This captures one second of each day in the month of
June. June was a month of holding life in tension. Tensions came to a
head after the murder of George Floyd by a policeman which led to
protests worldwide and in some cases rioting. Online people shouted each
other down telling others how they should be reacting on social media.
In real life I checked in with people I personally knew who were
hurting. I talked to my kids. I had hard conversations. That will
continue. On top of this, we are also still dealing with the fact that
Covid-19 cases are on the rise where we live. Mental health suggests we
have to find better ways to cope. And so we are holding all of this in
tension. We are choosing to meet with small groups of friends outside.
In juxtaposition to these heavy things we took a quick weekend trip to
Florida to see family. We managed to do our annual rafting trip on the
Hiwassee with friends on Father’s Day weekend. We also did our first
camping trip of the year and hiked to the beautiful Cummins Falls. The
kids have biked their hearts out and have continued to sleep in cushion
forts and play well together. Daniel spent four nights fixing our SUV
after a mechanic broke a bolt on a control arm. Living with and having
to fix other people’s wrongs, that seems to be a theme right now.
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
A Case of the Mondays
We were supposed to leave to go camping yesterday.
Daniel had to give a presentation for work about the Rock Island Dam today and will be doing an onsite visit of the dam tomorrow. We thought this would be a perfect time to hit up the Rock Island campground as a family.
However comma, things have not gone as planned.
On Monday Daniel took our SUV to get a tire rotation and alignment. These are the only things he pays other mechanics to do for us. Generally he does all of our mechanical work. This is a blessing and a curse. Anyways, the mechanic who worked on our car managed to break a bolt on the control arm. They told Daniel he would have to pay for the new bolt AND the time involved for them to fix their mistake. An unknown amount of time because they couldn't manage to remove the bolt that they broke.
Instead of paying an obscene amount for them to fix something they broke, he had them put the wheel back on and he drove it home.
So instead of packing up and finishing fixing our camper slide, he spent the rest of Monday taking the wheel off and searching for the parts he needed to fix it.
Tuesday he went to the funeral of his Grandmother's husband, Mr. Ralph. With the pandemic still going on we didn't think it made sense to take the kids, so I stayed home with them. We thought he could pick up a needed part in Manchester after the funeral (Chattanooga didn't have any parts we needed). However, Manchester did not actually have the part in stock, even though they said they did on the phone.
Faced with the dilemma of not being able to fix our SUV, Daniel called places from Murfreesboro to Knoxville trying to hunt down the part. A shop in Knoxville had it, for a better price AND the tech there gave Daniel more pertinent information about the needed part.
Thankfully Daniel's dad was available to drive up to Knoxville to get the part. Yesterday was a busy day and Daniel didn't get to work on the car at all. This was probably for the best because it poured rain for most of the day. He did manage to finish his presentation that he had to give this morning.
That brings us to today, Wednesday. We were supposed to leave yesterday to go camping, and here we are praying that Daniel can get everything fixed. Otherwise he will be driving to his worksite tomorrow and camping at Rock Island will be completely cancelled for our family. Which is a bummer.
On top of that, I ran some errands today and things were just not wanting to go my way. First, I loaded up recycling only to realize our recycling center doesn't open until 11:00 on Wednesdays. So I drove off the mountain to Hixson to return some library books and pick up holds that will expire soon. However, I made the mistake of leaving my wallet and library card at home. I had my card number in my phone, but the library refused to give me my books without ID. I feel like if I had walked inside (if the interior of the library was open), they would have lent me the books because I am there all the time and the librarians know me. But with a call-in from curbside service, they refused. I redeemed the day a little by grabbing Chick-fil-a for lunch before heading home.
I have packed as much of the camper that I possibly can so that we can leave as soon as (if) Daniel gets everything fixed. At this point I'm hoping, but not holding my breath. Fingers crossed we can at least meet up with friends on Friday for the second part of our camping trip at Edgar Evins...
Monday, June 22, 2020
CVSD: Day 102 (Father's Day weekend)
Friday was the 100th day since we started social distancing. This is a weird time, because cases are going up in our state, while life is simultaneously becoming more normal. It's like we all just hit this wall where fear became less of a focus. We can't live in the state of flight or fight forever, so here we are.
Friday night we went to a friend's house for an outdoor, (somewhat) socially distanced birthday party. Reality suggests that when we are with people, we kind of naturally fall into old habits and routines. I am not sure what to do with this. Every time we interact with someone new, I am a little on edge for the following 5-12 days. But with each encounter, and each passing day, the fear becomes less of a factor.
Saturday we went with friends to do our annual rafting trip on the Hiwassee River. The river was packed. This year we bought our own kayaks (us) and tubes (our friends), so we didn't have to shuttle with strangers. It was so fun to do a normal adventure, celebrating the dads.
On Sunday, for Father's Day, our church met in the field behind the building for worship. Everyone brought their own camp chairs and communion. Those who were smart brought umbrellas or pop-up tents for shade. It was so good to see so many people who are important to us. I did hug a few people. I really needed those hugs, but today I have been feeling a sense of guilt and praying that no one gets sick.
We are supposed to go camping starting tomorrow. Unfortunately Daniel took our SUV to get tires rotated and balanced and the mechanic broke a bolt on one wheel and was unable to remove it. Daniel brought it home and is attempting to fix it here. On top of that he needs to finish up something on the camper slide, finish a presentation for work for Wednesday, AND we had a death in the family last week and funeral tomorrow morning. Life is feeling a little complicated in that regard at the moment.
Friday night we went to a friend's house for an outdoor, (somewhat) socially distanced birthday party. Reality suggests that when we are with people, we kind of naturally fall into old habits and routines. I am not sure what to do with this. Every time we interact with someone new, I am a little on edge for the following 5-12 days. But with each encounter, and each passing day, the fear becomes less of a factor.
Saturday we went with friends to do our annual rafting trip on the Hiwassee River. The river was packed. This year we bought our own kayaks (us) and tubes (our friends), so we didn't have to shuttle with strangers. It was so fun to do a normal adventure, celebrating the dads.
On Sunday, for Father's Day, our church met in the field behind the building for worship. Everyone brought their own camp chairs and communion. Those who were smart brought umbrellas or pop-up tents for shade. It was so good to see so many people who are important to us. I did hug a few people. I really needed those hugs, but today I have been feeling a sense of guilt and praying that no one gets sick.
We are supposed to go camping starting tomorrow. Unfortunately Daniel took our SUV to get tires rotated and balanced and the mechanic broke a bolt on one wheel and was unable to remove it. Daniel brought it home and is attempting to fix it here. On top of that he needs to finish up something on the camper slide, finish a presentation for work for Wednesday, AND we had a death in the family last week and funeral tomorrow morning. Life is feeling a little complicated in that regard at the moment.
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Floating the Hiwassee, Father's Day Weekend
This was our third annual float trip down the Hiwassee River with our friends, the Pattens.
In previous years we have gone closer to the fourth of July, but this
year we were able to get on the river on Father's Day weekend.
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After several years of doing this trip, we all decided to invest in our own floats. Our family purchased two inflatable kayaks and our friends got their own inflatable tubes.
We met at the take out point next to Hiwassee Outfitters (there is public parking there for the natural area). We left the Pattens mini van there and loaded all of our gear and people into our SUV and made the curvy drive upstream to the put in point.
It took about 20 minutes to inflate everything and get on the river, but it really wasn't too bad considering how long you have to wait for the shuttle.
We had a really great day on the water. The youngest of our group, Simon, got tossed out on two rapids and said he would never do it again, but by the time we left he was coming round.
Now that we have our own gear, we are hoping for more such trips.
Monday, June 15, 2020
Summer 2020: Florida Cousins
Officially today is the 96th day of social distancing/the worldwide corona virus pandemic comes to Tennessee. However, it is also summer and we trying to have a good summer, while also being cautious. Such is life for the past several months.
Last week my brother randomly asked if the kids and I wanted to pop down to Florida with him for the weekend. This is a trip we try to do once or twice a year to visit our sister's family. Unfortunately we didn't make it down at all last year, and with the corona virus pandemic, I think we all have kind of hit a wall and were craving family time.
Since we are all healthy, I threw caution to the wind (after making sure Daniel was okay with us traipsing about the country in 2020) and we made the trip south to Tallahassee with my brother. Our experience was that traveling during a pandemic wasn't too bad. Though we did have an issue finding open bathrooms for the kids. Fast food restaurants were generally open only for drive through, so we had to hunt for gas stations. Once we even stopped at a Whole Foods (we did buy apples so we weren't just using them for their clean bathroom!).
As for the weekend, we surprised my niece and nephew and the kids all had a blast being together non stop. We took a boat out to Dog Island (a repeat of a trip we did a couple of years ago where we were temporarily stranded and a storm rolled in!). This time, our outing was a little more low key, and the kids had a ton of fun swimming in the Gulf.
Though it was not completely without mishaps. Papa (my brother-in-law's dad) started to take off while we were all on the beach. We were dumbfounded that he might leave us again (like two years ago), but it turns out he was just going to help someone whose boat had drifted away from the island with a young girl on board.
The second mishap was running aground a sandbar on the way back to Carabelle. We missed the channel and couldn't tell it was shallow because the water was so choppy. Thankfully we weren't stuck, but it was a surprise to grind suddenly to a halt.
After boating, we went and grabbed seafood. If you know my brother, you know he needs his raw oyster fix whenever we go to Florida. Jack surprised us as the only kid that tried a raw oyster. He was not a fan. Levi's face sums up how the other kids felt about this delicacy!
Back in Tallahassee, the kids had fun doing kid things: bouncy house, trampoline, playing Uno, playing video games, playing tornado... We also went swimming at a neighbor's pool and then the kids did their semi-annual talent show with their Uncle Mark.
I love seeing them all cut loose with the dancing and being silly. I didn't catch this on my video, but my niece, Izzy, is really funny as the emcee. She always has off the cuff jokes that keep us laughing.
Our trip home was uneventful. It was a quick trip, but every time we made a pit stop we were reminded of the pandemic via everyone wearing masks. Our experience while traveling was that every person we encountered was super polite and kind (like extra). Looking forward to seeing family a couple more times as the summer progresses.
Monday, June 01, 2020
Weekly Hikes/Outside in May
Our church decided to have a "Camp at Home" for the first weekend in May.
We did a hybrid of this by having campfire meals all weekend and the kids continued their back porch campouts. Daniel and I weren't really feeling like setting up a tent and the camper still needed to be de-winterized.
So we enjoyed good food, great company, and made the best of it.
During this month, the boys hit 50 nights of sleeping in a cushion fort and we celebrated with homemade ice cream sandwiches.
We took walks in the neighborhood and the kids enjoyed riding their bikes on the trails at the park that is across the street from our house.
We were supposed to go to hike on the Cherohala Skyway for Mother's Day, but instead worked on our old camper so we could sell it. While Daniel finished up projects, the boys and I went and hiked at Green Gorge.
Post hike, we came home to make smores and campfire apples around our campfire. This is becoming a favorite thing for our family.
Before selling our old camper, we decided to spend a final night in it as a family. The boys are sad to see it go, but excited about what new adventures our new camper will take us on.
We hit Green Gorge again during the second week of May. This time as a family. Sophie tagged along. She loves to hike with us. She turns 13 (in human years) this month and we are trying to include her when we can.
We have learned that we don't have to go far for the boys to enjoy the outdoors. We are in the process of dismantling our old fence and the boys requested the rails to make a fort out of.
Jack and Daniel had the opportunity to meet up with friends to ride dirt bikes, so Isaac and I invited friends to hit up the Pump Track with us. Win win for everyone.
Two weeks after Mother's Day, we were finally able to make it out to Huckleberry Knob on the Cherohala Skyway. This is my favorite hike and I loved going here with my boys.
We also enjoyed eating by a creek while the boys enjoyed splashing and drinking their first Coke floats. This trip was our very first outing as a family since Covid-19 became a thing.
The last week in May we invited friends to hike with us at Middle Creek. The kids got covered in ticks, but had a blast exploring the waterfalls and creek with friends.
And to end the month, we joined friends to celebrate a birthday with fishing and kayaking at the lake. Eight little boys had a grand time seeing their friends and doing some of the things they love.
Summer is just around the corner and it feels like we will be doing more and more of the things we love, with people (at least in small groups and outside).
A look back at monthly hikes for this year:
January
February
March
April