Terrible events have ways of bringing people together.  As more friends and family have started to pass away, I have found myself being reunited with friends and family with whom I have lost contact over the years.  This was certainly true for the visitation I attended tonight.

As the viewing was for one of my former coworkers, I found myself in the company of many friends who I have missed so much since I left Colon Schools.  The viewing was temporarily closed off as family a friends could say a Rosary or wait outside.  Our group used that opportunity to get back in touch with one another.

While there are number of reasons that I am glad that I left Colon to teach elsewhere, I certainly have missed the people with whom I used to work.  We were very much a family.  I have developed friendships and have worked to bring my coworkers at Lincoln closer together as well, and have felt that our relationships have improved, but it's a bigger school and the chemistry between people is different.

As I approached my former colleagues tonight, it was a joy to see their faces light up as they recognized me and greeted me with smiles and hugs.  While we were gathered for a solemn occasion, we also basked in our renewed friendship.  Somehow, it didn't seem like over nine years had passed since I had seen some of them.  We promised to stay in better contact, and I sincerely hope that we do so.

A colleague of mine from my days at Colon Jr./Sr. High School passed away this Sunday at the young age of 65.  When I first arrived at Colon, he was one of those quirky math teachers (and our school had a few of them ... I'm looking at you, Jenni and Munch) who seemed to genuinely like what he did ... even if the middle school students seemed to be driving him crazy.  

I did not know him well, but all of my memories of him are pleasant.  I also shared some of his concerns about how our government (federal, state, and local) were dealing with education, particularly in how teachers get treated.  While I can't come up with specifics, I know that he gave me helpful advice and was a pleasant lunch companion.

I was sad to see him leave the school, and am sadder still that he has passed away.  I pray that he has reached his heavenly reward and that his family's sorrow will be tempered by knowing that he made a real difference with the time that he had on this Earth.  

We went to the Renaissance Festival in Holly, Michigan, as is our annual tradition (aside from my years in Alaska, I have gone every year since 1990).  We went with Janelle's brother (who is only in town until next week) and sister (and her family).  Despite a dire weather forecast, no storms (let alone major ones) marred our visit.  Here's the quick run-down:

A Zucchini Brother is back.  While still one of my favorite shows, his final act just seems desperate.

Ded Bob is still funny.  It's been a few years since I've watched the show, but although his voice seems slightly different and his "dummy" is considerably smaller than before, the old act still holds a massive audience.

One Step Further, the show that proceeded Ded Bob, was pretty entertaining, especially the "wall of jorgoling."  Some of their pop references went over my head; I feel old.

Prices are getting even higher: $2 pickles, $7 turkey legs, $6 bag of kettle corn (which I did not purchase) and $3 for a 1/4 pound of fudge (which I also didn't get).

Trevor bought a wooden sword to replace the one we bought him last year that he then broke by trying to smash ice with it.  I bought the other two boys wooden swords.  This was Rowen's first, and the one Connor wanted just looked cool to me.

We brought canteen backpacks that only hold about two water bottles worth of water but were well worth bringing due to their convenience.

My want list from the festival: a cool (in more than one way) hat, a leather (brown?) pirate overcoat, sturdy pirate-ish boots, comfortable pirate pants (are you sensing a theme?), and a new shirt (although the one Jenni made still works pretty well).  I like my current garb, and I really cant justify getting another outfit that I only wear one day out of the year, but I have been wearing it for about 15 years.  Still, see the note about higher prices ...

Yesterday, I got home later than I expected from work.  I was getting school stuff done (more than I expected, but not as much as I wanted) while my carpool partner was sitting on an interview team.  I arrived home a little before 6pm, ate dinner, and then had company over until 10pm (we played Carcassonne with two expansions).  I turned on my computer to write a post (for which I had an idea that I have since lost), saw that my brother was online and then played Starcraft and worked on logic puzzles until about midnight.

In short, it was a good day.

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus tells His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem to suffer, die, and rise again.  Peter wishes that no such thing would happen and Jesus rebukes him saying, "Get behind me, Satan!"  While Jesus does not want to suffer, He knows that it must be done for the salvation of the world.  Without realizing it, Peter is tempting Jesus to stray from His most holy path.

We, too, are often tempted from what we know we need to do by friends and family who have the best of intentions.  While we probably shouldn't call them "Satan," we need to recognize when these distractions are keeping us from being the best possible versions of ourselves.  This doesn't mean that we should completely ignore friends and family, or other diversions, just that we should not use them as an excuse to not accomplish that which we know must be done.

As a practiced procrastinator, I know that I struggle with this problem regularly.  Just look at how much writing I've completed this summer (not counting blogs and some minor school-preparation, the total is three paragraphs).  I have had a great summer even if I have little to show for it.  I'm not going to beat myself up over what I haven't done, but I need to put my failings behind me and move forward.

One of the biggest problems that I've encountered with playing Dungeons and Dragons as an adult is scheduling.  Especially when including more than one household, trying to find time to get together is quite a challenge.  Some of my ongoing adventures meet only a couple of times a year (usually during summer break) with gaps between sessions of several months (sometimes nine).  This makes keeping track of what the party has done and plans on doing a bit difficult.

When Google Docs became available, one of my friends created a shared spreadsheet where he could input the experience points and treasure that we earned.  Since it was a spreadsheet, he also made it so it calculated an even share for each character.  He later added in a place for notes on the adventure and even a tab for players to put down something about their character's description.

These "adventure journals" have been a tremendous help as we have gamed through the years.  Recently, we have even used them to share maps, images, notes, etc. rather than have the DM provide copies to everyone.  While it still means passing around computers (or tablets) to those who don't have one, it also makes it so players can access the images from home if they want to give them a closer look.

I have a shared the adventure journal that I created based on my friend's original design.  While I have included a link here, I have also put one on the Home-brewed Rules page of this website.  I hope you find it helpful.

Yesterday, a friend of mine was explaining how he needed to change one of the questions on the opening survey he gives to students for statistical purposes.  The question was "How many of the Lord of the Rings movies have you seen?"  This summer, for the first time, not a single student in his classes answered "All three".  He asked me if I remembered watching Happy Days as a kid, and if I thought then that the 1950s seemed like they were so long ago.  He then pointed out that the 1950s were closer in time to us when we were watching Happy Days than we are now to when we were children.  Time seems to be moving so quickly now.

This made me think about some other issues of time that make me feel old.  Trevor was born the year before the 9/11 attacks and he's now in the eighth grade.  I have now lived more of my life being married than not, and more of my life being a father than not.  None of my children have lived in a world without the World Wide Web.  I have had my Yahoo email account for nearly half of my life.  Connor and Rowen have always lived in our current house.  Rowen never rode in our Green Silhouette.  Should my daughters have children, those children will probably be closer in age to Rowen than Rowen is to them.

There are some positives to this.  I get to watch Star Trek the Next Generation about every six years.  We're doing so right now since Trevor doesn't really remember seeing them and he's now the age I was when I first watched them.  Considering how little Connor and Rowen stay in the room, we will probably be doing this again.  I will get to do the same with other shows and movies that I love.

It's no wonder that so many of my "pop" references seem to go over my students' heads.  Even video game references which I used to think of as recent (e.g. "The cake is a lie" or "Would you kindly") are met now with a completely blank stare.  It's amazing how fast time has gone by.

This week's Gospel reading has the famous, and often joked about, scene where Jesus walks on water.  Peter asks to join Jesus, but after a few steps, he grows fearful of the waves and begins to sink.  How much this is like my own relationship with Jesus!  I ask to follow Him, but then I falter, afraid of the tribulations that I face.

What encourages me is that when Peter calls out for Jesus to save him, Jesus is right there and lifts him back into the boat.  That is the case for all of us as well.  All we have to do is ask Jesus to save us and He will.  In fact, He's been working at trying to save us this entire time.  It's been our own stubbornness and fear that has kept us from accepting His help, sometimes going to far as to reject Him completely.  Yet despite all of that, He is still there, ready to save us.

Today's sermon was given by a newly ordained priest who spoke about his own difficulties in coming to believe in Jesus as well as what led him to the decision to enter the clergy.  He spoke about selfishly looking for happiness in the places where the world says that we will find happiness, yet becoming miserable instead.  He had family and a support system of friends who were able to help him recognize that all he had to do was ask Jesus to help him.

The first reading speaks of listening for God and expecting Him to let Himself be known through massive winds and earthquakes.  Yet, in the end, God's call is like a the smallest whisper.  He has been with us forever, so long that we don't notice His presence unless we take the time to recognize it.  He's here with me now, helping in ways that I rarely recognize, quiet as a whisper, but capable of quelling the strongest storm.

We had Connor's birthday party today even though his birthday is actually next week.  There were balloons, party games, cupcakes, presents, and other standard birthday elements.  He had a number of his relatives and several of his friends (one whose birthday party followed shortly after Connor's) attend.  It was a good day and a fun party full of pizza, play, and laughter.

I realized that Connor is at the age that he will remember, albeit vaguely, these events.  I remember my birthday party during my kindergarten year, and I am sure that he will remember his.  We are at the point that he will be actively remembering the events that shape who he will become.

This is one of the reasons that I support birthday parties.  They serve as a sort of anchor for our memories, which are otherwise such skittish things.  While I don't perfectly remember one birthday to the next, major occurrences between the birthdays and at the birthdays themselves have helped keep a relatively accurate timeline of my past.

I hope that Connor's party was memorable enough to serve as that anchor.  Hopefully, he will remember the Batman/silly-string obstacle course, the new bike, the table of bubbles, and other elements to remember what it was like to be six turning seven.  Too many people forget their own past and the events that helped shape who they are.  They forget what they were like as a child.  May this birthday party help Connor avoid such a fate.

This is another idea which came to me from a random drawing in the margins of some of my notes for school.  In this case, I drew what appears to be a dead tree growing out of a pile of stones.  Perhaps due to my reading of Tolkien's Return of the King, I felt that the tree was still alive despite its appearances.  

A story came to mind of the tree being the source of magic in the world.  Due the drilling of oil and the depletion of natural resources, the energy that flowed into the tree has cut off.  A group of adventurous teenagers (this was an idea from high school) come across a cave that holds the tree.  Somehow they realize that they need to nourish the tree to bring magic back into the world.

As these teens are the first to nourish the tree, they are also the first to gain the benefits from the tree's healing.  They become masters of magic in a world where magic, true magic, has largely been forgotten.  This brings the attention of powerful people from around the world, many of whom with the worst of intentions.

The teens find themselves fighting for their lives and to protect the secret of the source itself.  As with many of my ideas, this one never got much further than this most preliminary stage.

I am now forty pages in the hole.  It's been four weeks and I've written a grand total of a paragraph.  There were three separate occasions that I sat down to write this week and just stared at the screen for a few minutes before getting distracted by something else.

Now, several days this week (and at least one more next week) were spent replacing a section of the drain field in our back yard, and I again spent a good portion of the week playing D&D with various groups of people.  While my summer has not been as productive as I would like in the writing department, it has been an enjoyable summer.

This next week is going to be busy as well, but I think that I've decided that if I don't get writing this week, I am going to stop the weekly updates on my lack of progress.  I don't like quitting.  We will see if that is incentive enough.

Willow trees hold a special place in my heart.  The first tree that I remember climbing was a willow.  It was a tree where my imagination was able to soar.  I even tried soaring myself from it once with wings made out of paper.

My parents had three willow trees in their yard while I was growing up.  One was in the front on the side hill.  This was my first tree.  It had a double trunk with one side giving dividing even further and then dividing again, all relatively low to the ground.  Basically, that side allowed at least two people to sit comfortably in it without requiring too much work.  It was my spaceship.  Often I would sit in the "gunner" seat (which was higher) while my sister "piloted" our craft.  The other side of the tree was a much more difficult climb, but it had a fantastic perch to serve as a lookout post.

The second one was my least favorite as it was near the apple trees and thus more bugs.  It also had a low-hanging branch, but it didn't have the multiple perches for more than one person to use.  It was, however, possible to hang a tire-swing from it.

While we wouldn't be able to climb the willow in the back until we were older, it quickly became my favorite.  It wasn't until about six feet off the ground that this tree split its trunk, but when it did, it made a space like a little tree house.  It also had numerous branches parallel to the ground that were perfect for gymnastic moves.  Sadly, it is now the last of the willows and all of its large branches have been taken down.  All that is left is that trunk which still rises over six feet off the ground.

Today, my mother purchased and had me attach several boards to the willow as well as a couple of hand-holds and a climbing rope.  My youngest sons and I climbed to the top as I attached them.  It was like visiting an old friend.  While it's more of a large stump than a tree, as well as home to an assortment of bug, the boys and I had a fun climbing it again.  

I'll just have to check my sons for paper wings before they go to play on it.

I have had a much busier summer than I had expected.  We recently passed the half-way point of my break, and I can't help but think of all the things that I haven't managed to accomplish.  This seems like a good place to take stock of what I've done and not done as I only have a little over a month before my life goes at break-neck speed again.

I finished (although I haven't polished) the Rosary section on this website.  Considering that I had been planning on doing this for a number of years now, I'm really glad that I got it up and running.

We cleaned out the garage from the garage sale and can now park our cars in it again.  Honestly, it had been long enough that I had trouble parking in the garage again.

I've been writing in this blog nearly every day.  Only on days like yesterday, where we end up busy until later than I expect, have I had to postpone writing the blog.  Still, I've managed to have a blog for every day since I've started.

I fixed and updated the character spreadsheets that I use for D&D (both 3.5 and my home-brewed 3.6), and made them available on Google Docs.

I've been playing tennis at least twice a week with my father.

I even fixed the slide and swing set at my parents' house, as well as set up the beginnings of a play area on the willow tree in their back yard.

And I've seen a lot more of my friends this summer than I have for the last several years.  While the lack of down-time is frustrating my wife a bit, I've been having a blast.

That said, there's still a lot on my list: repair the drain field (in progress), get a cover picture for Dragon Hunter and get the book e-published, write a new story (Vali's Tale), take a load or two to the dump and metal recycler, clean up the basement, go on a trip (currently planned), get Pool of Radiance stuff on this web site, finish converting DQ7 into a D&D adventure, and other things that aren't coming to mind.  I am avoiding working on school stuff even if the dreams have already started.  There will be time enough for that later.

At least I've been getting some stuff done.  This has already been a more productive summer than most of my previous one.  Still, I have some catching up to do.

More so than any other television show, except perhaps M.A.S.H., the Rockford Files was a major part of my early childhood.  I don't remember much from the show itself other than its car chases, but I remember Jim Rockford and his personality.  In some ways, I almost thought of him like an uncle.  It sounds weird as I write it, but it was true nonetheless.  

My father was a big fan of James Garner.  I believe his favorite movie is The Americanization of Emily (which is certainly worth watching).  Along with the Rockford Files, he also tried to watch any of the reruns of Maverick, which I enjoyed more, that he could find.  I know that these characters helped to form my idea of what a hero should be.  They didn't seek out confrontations and they often looked for non-violent solutions.  They were concerned about day-to-day life, but had a code of ethics that didn't allow them to ignore the downtrodden.

As I grew up, seeing James Garner in a film or show was like seeing a relative or friend.  I didn't always like the roles that he played, but I still looked forward to seeing him.  With that in mind, his passing has affected me almost as much as if a relative or friend passed away.  It amazes me how much we are affected by the lives of people who never met us.

We watched the first half of the Rockford Files pilot episode last night.  The clothes and hairstyles are entertaining and the show's pacing is MUCH slower than to what we are now accustomed, but the show is still entertaining and it was like seeing an old friend again.  Rest in peace, James Garner.