How Wet Was It ?

Due to the heavy rains we have been experiencing these past few weeks here in the Colorado Springs metropolitan area, our normally dry landscape has been subjected to all kinds of circumstances usually reserved for more humid parts of the country.

One example was yesterday's golfing experience at Antler Creek golf course in Falcon, CO.  For our 18-hole round, Aaron and I were driving a cart, which had to remain on the cart path (to avoid getting stuck or leaving tread marks across the soggy course) for the entire round - no exceptions!  Through the first 9 holes, I felt the squishing under my shoes as we traversed fairways and greens, but in my mind I still wondered why the golf carts couldn't cross the landscape.  That is, until our experience on the 11th hole.

The tee box affords a breathtaking view of the front range, including majestic Pikes Peak.  Aaron had "honors" so he prepared for and took his first swing of the hole.  The ball traveled several hundred feet ... almost straight UP in the air!  But at least it was headed to the fairway so it would be easy to find, right?!  When it landed a few seconds later we just heard a thump.  After my tee shot, we drove down to find Aaron's ball ... and nearly drove past it.  Why?  See for yourself in the pictures below.

Being the gentleman I am (and claiming my own made-up "poor course conditions" rule), I did not make Aaron take the standard one-stroke penalty for retrieving his ball.  However, he did have a hard time hitting his second shot since we were both laughing so hard!


Song Of The Day:
Inspired by the picture and experience described above, please enjoy Sugarland's hit song "Stuck Like Glue"
Thankfully Aaron rescued his ball before the glue set up!  :)

...

Why Are You Here ?

It is fun to show up at work on a day people are not expecting to see you, especially when it has been many months since you have worked on that day of the week ...

The reactions you get from people are always fun:
 - Is it Tuesday yet?
 - Why are you here?
 - Is my calendar off?
 - Uh oh.  Who's in trouble?
 - Wait ... do you have a meeting or something?
 - No seriously ... WHY are you here?!

For the past so-many-years-I-lost-track-of-them I have worked a Tuesday through Saturday schedule at Progressive.  I love the days and hours (I work four 9-hour days with one 4-hour day in the middle of them) and especially the two-day weekend (Sunday-Monday).  The added bonus is that everyone else works Mondays so I am free to run errands without nearly as much traffic as I would have on a Saturday.  I have gotten very used to working this schedule, and most people who work near me have gotten used to me NOT being at work on Mondays.  The above reactions were comments I actually heard at some point today.  Very fun indeed!


Song Of The Day:
Once again we were blessed with more rain today, albeit less than we've had in the past few weeks.  I'm still loving the rain and Madonna seems to enjoy it as well in her "Rain" song.

...

Best Laid Plans?

Some days, nothing goes right despite your best planning efforts.  As with anything else in life, your reaction to the situation you find yourself in is more important than the circumstances.  Those who can roll with the punches are able to enjoy life more, even if some of them are quite heavy blows.

All this rain we have been having lately led to the basement flooding tonight at my brother's townhome.  Truly this is nothing compared to the loss of homes and lives that has happened as a result of these storms, but it is a big deal for him as this is the first home he has ever owned.  It also interrupted our plans for a family game night (to celebrate my birthday) this evening, which is even less important in the grand scheme of things.

Now reflecting back on my statement above about a person's reaction to these kinds of situations, I found it very interesting how certain people reacted and what it told me about their personalities.  Some reacted with anger; anger at anyone and anything.  Some dropped everything else to immediately help.  Some seemed to want to pretend nothing was going on and wanted others to do the same.  And others just smiled and went to work.

I believe we all lose our sense of priority sometimes, and we allow little things to seem much bigger and more important than they actually are.  But then life is made up of hundreds of those little things so it is important also to remember to look for patterns so you can reasonably plan for the future.


Song Of The Day:
I was inspired by the efforts of some of my family members who were quick to offer help when this situation arose.  In their honor, reflect on the words in the song "Umbrella" by Rihanna.  It is nice to know that there are always those who will share their umbrella with us when life is raining.

...

You Walked To Where ?

My wife and I have been taking advantage of the warm weather all summer long by going on walks in the evening hours.  We are unable to go every day, but at least 3 times a week we have left our children under the watchful care of Josh Jr (13 years old and a darn good "babysitter") and headed out for some exercise and alone time as a couple.

The conversations we engage in have taken many forms and the walks vary in distance, but we are always refreshed and renewed afterward.  More often than not, Karen decides the route and the length of the walk.  About a week ago, we decided to walk to YoYogurt (off Powers and Stetson Hills for those in Colorado Springs).  This was the longest walk we've ever gone on, but it was great!  I know Karen's legs were exhausted after the looooong walk, but it was broken up nicely with a huge cup of frozen yogurt delight.

Methinks we will walk this route again when the rainy weather slows again.



Our house (B) to YoYogurt (A) is 1.9 miles ...
so pretty much a 4-mile round-trip walk

Song Of The Day:
Another day, another rainstorm that saturated my new sod.  :)  And in honor of this, please enjoy the classic Eurythmics tune "Here Comes The Rain Again"  Although the tune is melancholy, I was nothing but HAPPY that the rain came again!

...

Is there a more relaxing sound than a nice, soft rain? Or more exciting than a loud, hard rain?

I just love rain. Everything about it makes me smile. You might be saying to yourself "That can't be true," but it IS!

I love the soft rains that go on through the night and the way it soothes me to sleep better than any music can.

I love the hard, pouring rains that batter buildings and sound like they are trying to tear through the roof.

I love getting "caught" in the rain. Being in a store or on a walk and the clouds darken and you feel the sprinkles and then, if you are lucky, the torrential downpour.

I love having an excuse to have to run in the rain to the car. "Don't worry honey. I will brave the dangerous water on my skin, hair, and clothes. I will bring the car around and an umbrella so you can avoid getting wet." All for show ... it's really just all for me to be able to do what I have always loved doing in the rain ... playing like a 5-year old kid!

When I lived in Orem, Utah we had a porch over the garage that was not fully enclosed (in truth we were only kept from falling to safety by a rather questionable metal railing). Sitting on the porch as the rains came down all around us (you could see off the porch on three sides) is my earliest memory of when I began my love affair with rain. We used to "sneak" out and have wood chip races down the street gutters (or the middle of the street if it had rained hard enough). I am not ashamed to admit I still ache to do this every time I see rushing water in the street.

On my mission in Los Angeles, CA there was a four-month stretch where I served in the Long Beach area. It has now become an entirely different mission but that is another story for another blog ... don't worry, all in due time my loyal readers. I remember one day when the rains came so hard that we had to get off our bikes and walk them home because the water was too deep to ride in. Most other days it would just leave a nice muddy trail up the middle of your back, but on this day it was like I could hear God calling "Noah! Noah!" only He always sounds like Bill Cosby when I think of that. Elder Burton and I got back to our apartment and were completely soaked to the bone (so much for "dry-cleaned" suits, eh?!) But instead of getting dried off, we simply hung our suit coats up and went and played in the street. There was at least two feet of water in the places where the gutters could usually be found and it was about four inches deep in the middle of the street. We got out some sleds that one of the neighbors had (they must have taken them on trips 'cause there is never snow in Long Beach) and dove on them into the "river" in the street. The water drained away within just a few hours but that was one of my most favorite "playing time" memories from my mission years.

There are many other stories I could post of the rain, and I probably will when I get a few months in and need more topics. But today the subject was important because we had to rush all 8 of us through a medium density downpour out of Ridgeview Elementary school down to the safety of our car after attending meet the teachers night. It was like a scene from a movie where the team has to make a plan of attack and then execute, dealing with challenges as they arise from nowhere. It was agreed in our family pow-wow that I would carry Catalina (3) and Savannah (almost 5). Karen would carry baby Myra. Josh Jr would take the car keys and lead the charge (he is faster than me when I am carrying two kids, but with just one I think I could still take him). Ben and Brooklyn were on their own. :) Through the screaming and shouting (and Cat crying because "da watah is gettin' on my showt an' I don' yike it!") we made it to the car and enjoyed a good laugh about how soaked we were. Sadly, I ruined it by yelling at the kids who began arguing over who had to sit in the back ... in my defense, I believe rainy situations create a sort of martial law where you play a less official game of musical chairs. Take what you got and be glad you're not getting wetter!

Here's a "hail" picture from last summer at the pool. I was "rescuing" Karen and Catalina, but we all know I was just making an excuse to play in the rain/hail. :)