So it goes...

As I mentioned in a recent post, my seventeen year old son decided to join the swim team this year. I was a bit surprised because he has never really swam in a competitive mode before. We always had him in various swim lessons as a kid, but that was long ago and was far from structured. It was still more than I ever had as a kid however. We were taught by the old school three step method: 1. Get in your suit 2. Get in the water 3. Flail until you figure it out. This is not a knock on my mother in any way. I'm sure trying to raise six kids was hard enough without making certain that each one had mad swimming skills. I remember her sending my step-father down to the water's edge once to help teach me some strokes. I was pretty hopeless though and likely the worst swimmer in the family. To the point where my sister Pat has dreamed on a number of occasions that I have died by drowning. Well, I've made it this far. That's not to say I haven't been pulled out o...

Another brief blog post because I'm still on vacation. I'll post a more complete rundown of my thoughts on St. Louis, Memphis, and Nashville when I get home. Until then, here's five things that have impacted me during these past 4 days. 1. I've been told there are beautiful stretches of Missouri and Arkansas. These, I did not see. Saw a whole lot of this>>> 2. Visiting the Lorraine Motel was like stepping back in time. Seeing the balcony where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot brought back a flood of memories. As a 6 year old, I still remember it from the news. 3. The Civil Rights Museum in Memphis was an unpleasant reminder of some of our country's past injustices including slavery, Jim Crow laws and segregation. 4. They sure know how to do food in the south. 5. Met up with some Facebook friends for dinner a couple of nights ago. Nathan is the youngest of 9 children and his sister went to school with Donna. The two hooked up through Facebook...