The 43

The heat returned to Salt Lake City. The fires are burning nationwide. Temperatures climbed into the 80s on Thursday and into the 90s Friday, staying there all weekend. The protests/riots following the death of George Floyd have dominated the news the last few days. A police car was set aflame in downtown Salt Lake City yesterday, and we watched the situation unfold for the rest of the evening. The police mostly handled the situation well and didn't escalate the tension -- unlike other cities where the police seemed to make thing worse -- and there wasn't as much violence as there could have been. Tactically, the police got most people to just go home, a few were arrested for being assholes, and the ones who wanted to be arrested were peaceably and respectfully arrested. I was so nervous we were headed for much more destruction. There is so much anger and uncertainty and frustration in our country right now, and my heart breaks a little to see the boys trying to process it all....

Today was another ragged workday in which I didn't feel that productive. It could be the short week or just a general, temporary lack of drive. At least I was able to work outside for most of it, which was pleasant. The heat wave is coming, but today was comfortably in the high 70s. I ran this morning before starting my workday, then walked with Ben and Popcorn in the evening. Lori made pizza for dinner. I helped Michael with his religion final essay. All that basically comprised the highlights of my day, which is OK. It went fast, but when you aren't feeling efficient, a fast day isn't the worst thing.

The Tuesday after a Monday holiday always feels a bit weird. You're starting your week fresh, but after the day is done, you're already well on your way to the weekend. My Tuesday started early with a short walk with the dog, breakfast, and an 8:30 meeting. My workday wasn't as smooth as I hoped, but I got done what I needed to get done. I took Ben to his solo swim practice and then to the orthodontist. Lori made tacos for dinner and I worked for another 90 minutes outside. Popcorn and I went for a longer walk in the twilight, and I'm finishing my night here on the porch, writing, putzing around the internet, and making a playlist in Amazon Music. I'm sleepy, too. Maybe tomorrow won't be so early.

I began the day with a run and ended it with a walk. If I could be prudent with how much I'm eating, I might be able to lose a few pounds in time for summer. I attempted pork spare ribs on the grill. They didn't turn out that great -- the cut of ribs was kind of bizarre with its bones, and I probably needed to let it cook in foil longer than I did (but I swear, the recipe said one hour of heat was enough) -- but not every dinner I attempt will be a winner. At least yesterday's mostaccioli was outstanding. Besides moving and grilling, I watched "Free Solo" and worked a little despite it being a holiday. May has really zipped by, but at least we get another week of it. I was really good about avoiding some of the coronavirus news last week, and I'll try again this week. The social media and news story comments are what fuels my annoyance -- and that should shape my strategy for these upcoming finale days of May. A shitstorm spike in cases might be coming, a...

Years ago, I bought a portable fire pit. In my few attempts, I never could get enough of a blaze going to call my conflagration an actual campfire. Several years passed until I tried it again. Hurray for the internet, because with a simple Google search, I figured out what I had been doing wrong, set up the proper tinder, kindling, and firewood, and built a fire that we were able to roast marshmallows on. Michael, Ben, and I sat around the fire in the driveway, made s'mores (although Michael just ate marshmallows without toasting them) and talked for about an hour. I felt like I was in the woods around a real campfire for a little while, and it definitely felt like summer. The rest of our Sunday was nice. I found a New York Times for Lori at Dan's and bought her a latte at Starbucks. I mowed the backyard and saw that the EZ Seed is growing in nicely in some spots. I watched "Rocketman" and "Back to the Future" and took a relaxing nap. I made a mostac...

Memorial Day weekend is the traditional start of summer. It's really early this year (the earliest it can be), to the point it barely feels like May 23. Nevertheless, I'm beginning my summer blogging today. With the pandemic in progress (Day 71!), I'm ready to focus on something else. Of course, this first day of "summer" didn't quite cooperate -- the weather turned cold and rainy last night, and though no rain fell today, it still was chilly. I went for a walk/run this morning, which felt great, then took a long nap. I also watched "Parasite" and started watching "Rocketman." Ben and I took the dog for walk in the late afternoon, and right now, I'm on the porch typing, waiting for the sun to set (which, this late, definitely feels like summer). Salt Lake City always gets one more blast of cold before summer really takes hold, and about every other year, this seems to happen on Memorial Day weekend. The forecast is for 60s tomorrow,...

Without too much fanfare, Ben turned 14 today. The last couple years, we didn't throw any sort of birthday party for him until summer, so not hosting a celebration beyond our immediate family around his big day was nothing new. I was going to borrow an idea that we could celebrate while sheltering by having a water balloon fight -- really, pelting the birthday boy with water balloons -- but I didn't get to the store and the weather turned cold and cloudy by mid-afternoon anyway. We ended up ordering food from El Chihuahua (Ben's favorite restaurant) and singing "Happy Birthday" to him twice. I don't think Ben minded the birthday in pandemic much. We surprised him with a Switch Lite -- kind of a combined birthday/graduation present -- and his eyes lit way up. He'll get a normal party sometime this summer. Until then, with his new toy (and Michael is buying himself one as well), I don't think he'll get bored.

In the two weeks since I blogged last, nothing has stood out that inspired me to write. That's not to say nothing has happened during the pandemic during this time. More things are opening up -- probably too soon -- and the politics are too stupid; I'm walking a fine line (and falling off it) on avoiding pandemic news that just gets me distracted and annoyed. However, I haven't been driven to record any of these events. I may have hit a threshold on how much I want to think about all this, and it may just be the days and weeks are severely blending together, with little variety to each day. On Day 65, this has been going on for more than nine weeks, but the last month, one day ends, a new one begins, and nothing seems different. I'm hoping summer brings something unique to each day -- and I know I'm the one responsible for finding that unique. I find myself missing the NBA playoffs here in May. I associated baseball with these months, but I'm realizing bas...

A week has passed since I blogged last, and here we are on Day 51. Some paced steps of normalcy started up again over the past few days, but we're choosing to honor the social distancing recommendations. We may break a little to get haircuts (under controlled rules by the woman who cuts our hair), and the boys are going to the dentist this week. But otherwise, business as usual as May, my favorite month of the year, kicks into full gear. Last week was an intense blur -- hours of challenging writing for work, which drained my will to blog (although I did publish a post on my sports parenting blog ). And then this weekend zipped by before I knew what to do with myself. Michael and I did get some more yardwork done, and Ben and I went for a long walk tonight. This upcoming week will be much less intense for work, and working outside last week was wonderful. Summer is approaching, and even if it might be a little hampered by the pandemic, it still will be so welcomed. That said, th...