Closure

Today is graduation for the students out at The United World College - USA...and I can't say that I'm not thinking of them at this cool time in their lives.

Kelley and I pulled a bit of a "jump ship" back in December while following what we believed (and still believe) was God's plan for us in coming back home to SC. From the outside looking in, it must have seemed so abrupt of a decision and resulting cross-country move.

Looking back now, I miss the important associations with the job but not the job itself. I miss the people. I miss the landscape of northern New Mexico. I miss the small but proud Gallinas river. I miss beer from the Santa Fe Brewing company and climbing in Comales Canyon with our good friends Tim and Hilary. The color of the sky in the evening, the thin nature of the high altitude air, the long hikes with Moira on any given afternoon when class is done...I miss all this.



But then I consider where my family has come...to our small and humble farm house in Elgin, SC. I think of how happy my dogs are again...and how happy Kelley and little Moira are on a daily basis.

To the current graduating second year students at UWC-USA, I wish you all the best and I congratulate you on a job well-started and well-finished. I only wish that our paths could have crossed when my family could have contributed more to the UWC community.

"I raise to you the parting glass....goodnight and joy be with you all" - Irish parting song

The Swell Season

So one of the main reasons that Kelley, Moira and I moved back to SC was to be close to family. We've been back to SC since December and we've yet to make it down to Charleston as a family to hang out with Erin, Patrick, Noah, and Wally (kel's sister, husband, little boy, and dog...in that order!)

This weekend changes our streak of absence.

We are heading down this afternoon to have an incredible family weekend. Watching the kids play and the dogs run around like crazies will be entertaining for sure. On saturday, Patrick and I will be hunting for some sweet swells at Folly beach while the wives hang with the kids and dogs. Kelley will then join us for an outing to see The Swell Season in concert (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova...the Irish/Czech folk duo). On Sunday, I think that everyone is heading to Sullivan's Island for some chill beach time with the kiddies.

And so literally starts the Swell Season for us....a summer of beach, surf breaks, kids, dogs, relaxation, and enough love to put it all into context.

Backyard Boots

The old cliche about how having a kid will change your life really is true. When I used to hear that as a teenager or even in my 20's (yeah...that's right...I'm now one of the 30-something crowd), I would always hear it with negativity. It's almost like the line was strategically delivered to emphasize the parts of you that could no longer exist once you have a kid instead of open your eyes to the new possibilities that non-parenthood doesn't understand or enjoy.

Case-in-point is this picture.

My days as a science teacher have been a bit stressful lately. Nothing serious or anything, just the typical public high school blues that make me really enjoy my homelife. In the afternoons lately, Moira and I will walk down to the garden and "check the specs" on what plants are doing well and which ones are not. We thin out the pear trees together (she loves throwing the premature pears that I pull off of the tree), inspect the squash, marvel at the height of the sunflowers, and get frustrated together at how bad our tomato plants are doing. She doesn't really care about the tomatos, but I like to think of it as a group effort...you know?

She loves to wear her boots when we head to the garden. She'll come up to you and say "boot on?!" and hold out her rubber boots. She'll then say her version of "garden" and...almost like magic...the blues of the school day are gone for good.