there is much to enjoy in new hampshire…

biting black flies are not on that list…

let this be the official record that on 24 june 2011, at 6:30pm logan decided that she wanted a permanent tattoo on her right hand of a unicorn.

at five and three quarters she is certain that she is ready and capable of making life long decisions.

to her credit twenty-four hours later she reasserted her desire to have a permanent tattoo of a unicorn on her right hand…

a few highlights that made my birthday memorable this year…

first thing this morning, ethan presented me a map that i was supposed to follow to a birthday present. at the end of the map all piled in to a single chair was my family.

a light drizzle fell all day like i remember while living in seattle when i was a kid. i don’t long for that three hundred days of the year – but i need it like others need sunny days…

logan dressed herself in clown clothes to look “special” for me on my birthday. the acting like a clown came for free.

in the car on the way home from dinner logan said “you know what is weird when my finger is up my nose…” we suggested it was best she not tell us the rest, but she told anyway… its the way her nose vibrates when she talks…

heard the expression not another year older, but another year better?

that’s not what i’m feeling today, mark me down for just another year older…

the local fire department called me today and said:

there is a thick haze and smell of smoke in the [redacted] area that is the result of forest fires in [redacted] county. only call 911 if you have smoke inside your home or you see flames in an outside area. all persons with respiratory illnesses should stay indoors.

sorry to hear we’re missing that…

last friday school let out for the summer. the kids had celebrations at school. the neighbors threw a pool party. we ended off the day at a friend’s daughter’s high school graduation party.

the next day, birthday party at 10am; birthday party at 3pm; dinner guests at 6pm.

the next day, movie with the neighbors; dinner guests at 4pm.

how do you convince anyone to go back to school if this is the alternative?

i watched the top story photo on espn.com’s front page today wondering how long it would take for them to replace the dallas maverick’s nba championship victory shot with a lebron james is a loser shot.

just over 12 hours.

i’m torn between admiring their patience and disgusted i/they/anyone even cared.

a man comes across lebron james and asks if he can make change for a dollar. lebron answers, “i’ve only got three quarters and no fourth quarter”

this joke came from the eggheads on npr as they were extolling the plethora of reasons to root for the dallas mavericks in the nba finals.

when even npr pays attention to sport and starts piling on, you know your popularity is not on the rise…

if our children do anything but don’t have one or both of their parents there to watch it, i can guarantee you they don’t think it has happened…

(because many of my posts only make sense if you are inside my head, interpret this along the lines of “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to see it, does it make a sound”)

running over a copperhead snake at the beginning of our trip should have been indication enough that our ride in the woods was not going to be typical.

at the furthest reach of our trip my neighbor’s front tire went flat. he discovered the flat while negotiating a corner and having the tire roll under him sending him off the trail.

we removed his front tire and i rode home to replace the tube. i returned fifteen minutes later with the repaired tire and we resumed our ride.

at nearly the same spot on a parallel trail, my back tire went flat. this time there was no spare tube at home and we walked the rest of the way home…

in the evening i bought a flat kit and seat bag that i’ll hang on the bike today.

i have no remedy for any future copperhead encounters…