chance the wife’s corporate overlord could give her position out there with a substantial bump in salary (we could make the move otherwise) it’ll be totally doable. Of course, I might have to take a job delivering pizzas or something like that but it’ll be totally worth it. Why? BECAUSE IT’S CALIFORNIA! You know, Pacific Ocean, beaches, desert(which I happen to dig), wine country, plus cool cities like LA, San Fran, San Diego, El Segundo . And a whole country between us and less than desirable family.

Global warming: a reason to stay in Michigan

According to this slate.com article, part of week-long series that wonders how the United States might finally come to an end, if global warming does in fact inflict the damage that some predict it will Detroit is one of the places you’re gonna want to be. Along with Buffalo and Cleveland.

There’s a reason these cities were settled early on in the country’s history — there’s an abundant source of water, and for Buffalo there’s Niagara Falls nearby (i think; i’m not looking at a map and have no memory for geography and believe that i’m recalling the article correctly) to provide power. Makes sense to me.

Which is why I’ve actually considered this a factor in whether or not we should move, believe it or not. As appealing as California sounds right now, if water becomes scarce, which it already is out there, then it is not the place you’re going to want to be. Also, worst case global warm scenarios expect that both coasts will be pretty much devastated, driving people inward. The slate article assumes that cities like New York and Boston will be entirely abandoned.  Yikes! Just imagine. If you can, let me know, because honestly I can’t even begin to.

As for Texas, well, it, along with other gulf coast states/cities, will be pummeled again and again by increasingly powerful hurricanes and storms.

The Great Plains will turn to dessert. Southwest will become almost unlivable. And all the people there will have to migrate somewhere — inland and northward.

In such a scenario some think that we could head towards a conflict, ie war, with Canada.

Of course, the aticle concedes that this isn’t going to happen suddenly, like a James Cameron action flick. But rather it will unfold more slowly, like, say, a Terrence Malick or Stanely Kubrick film, over the course of years, perhaps almost a century. But still.

sure, there’s reason to leave Michigan…but for what?

Actually, this Metro Times column by Jack Lessenberry provides more than just one reason to at least consider leaving Michigan. Or perhaps it is just one reason, a complex multi-layered reason.

In any case, the impending budget problems in the mitten state, which no one in the state capital seems to want to do anything meaningful about, grows ever dire. Everyone wants the problem fixed but no one wants to sacrifice. Of course, this attitude it not unique to Michigan. And California’s got budget problems as well, although supposedly they’ve come to some sort of agreement there. I don’t know. I haven’t really been following, although if my family and I are going to move there perhaps I should at least consider educating myself on the matter. But then I’d have to cut back on my TV time and there’s not way that’s  happening.

With the droughts in Texas, Austin isn’t looking as appealing as it had been a few months back. But the economy is good there, as it supposedly is throughout Texas. Might just have to learn to live with the heat. Imagine — moving from Michigan where you can’t bare the cold winters anymore to Texas where you may not be able to stand the heat. The irony would be delicious. Mmmmmmmm irony.

So N. Carolina is looking better… right now anyway.

Of course, if we can’t sell our house, a move becomes even more difficult to accomplish, and with Michigan’s realestate market the way it is well….

And you know, with the kind of weather we’ve been having this past week — warm but not swelterying, blue skies, clouds, nice breezes — one can get lulled into a false sense of security about Michigan.

Maybe it’s not so bad afterall, you know.

Yeah, maybe. But check back with me come December.

Good point.

Damn straight it is.

Do people in other states forget how to drive in the snow?

Because here in Michigan it seems like every year when the first snow fall/cold snap hits people are unprepared to drive on ice-slick roads.

One man was killed in a wreck this morning as slick roads surprised commuters with icy spots on freeways across metro Detroit after the area’s first notable cold snap, causing dozens of crashes around the region.

Yikes! Read full article here.

What the hell happened to Fall?

I mean, yeah, the leaves turned and fell and it was all oooh, aaah pretty and all that, but come on. Halloween was like 70 freaking degrees and a little more than a week later it’s snowing. What’s that all about?

It means one thing, for sure, that I probably missed my best chance to rake leaves. I hate raking leaves. One of the big reasons why, when I was younger, before I was a parent, that I never wanted to own a house. Cleaning gutters sucks too, something else that needs to be done. Plus, we got this skunk that likes to scent around our house and man it just creep inside and take days and burning multiple candles down to nothing to get rid of it.

Also, I missed my chance yet again, to plant tulip bulbs. Screw the pooch on that one again.

But there is one cool thing about the snow. Last night I was watching it fall through our front picture window. We have a street lamp on our corners and the snow coming down through that cone of light makes a nice image. Reminds of when my daughter was younger. I got up in the middle of the night and looked in on her and found her bed empty. Of course, I freaked more than a little. She was only about 3 and if she did get out of bed she’d come straight to our room. I hurried down the hallway to the living room and found her lying on the couch. She’d climbed up and was snuggled under her Dora blanky, looking out the window. It was snowing. When I asked he what she was doing, she just turned to me and said, “Daddy. I’m looking at the light.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I can see that.” Then I lay down on the couch with her and we watched the light and snow together, eventually falling asleep.

One of the best moments I’ve ever had with my daughter, who is not almost 8 and growing up way too fast.

Yesterday on the campaign trail….

Frome a slate.com article:

I am here today to tell you that there are better days ahead,” he said. “This is the United States of America. This is a nation that has faced down war and Depression; great challenges and great threats. … Here in America, our destiny is not written for us, but by us. That’s who we are, and that’s the country we need to be right now.”

                      — Barack Obama

              

“Certainly Barack Obama can learn a thing or two from John McCain about what it means to be a patriot. Think about how you’ll feel on Nov. 5 if you see the news that Barack Obama—Barack Hussein Obama—is president of the United States.” (The McCain campaign later distanced itself from Platt’s remarks.)

            — Bill Platt, Lehigh County GOP Chairman, introducing John McCain

Of course, later McCain distanced himself from Platt’s remarks. Nice. Hey, John. How about telling these jerk offs to not say this crap in the first place? How about that?

And as for the straight-talker’s speech, well…

McCain moved quickly through the changes he would make, as if reading from a series of bullet points, then spent the bulk of his remarks going after Obama. He wasn’t calling the audience to his vision of the future. He was poking holes in Obama’s record.

And lest you suspect that Obama was gloss and glitter, all Regan-esque schmaltz, consider these words:

“I won’t pretend this will be easy or come without cost,” he said. “We will all need to sacrifice, and we will all need to pull our weight because now more than ever, we are all in this together. What this crisis has taught us is that at the end of the day, there is no real separation between Main Street and Wall Street. There is only the road we’re traveling on as Americans—and we will rise or fall on that journey as one nation, as one people.”

So while McCain is trying to poke holes in Obama’s rep with this craggy, creepy little fingers, Obama is urging Americans to join him in making America better. And how did the crowd of more than 20,000 respond to this call? In true American can-do fashion: “with predictable ferocity.”

Obama’s words are awakening a pride of American lions ready to devour the problems set before us. And we aren’t just hungry, we’re ravenous. Bring it on!

And in the end:

Obama’s mere presence in Indianapolis, in fact, was a powerful message in itself. A Democratic candidate has not won the state since 1964. Obama, who narrowly lost the Democratic primary here, is now in a statistical dead heat with McCain. As Obama heads into the final weeks of the campaign, everything seems to be going his way—even the weather in Indianapolis. By the time Obama left the state fairgrounds, the rain had stopped, the clouds had parted, and the sun had come out.

It may rain for a time, the clouds may gather, the wind may blow cold and harsh, but the sun will shine again.

Obama knows this. He wants to take us toward the sunrise. Meanwhile all McCain can do is lurk in the shadows, and plot under the cover of darkness. And if McCain wants to saddle off toward the sunset that’s fine, just don’t rustle the rest of us along with you, okay.

Bicycle commuting slacker, that’s me

I’ve been really slacking off on riding my bike to work lately, especially last week in which I only rode in one day, even though the entire week’s weather was pretty riding friendly.

So this morning when I saw it was some 60 degress and might get up to 70 with sunshine, I made sure to get on my bike. But I left about a half later than I normally do, which made a pretty significant difference in the commute. It was the traffic. There was much more of it. I was ready at any moment to kick out with my outside foot into the door or quarter panel of any vehicle that got too close. But that never happened. Still, I think I’d rather make the ride in earlier to avoid the traffic.

Of course, as it gets colder that won’t even be a concern. Still, with global warming and climate change it will no doubt stay warmer longer. Evidence of this: we have day lillies in our back yard, which are dying and read to be wraked up and composted, but popping up between the dead, color-drained stalks, are new sprouts. If it gets warm enough long enough they’ll bloom again. But according to the weather channel it is going to cool down this week. So….

My not so new bicycling back pack

Sometime back I got a new backpack, one specifically for biking. It is fairly water tight. Colleen took some pics of me heading off to work one morning but of course slacker that I am I’m just getting around to posting them now.

Anyoo… here they are, for anyone who gives a rat’s backside.

The glow you see isn’t my ass buffed to high gloss shine, but rather the reflective back of my bike seat. Although having my ass buffed does sound intriguing. The backpack also has reflective stripes running down the back, and it is equipped with straps that stretch across the chest and stomach to take the weight off your shoulders and place it more on your back and hips. Less strain.

And here I am riding a way. Nice morning, but was back in the summer. The temp is a bit more chill these days. Well, in this morning it was anyway — 54 degress. But this afternoon was beautiful – 79 and very blue, clear skies. Aaaaah.

And here I am on the same day just as I take off. Huh. I never realized how gumpy I look on my bike. Ah, well. Being hip is for the youngsters. I’m 40. It’s my job to be a goof. My daughter seems to think so anyway.