I love love love it when a major holiday falls on a Tuesday, because it almost always means we’ll have Monday off. While that is the case for me today, unfortunately it is not the case for my poor wife, who had to trudge in this morning as if it were a regular workday. I can’t imagine she’ll have much going on today in the office, but you never know, I guess.
So the first half of the weekend was spent up in Gilford, NH, visiting with my parents. My sister, her husband and my niece and nephew also joined in the festivities as well. We were unable to go out in my parents boat on Saturday since the wind was blowing a little too forcefully, so we ended up retreating to my parents house, where the weather was spectacular and the summer afternoon unfolded a lot like a summer afternoon did when I was a kid – nothing to accomplish and no responsibilities. My favorite kind of day, really.
When we’re all together, it’s pretty much a given that something memorable and/or hilarious will happen and Saturday certainly didn’t disappoint. I will not get into detail about the particular incident, but it involved family members competing in several 30-yard dashes across the front yard. Now there’s something you just don’t see every day: your family participating in several 30-yard dashes on the front lawn. Think about that one for a second. I mean, it wasn’t terribly competitive (other than the aforementioned “incident”) and we were all laughing pretty good the whole time. Those moments, from where I sit, are way better than any paycheck will ever be.
In thinking about it on the drive home yesterday, I made mention to Steph about the good-natured footraces and tried to picture her family doing something like that. We both had a good laugh thinking about that one, because we just know it would never happen. Her family is just different than mine. We grew up ten miles apart at the most, but the differences between the two can be marked in continents. Visiting with both is always quite pleasant, but for vastly different reasons.
So what’s my point? As usual, I probably don’t have one. If I were to try to tie in a point, I suppose it would be that here on America’s 230th birthday, we find ourselves living in a very diversified land, one where many families have many different nuances and personalities. One is not better than the other, nor preferential. It’s just something to be appreciated. You adapt to the environment you’re in and try to have the best time you can. Thankfully, both Steph and I have those people in our lives and we can do that on a regular basis. Neat.
230 years! That means I’ve been alive in America for 15.2% of it’s short life. Not bad.