Saturday, August 04, 2007

Swangin'

















































I woke around 6am and managed to push myself out of bed to go outside and move the sprinkler that had been running on the front lawn all night long. I returned to bed where I slept another couple hours until 8am. I had a somewhat troubling dream just before I rose where my BM’er was towed for parking in a poorly marked no parking zone. The guy on the phone told me it would be $250. Plus, by the sounds of it, they managed to damage the car slightly, too. And if that wasn’t enough, as I walked home Bella came running up. I realized then that I had almost forgotten her in my haste to find my BM’er. I was relieved to have her back in the fold, dreading the wrath I would’ve received should I have returned home without her. Because of this, I woke stressed.

Happy that it was just a dream, I got busy with my Saturday morning. I made a pot of coffee and got started with my exercises. It was 8:20am by the time that Ykraps and I made our way out for a walk. It was noticeably less steamy that Friday, although the air still warm. I returned home to enjoy a couple cups of coffee before setting out on a run. While sipping some coffee I set up my laptop and logged into work.

I set out on my run by 9:30am. The house was alive when I left. Everyone was up. Mindy had the kids working on cleaning the playroom. Mindy asked if I wanted breakfast. I didn’t. I wore my MP3 player during the run. I was quickly reminded that I really need to soak/wash the arm band upon my return. It reeks heavily of stale sweat! I ran along Hague and Trabue against very light traffic.

Mindy was showering when I returned from my run. I got to soaking my MP3 player arm band and then dug into work. I worked for the next couple of hours interacting with the Saturday team. Mindy and Bella left for a shopping spree around 11:00am. We still planned on heading to the Anderson’s together later in the afternoon. I confirmed that before she left. Jacob chose to stay home with me. While I made a sandwich, Jacob went to play with the neighbor. I asked him to return shortly. Around 12:30 Mindy phoned to ask if Jacob & I simply wanted to meet her & Bella at the Anderson’s since she was already up off Sawmill Rd. I agreed having just completed my shower.

Jacob and I readied to leave fifteen minutes later. I moved the sprinkler just before leaving. Mindy wanted to get some filets and pork chops from the Anderson’s. I wanted to look at their playset gear along with their miscellaneous hardware. We got up to Sawmill fairly quickly. Mindy & Bella were still eating lunch. We told them to meet us their. They had the Carhart NASCAR car on display at the Anderson’s. It was cool checking out the interior. Jacob won a Carhart ballcap with a scratch-off given to him by the fellow in charge.

Inside, we made our way to the toys and the hardware section. Jacob tried his best to get me to buy him a toy. I abstained. I ushered him to the hat area to redeem his scratch-off. Just as we found the playset gear we saw Mindy & Bella coming our way. We looked over all the options together. In the end, Mindy bought both a disc & tire swing. We planned to hang/mount both in trees at the rear of our lot. We next made our way to hardware where we met Bill, the hardware guy. He helped us pick adequate rope for the disc/tree swing. We bought 50’ of their beefy ½ inch poly rope. We also picked up an important u-ring to extend the rope length that comes with the tire swing. From there we made our way to the butcher counter. Mindy took the number but asked that I wait and get the meat. That troubled me a little only because I wanted to peruse outdoor hardware for a watering wand, but Mindy didn’t bend. I think that she had unshared ulterior motives. Under strict orders, I waited at the meat counter and ultimately picked six 8oz filets, eight 6oz pork chops, and four shrimp skewers. I joined Mindy and the kids hovering up the way in the yardscape area. And while they didn’t have the telescoping watering wand I wanted, they did the handy 12” wands with a variable watering head. Mindy agreed to but the purple one. J We checked out soon after.

Jacob and I took the cart to the car while Mindy took Bella to the potty. Mindy parked right next to us. After loading our haul into the Trooper Jacob asked that I take him to Chipotles. I agreed. We waited for Mindy and Bella. Mindy said she had a surprise for me in the car. It was a copy of Tony Dungy’s book, Quiet Strength. For those that may not know, Tony Dungy is the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and former Vikings Defensive coordinator. I have always admired him on many fronts. I will very likely enjoy his book.

We parted ways and agreed to meet back at home. Jacob and I stopped at Chipotles just as he had asked. I got him his favorite chicken burrito bowl and got myself a bag of chips and salsa. We agreed to share a large lemonade. Despite our stop, we arrived home even before Mindy and Bella. Not sure what slowed them. In any case, we unloaded our stuff and Jacob went in and ate his burrito bowl. While I repositioned the sprinkler on the side yard, Mindy & Bella pulled up.

After a few minutes Mindy got the kids back in the basement to finish cleaning organizing the playroom. They love to play down there but hate to clean-up their mess. Bella is an especially messy kid. She can make a mess in no time flat but never wants to clean up. It’s a pattern repeated numerous times at our home. In the meantime, I got busy prepping both swings for the trees. I had to augment each, but the tire swing more significantly. I removed the short 6 or 7’ foot rope attached to the disc swing and used it to extend the tire swing. I’d use the new 50’ of rope on the disc swing since it would hang from about 25’ up. It took about thirty minutes to get both tree ready. While the family remained down stairs I grabbed my tools and headed out back to get the project underway.

I hung the tire swing first having already picked the perfect spot on a young walnut tree with an almost perfectly horizontal branch hovering about 11’ above the ground. The tire swing came with a greased ball & socket bracket to allow for spinning without twisting the rope. In truth, that‘s what makes it so costly. That went well. Soon it was hung and looked good save for the honeysuckle bushes needing trimmed form its path. Next, I got started on the high hanging disc swing. This, I was excited about doing. I knew it would make for a thrilling ride through the numerous nearby trees.

The trick was going to be getting the rope over the high hanging branch – about 25’- in just he right spot. I didn’t dare climb out on the limb. That was too dangerous. I figured instead that I would have a go at tossing it over with a weight attached. But the rope I bought was a half inch thick and would very likely prove difficult to toss, even weighted.

Not to be deterred, I grabbed a roll of twisted pull sting from the garage along with an old baseball. I drilled a 3/16th inch hole through the baseball then threaded the pull string through. I now had a decent device for tossing over the big Ash tree branch. I tied the loose end of the pull string to the new ½” swing rope. I stepped back about ten feet, took aim, then tossed the baseball skyward. The ball soared just over the desired branch. And as luck would have it, it came down just inside of a “y” in the large branch that I was trying to avoid but worried would be impossible. It made for perfect placement. I was stoked that it worked so well and on the very first try.

The rest was easy. I pulled the new rope over the branch and looped it back through itself with a slip knot. I fed the remaining tail through the disc, added a washer and a knot, and it was done. I left the twenty foot tail dangling from the swing so that it could be used for leverage. I sat on both swings myself making sure that they would hold sufficient weight, although I was certain that they would. I went to fetch Jacob to give both swings a try.

Jacob came out thinking that I was gonna have him helped install the ropes. He was surprised to see both already complete. Confused, he asked what I needed him to do. “Test ride”, I said. He hopped on the disc swing first. The extra knot I added for gripping seemed just the right height. I let him rip. He let out a shriek of excitement as he soared over the gulley and between the trees. It held him fine and tracked nicely through the slim opening. I was pleased. He took another ride only this time slightly higher. H e was very excited. Before going in, I asked that he try the tire swing too. He did.

I carried in my tools and cleaned up the rather small mess I made completing the project. Jacob went in to tell his mother and Bella the good news. They soon joined us to give it a try themselves. Everyone enjoyed the disc swing ride – even Mindy. The kids enjoyed it so much they uttered their love for me like never before. Kinda cute! It wasn’t long before they had all the neighborhood kids over giving it a try. The kids called the grandmother asking her to come over and see their new swings. She agreed. Mindy went to fetch her.

In the meantime, I moved the sprinkler to the back yard. By now, it had been running 24 hours non-stop. I watered the rear flower beds by hand with city water. I had failed to do so earlier in the day. In this kind of heat (90 degrees and sunny) the plants can go little longer than 24 hours without showing signs of stress – a very good example of “what have you done for me lately”. Mindy returned shortly with Gloria. She walked out back to watch the kids soar between the trees on their new disc swing. I could tell it troubled her to watch as at times they reach heights close to ten feet above the ground. We all enjoyed hearing their screams as they swung. When Mindy and Gloria headed back in I was stuck outside playing with seven kids – our two included. They played for over an hour on the swings.

I gave up and went to change gears after the hour. After Mindy gave all the kids something to drink, she left to take her mother home. I poured myself a beer. Wahoo! When Mindy returned we discussed our dinner plans. We had originally planned to grill filets but I was to tired and too impatient to grill this evening. Besides, I wasn’t that hungry either. Mindy was. So, she reheated some tasty leftovers just for herself. She heated up brats and corn on the cob and ate some of the homemade cucumber salad, too. I had some of that, also. It was very good after setting for a couple of days.

Mindy got the kids a much needed bath. And to my surprise she headed to bed very early for a Saturday. I stayed up, at first working on a tough problem. Eventually, because I was achy and sweaty, I got in the hot tub with a cold beer. Afterwards, I tuned into Mad TV. It was funny. I began dosing just after 1130pm and headed up to bed.

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