February 23, 2009

All in a Weeks Wanderings


Yet another Jamaica Pond photo
Let see, I usually start these with a weather report, so why buck tradition? I’ll try to keep it brief; actually for late February the weather has been pretty good. We had a nice warm spell that lasted about a week. Warm is a relative thing this time of the year, 40°F (15.5°C) does it for me. It was enough with the help of a little sun to melt most of the weeks old snow that was filling the sidewalks and streets. It is all gone except for a few piles in the shady regions. Those can be a little deceiving if they are covered with a layer of dirt and sand. If you step on them they still be very slippery. The cold temps have returned but with out the snow it is tolerable, and it hasn’t been quite as cold as it has been. It is surprising what a different 5 or 10 degrees can make when it is this cold.

Karate update: I am feeling better about the whole karate thing, we have been at it since September, and I am finally feeling I have at least a minimal proficiency at the basic moves or katas. A kata is a series of moves that demonstrates the blocks, kicks and punches of the given discipline. We are working on tow different ones, I was never good at remembering choreography, and from week to week, I seem to forget what I learned the week before. I am not the only one; I can see the other adult struggling as well. The kids on the other hand seem to pick them up very quickly. So much to my chagrin last week when I was asked to get up in front of our class and demonstrate my ability with one of the katas. I was pleased and surprised that I was able to get thru it with only minor mistakes. Something must be sinking in. Beyond practicing the katas, we also work on punches and kicks, the latter are quit popular because we get to let loose on the kick bags that out partners are holding, the object being to move them across the floor. We also do a little simple sparring with partners. The object is not to hit the other person, rather to block their punches and kicks. That results in no small amount of body contact particularly on the inner arm below the elbow, and bruises do occur. I don’t feel like I have had a good work out if I haven’t gotten one or tow bruises at least. Last week Mrs. Was sporting a number bruises to the degree that she wore long sleeves all week, as to not give her co-workers the wrong idea. Just as a not Mrs. and I make a point of NOT sparing with one another, it just seems like a good idea.

We had a little excitement Friday night. As I was driving home very near the house my cell phone rang, I didn’t recognize the number, but when I answered it, the boy’s voice was on the other end asking, “Dad can you pick me up?” Now that is an unusual call to get from the boy at any time, but particularly on a Friday night when he is supposed to be home from school. It turns out that he was calling from a friend’s house with whom he occasionally has get –together. I thought that he might have decided to go to Luke’s house after school and now needed a ride. That is unusual but not unheard of. Such was not the case, in fact what had happened is that he had gotten on the wrong city bus after his school bus had dropped him off at it’s usual. He rode the city buss for some time before he realized that it was not traveling the route that he knew. At that point he got off the bus, but he was unsure where he was. Can you say lost? Of course he had left his cell phone at home, and now his Transit pass had no money on it, and it was dark and cold on a Friday night. He wasn’t sure what to do. So he just stared flowing a large group of people who also got off the bus after walking a few blocks he recognized a church steeple that he remembered being nearby his friend’s house. After 20 minutes or so of wandering he found the house and knocked on the door. Fortunately they were home and were happy to help him out. When we arrived to pick him up he greeted us a little sheepishly. We didn’t have to talk to him too much about the ‘lessons’ that he should have learned by this incident. They imprinted pretty heavily on him. I think it really frightened him in a way that we could never impress upon him. (It frightened us a bit too, to be honest.) As we drove him home from his friends house (he lives barely two miles from us) the boy realized that had he turned the other way when he got off the bus, and walked a block or so he would have known where he was, and in spite of having no phone and no bus fare, he could have easily walked home.

We had a calm quiet evening at home after that, and I needed it for the busy weekend ahead, but more on that later ..

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