Auburn Swim Meet

 This past weekend, Ashley and Bode were up in Auburn for a swim meet.  This was Bode's first meet in a 50-meter pool.  He swam four events--the 100-free, the 50-free, the 50-fly, and the 100-fly.  The 100-fly is the most impressive to me; just doing 25 yards of butterfly is a real pain (literally).  Ashley was sure to snap some pictures of her and the little man; of course, she had to get the emblem in the background.

She also took a picture of the pool--it's hard to tell, but the pool is 50 meters long.

She also snapped a photo of Bode with his teammates before they warmed up.

Bode's first event was the 100 free.  As always, you can hear Ashley vigorously cheering him on.

Next, we have the 50-fly (Ashley messed up the 50-free video).  Bode is in Lane 2 in the white cap--he ripped his Coast Aquatics cap at some point during the meet, so he had to borrow the white one.

Finally, we have the 100 fly; I get tired just watching it.  He is in Lane 3 in the white cap.

Bode has his best time ever in each event...but it was also his first time swimming these distances in a long-course pool :-)  Still, he has really dedicated himself to swimming this summer.  He practices every day from 0730 - 0930 (weekends are off), and they swim 2 - 3 miles each day.  He's also stopped eating ice cream for dessert...either he's really getting into swimming or he's trying to impress the ladies :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Garden Update

 There is not much to report on the garden front.  The birds likely got all of our blackberries despite some very dense mesh we put up.  Next year, we will have to look into doing some type of greenhouse structure.  The corn all died, likely due to the heat, but I really don't know why.  I don't think I will try corn again here because I simply have not had any luck.

I do have some honeydew melons growing...but it might be only a matter of time before they get attacked.

I also have plucked a lot of cherry tomatoes over the past couple weeks.  And as a surprise, when I was digging in the garden, I found three potatoes.

Amazingly, the broccoli is still going and going well.  No stalks yet, but a lot of plants.

I also have a lot of basil.  I didn't grow these from seed, but they seem to love the heat.

It is almost the end of June, and it is very warm here.  I might try to plant some okra and maybe some pumpkins--only four months until Halloween :-)

Murph

Ashley, Bode, and I did the Murph workout today.  This involves running one mile, and then doing 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups, and 300 air-squats, and then running one mile again.  Ashley and Bode did a shortened version of it, while I did the whole thing.  My goal was to finish in 48 minutes (my age in years tomorrow), and I came in at 47:12, slightly slower than last year, but I was very pleased.

Afterwards, we paused for some pictures.  Sondra and her two daughters, Lexa and Mia, also did the work out, and it was a very motivational morning.  You can see them below working hard.

Next we have a goofy shot of Ashley and Sondra.

Here's a funny one of Bode and Ashley.

And then a good one of the three of them.

We also got a good larger group shot of some of the athletes.

Finally, a nice family picture of the three of us.

You can really see how much taller Bode is than Ashley.  He's also pretty solid--the kiddo has some muscles under that shirt.  He weighs over 150 pounds, and when he shoves me, I move a lot more than I used to :-)  Happy Memorial Day to all.

The Big O

 I spent the last few days in Omaha catching up with some old friends.  This year is my 30-year high-school reunion; I didn't know if we were doing a reunion this summer or not due to Covid, and the big man was going to be in town for his nephew's graduation, so we all decided to have a mini-reunion on our own.

I stayed with Jon and Shelly, and they were kind enough to take me golfing at their semi-private club (they are living the good life in Nebraska).  Here is a lovely shot of the two of them.

Next is a nice shot of Jon showing off his elite punch-out game.

Finally, Jon said we had to take a picture showing off the lovely woodpile that has adorned 7-fairway since 2018; apparently they club is hoping it will simply decompose rather pay someone to haul the debris off.  Note Shelly's perfect form in the background, oblivious to our shenanigans while getting ready to crush driver off the tee. 

We had a great round of golf, and I'm sure Jon beat me soundly.  We also had a small gathering of folks at Jon and Shelly's, but sadly, I left the camera in basement and didn't snap any memories (probably a good thing because Marcus brought over a tower of bourbon).

One evening, we had a nice cookout at Jon and Shelly's with his parents.  It is always great to see the ageless Ken and Mary Peterson, who as I write this, are probably finalizing the paperwork on a new home they are purchasing in the Papillion area.

On Monday, Jon, Steve, and I went out for another round of golf--the three bulls just lighting things up at Tiburon.  We were all smiles before teeing off.

As usual, I did have to take some movies of the players.  Here's JP just striping one dead center.

Next we have big Steve (well, not-so-big Steve, as he's dropped 50 pounds).  Not quite dead center.

At some point while waiting for the group ahead of us (obviously we were waiting for the green to clear on a long par-5 so we could go for it in two), Steve and I posed for this gem.

Jon and I also posed for a shot; I think my pained expression is indicative of my play.

It was a beautiful day on the course, and I managed to capture this Bobby Jones-esque swing.  I'll have to send this to Golf magazine--they'll definitely want to use this in their instruction series on perfect form.

The golf was wonderful, but spending time with the book-ends was even better.  That evening, Melissa (Steve's wife) got us all together for more socializing to do an early celebration of my and Steve's birthdays.   This is not a good picture, but we were all just being goofy.

We asked the waitress to take a picture of everyone, but apparently only Melissa and I knew a photo was being taken.

Melissa even planned ahead and had a cake decorated for us.

And a trip to Nebraska wouldn't be complete without a picture with me and the Duke.

On Tuesday, I visited Kristine and her family; she was a terrible host because she destroyed me in two games of Scrabble--I don't even think the scores were close, but I did beat her in their mini-Ms Pacman game, and that's really all that matters.

We also took a picture, and again, I have that pained look on my face, this time due to my poor performance on the Scrabble board.

I returned to Florida yesterday to some happy dogs, a fairly happy son, and a wife that was thrilled to see me (but I think her elation was due more to not having to take care of everyone than my actual presence :-)

We are getting ready for Memorial Day weekend--the weather is hot and humid.  Pickle ball anyone?

Spring Orchestra

Bode had his spring orchestra concert yesterday.  The kids sounded amazing, and they looked so professional all dressed up.  We snapped a quick photo of Ashley, Mom, and Bode when we got there, but failed to get one of JoAnne and Frank (they arrived shortly after we did and Bode had already left to prepare).

The venue was a very nice church out in Destin, and the acoustics were very good.  Here is a picture of Bode warming up--you can only see his head right in the middle of the stage.

The group opened with Romeo and Juliet by Tchaikovsky.  This is a rather long piece and has a wide range of emotions.

Next, they played March to the Scaffold by Berlioz; the clarinet solo at the ending if very beautiful.

I think the next piece was their best--the theme from Rocky along with some parts of Gonna Fly Now, Fight from the Heart, and Eye of the Tiger.  Sadly, the memory card on my camera filled up before the song ended.

Finally, they finished with some parts of The Firebird Suite by Stravinsky.

Afterwards, we took a picture of Bode with Aaron.  

Two years ago, we took a similar picture.  As Aaron says, "Bode sure has gotten taller."

This ends the spring performance season.  Bode will continue to practice over the summer, and maybe I'll work with him on some scales, because I know how much he likes that :-)  Pleasant weekend to all. 

County Swim Meet

 The final middle school swim meet of the year was this past weekend.  Bode swam four events--two relays, the 200-yard free, and the 50-butterfly.  There were swimmers from all the local middle schools attending--the meet was the "county" championships.  Bode did great.  He placed third in the 200-free and fourth in the 50-fly.  I think a number of the boys that beat him were 8th graders, so next year, Bode might get up on the podium :-)

First, here are some shots of Bode just relaxing before the meet.

Next, we have Bode swimming the 200.  He took three seconds off his personal best times (and note the boys that got first and second were very fast and very strong swimmers).

Finally, here's a video of Bode swimming the 50-fly.  He swam it in 29.6, which is another personal best for him.  The boy that won this race is just a freak of nature.  I think he's only been swimming for nine months (compared to seven years for Bode), and the kid is just amazingly fast.

We are very proud of how hard Bode has worked, and we are also grateful that we don't have to get up at 0430 morning anymore :-)  Pleasant week to all.

Band Concert Addendum

 I managed to steal Ashley's phone from her and get some of the pictures and band movies.  First, we have one of the selections which I didn't record.

Ashley also got a nice picture with Bode and Ms Noe, the band director.

I remember the good old days when Bode was shorter than his teachers :-)