Scattered Thoughts . . .

S heila and our granddaughter, Ellie, share a birthday so we tend to celebrate both birthdays together each year.  For their birthdays over the past few years, we've visited the ECHO Science Museum in Burlington and then gone out for lunch and this is what we did this year too.  It was a really nice day for all of us especially for Ellie and Gee! Our drive up to Burlington was longer than usual with far more traffic because the interstate highway was closed due to a bad accident.  The traffic didn't actually get bad until the last 15 miles...  from Richmond into Burlington.  From Richmond on, we were in bumper to bumper, slow-moving traffic. We had to travel on US Route 2 which is only one lane each way.  Fortunately, I actually enjoy the drive on this road and we hadn't driven this route since last summer so it was a really nice change until traffic was too heavy.   I used to live on US Route 2 for many years and I liked that it is one of the lon...

O ver the long holiday weekend a couple of weeks ago when we had Lukey and Kenzie staying with us, Kenzie had a couple of days of soccer tournaments so we spent quite a bit of time at soccer games.  One of the days was rainy and we left soaked but the next day was quite a nice autumn day which was a very welcomed change after the rainy and chilly day. Kenzie is doing quite well in soccer now.  Actually...  I believe she is the leading scorer for her team this year and she has a few assists!  She is certainly one of the fastest on the field and she is able to put quite a bit of power into her kicks.  Occasionally, she plays on the defensive line and does well there as well stealing balls, blocking shots and passes, and disrupting the opposing team's offense but I feel she is far more useful on the offensive line.  It is really fun watching her excel in soccer now. On the way to the soccer tournament, below...  I think she is trying to get her head in th...

I n mid-August, we went to another one of Kenzie's figure skating lessons and practice sessions.  I really enjoy going to these sessions because, when the rink is empty such as it is during these sessions, I have access to the ice from one of the team benches rather than from behind hockey-puck-marred glass in the stands.  When I'm on one of the team benches, I have no marred glass in my way...  no safety nets in my way...  I can even open the door in the boards to get down low to the ice rather than shooting down on Kenzie.  Shooting photos at ice events is far more difficult because of all of these aforementioned obstacles when needing to sit in the stands.   I always shoot a lot of photos during these practice sessions so, as usual, I came home from this practice session with far more photos than I need.  I sometimes shoot video during these sessions and I did on this day too but, for some reason (really multiple reasons), I'm never really hap...

We had Kenzie overnight again late last week.  She came to visit so we could do some back-to-school shopping with her.  Lukey was out-of-town with a friend so Kenzie visited us alone. After some penne and meatballs for dinner, we watched "Bride Wars"...   The next morning we headed toward Williston and Burlington.  By the look on her face and her hand gesture, I think Kenzie is saying, " What are you talking about?" Kenzie likes Old Navy so that was our first stop...  Kenzie seemed to have a jumble of different faces throughout the day... And, another face... And, another face... A quick visit to Ulta to pick up a few things (not for me!) for Kenzie... And, a stop at Barnes and Noble for some books... We had a good time with Kenzie, as always.  I just noticed the socks with sandals in the above photo...  like a lunatic who just escaped from a cell somewhere...   It was fun having Kenzie around for a couple of days and we look forward t...