The Aftermath and the Beginning

Day 199:

The freakish storms of June 2012 were something to behold, Son...  Sudden, powerful, frightening, and unrelenting.  The Northern Virginia area today was paralyzed in the aftermath of downed power lines, trees lying across roads, stop lights not working, and emergency crews spread so thin they were almost left unable to respond to incoming emergencies... And all this as the temperature was once again rising into triple digits.  Yes Boy'O, two million NoVA residents were without power and no relief in site given the sudden impact of the storms...

In last night's post I'd mentioned the exploding table on the back deck as well as the tree falling across our car... Well, it seems we got off easy.  Many, many more folks were far worse off, Conor...  And after I'd had the opportunity to clean up the debris around our house first thing this morning with a power saw, a dustpan, some garbage cans, and a shop vac, it was off to see what we could salvage of Ziggy's Benefit.

Power was out at the Moose Lodge where we'd be hosting the event, and so when I arrived with all the raffle gifts and auction items at 11:00am, a sense of panic washed over me for the fact that the Lodge had no power which also meant no air-conditioning, no coolers working, no food, no band, no nothing...  Leaving the rest of my crew to set out in search of ice, I scoured Northern Virginia, Son.  Nothing...  NOt only did I not find ice, I nary found and ICE CUBE!  Big trouble now... Zig's benefit was on the verge of collapse and my blood pressure rose and rose as I made my way back ti the Lodge around 12:30pm...

Then, something awesome happened... I'd called Dominion Power when I was on my way and spoke with somebody on their help line... Being inundated with calls even 3 minutes of their time would be at a premium!  The woman I spoke with was sympathetic to my cause, or maybe even somebody she rides with was also biker... Never the less, she told me she would "see what she could do" in terms of getting a crew to the specific area of Vienna I was talking about...  Several hours later we had power!  If it was truly her to help in getting the power on at the lodge, then I'd like to send my gratitude for her efforts...  Because with the power back on, Boy'O, it was "game on"...  

The rest of the event, despite it being a bit of a smaller turnout than I'd anticipated, turned out to be great, Son.  At one point we had roughly 200 bikes in the parking lot... Folks were buying up all the 50/50 tickets, Lottery Raffles, and Silent Auction.  The food was good.  The Alpha Dog Blues Band was good.  And the friends and family were fantastic...

You and Mommy showed up for about 90 minutes, but to be sure you didn't want to sit in that smelly old smokey lodge, and so it was decided you would stay outside.   Though of course, that was so hot you were only good for so long!  Still, you met about 100 Boozefighters today, Son.  And they were all quite grateful to finally meet the Lion Heart.

All in all the event was a HUGE success!   We raised money for Ziggy and, despite missing him, had a fair bit of fun... Damn the heat and the downed trees.  We rally'd together for a cause - a great cause, and we ALL got it done, Son....  So proud of my friends, Conor.

As a result of the downed lines and power outages, the day finished with Uncle's Scotty and Bear, as well as Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Paul, Nathan, and Andrew all spending the night at our place.  So of course, what do we do?  Make a party of it!  Though now everyone's in bed and here I sit... And I gotta tell you, as tired as I am, I'd be dammed if I was going to miss an entry in this blog after almost 200 days!

I love you, Conor.
-Dad

And the Thunder Rolls...

Day 198:

What. A. Day.
Conor Boy, this was one for the record books.  Aside from it being the hottest day ever recorded in the DC area for this day (06.29.12), it seemed things were just getting warmed up - pardon the pun.  After an exceptionally slow day at the office I finally got out of there and was able to pick you up from daycare.  The temperature gauge in my truck read '107', and it felt every bit of it.

By the time I'd gotten home, the air conditioning in my truck had finally leveled out to a comfortable 71 degrees in the cab, and you were sleeping like a baby boy should.  Though as soon as I opened the door of the mighty Tahoe, the wave of heat woke you straight up and you didn't care for it one bit...  Aside from a little shock though, and being awoken by what must have felt like being thrown into an oven, all seemed okay...

I got you in the house and immediately got you out of your clothes... It was 80+ degrees in the house!  I couldn't wait to get out of my jeans after getting you stripped down, and so I hustled you upstairs to our bedroom where I have the or table air conditioning unit... Cranked that thing up to a cool 67 degrees, and there we both stood, beating the heat.  The fussiness died down and we even managed to get in a little play time.

All the while, Mommy was out running errands and so as we're cooling down, I'm anticipating her getting home so I can get on the Harley and ride out to meet the guys at the Moose Lodge for a final walk through the night before Ziggy's benefit...

I've only ever ridden in heat like this once before, Son.  It happened to be through the Southern California low desert and on into Arizona where the heat is oppressive and never ending.  I've often explained that stretch of six hours on the bike as being akin to holding a hair dryer up to your face - for six hours straight!  It felt much like that today, Boy'O, but the Lodge has cold beer and so I hammered down on the throttle down Vale Road to get to it...

The walkthrough went fine and there were no surprises there, though immediately after arriving I get a text from Mommy.  '911' was all it said.  Considering Mommy's never sent out a text of this nature before now, I knew it was important and so I called home.  Seems whatever we're feeding you didn't agree with you... Either that or you simply got more food than you should have, because apparently, you threw up everywhere...  In your chair, on your clothes, on Mommy... Everywhere!  Now Son, you've spit up plenty of times before, but you'd never thrown up like that.  Vomit was escaping through your mouth and nose, and blocking airways so that you couldn't breathe!  This is what so upset your mother.  She'd never envisioned sucking the obstruction from your mouth and nose, and yet, yhat's exactly what she did... Guess being a Mom can be some pretty tough stuff!  When it was all said and done the color returned to your face, Mommy spoke to the pediatrician, and everything seemed to calm down.

After the meeting at the Moose Lodge ended I fired up the bike and headed home with your Uncle Doug and our friend Bryce.  We had work to do at the house and Doug and Bryce were going to help me to get it done... Also on deck was Mommy, as she helped in putting all the silent auction items on bid sheets... And here's where things get particularly interesting...

About midways through the work, all four of us sitting around the dining room table and you sleeping soundly and comfortably in your bed, we heard a tremendous noise...  This noise was so loud and so brutal, that we couldn't fathom what it was!  Mommy shot toward the back deck, which is where the sound came from, only to find the entire outside table in a million little pieces... The umbrella was strewn across the deck with glass shards quite literally everywhere you looked!  The wind was HOWLING like nothing I'd ever seen in my 24 years in Virginia, and it came seemingly out of nowhere!

I wrapped the umbrella up as quickly as I could and then yelled to Doug and Bryce to get their motorcycles into our garage.  As soon as they made it out front, the giant old plum tree in our front yard split in half and fell across Mommy's new Audi!  Thankfully the car seems largely undamaged, though it's going to take me some considerable time to remove it all tomorrow, and time is what I don't really have...

As we huddled in the garage watching the torrential rains come down, the power flickered off and on and left us all hoping for a good outcome... Please please PLEASE don't take the power tonight!  "How and I gonna write Conor's Blog?!" I thought!  And just like that - POOF! - it was gone... The storms came and went and the drama had ended...

That's a pretty wild day, Boy'O.  Certainly uncommon around here!  And you slept through it all...  Like the Lion Heart you are...

Off to bed, Son.  It's 1:00am and I have a TON of work to do tomorrow...

I love you, Boy'O...
-Dad

Au Naturâl

Day 197:

The heat's back, Conor.  And just in time for your Old Man to spend the weekend on an air cooled Harley Davidson machine that will essentially cook me if I sit in one spot more than 3 minutes.  With temperatures reaching a "real feel" of 110 degrees tomorrow and Saturday, hydration will absolutely be the key.

Aside from talking about the weather, Son, let's talk about decisions... In this life you'll be marked by the decisions you make but more than that how the decisions you make effect those you love.  Some decisions just make sense.  Others, well, you wear them for a lifetime.  Maybe more.  Some decisions pave your road ahead.  Others lay waste to it... You see what I'm getting at?  Make wise decisions, Conor.  Decisions you can live with the rest of your life.  Short of that, you're just wasting opportunities.

To that end, your Mother made a few decisions today, Boy'O!  She made the decision that she was going to feed you natural and organic foods... Not only that, but she's following recipes to provide you with a source of food that's long term by way of freezing fresh fruits and vegetables mashed up, individually and together.  Tonight's menu called for a an avocado and banana salad with just a touch of formula...  And I gotta tell you!  It wasn't half bad!

Only trouble is, those foods are packed with stuff to give you energy!  Lots and lots of energy!  Took some time to wear you out and finally get you to sleep - a good hour past your bed time.  But that was okay with me.  I can't think of anything I'd rather be doing than frolicking on the floor with my Son.

That's all for tonight, Boy'O!  Tomorrow's gonna get HOT!  We'll dress accordingly!

I love you, Conor...
-Dad

Times Like These

Day 196:

It's been a tumultuous Summer thus far, Conor.  We've seen record setting temperatures (with more to come) in the East, blazing and uncontainable wild fires in the West, torrential and deadly rain storms in the South, and on top of it all, heartache.  Heartache with the news of our friend Ziggy.  Heartache in remembering our lost friend, Gretchen.  Heartache in learning of ailing loved ones.  Heartache.........

Either I'm not recalling a Summer so sour-fully eventful in my 39 years, or this one is just a bit different thus far.  Either way, the Summer is early yet, July is only a few days away, and great adventures lie ahead, Boy'O. And for me, no matter how dour the news as it pertains to wacky weather patterns or unexpected and unwanted surprises, there's you.  Always you.

I was in need of some time with the Lion Heart this evening, Son.  I picked you up from daycare because Mommy was feeling unwell and already home to rest, and when we got home you were, predictably, hungry.  As it's all but customary for your Mother to feed you in the morning and the evening,  I insisted tonight.  And it's in this rare moment when I'm reminded what's important, Conor.  While sitting there in the quiet nursery, bottle in hand and you across my arm while pressed firmly against my chest, I felt a calming peace.  My otherwise racing mind slowed to a crawl and I could only look on you, those chubby fingers grasping desperately at your bottle, your blue eyes batting and crossing while trying to gain focus, and I smiled...

When you'd finished the bottle we sat enjoying a moment together, Son.  It was quiet, peaceful, and innocent.  Pure innocence...  I started to gaze off for a moment thinking about who knows what, when you broke the silence with a shrill squeak...  When I looked down there you were, grinning ear to ear.  If I'd never known happiness before that moment, or that's to say not remembered what it was like to be that blissfully happy, there you were, showing me the way.

The lessons I take away from you every day are all things that I've of course always known, but they get lost in the day to day, Son.  They get swallowed up by traffic, by bad weather, by cars in untimely need of repair, by other people's ridiculous drama and discourse.  But then a smile from a 6 month old baby boy, MY 6 month old baby boy, and I'm reminded that bliss is attainable.  And all it took was a smile...

"It's times like these we learn to live again.  It's times like these we learn to love again." --Dave Grohl

Indeed.

I love you, Conor.  Thanks for showing me the way, Son.
-Dad

In Our Prayers...

Day 195:

I'm not a church going man, Conor.  Never saw a whole lot of use in it.  Certainly I understand the principal, the reason, and the purpose, but I believe in faith above all, Son.  My faith.  My faith in that there is a higher power.  That our fates are preordained and that, if you believe in something greater than yourself, you've already won.

Of course every religion and every faction of every religion would have you believe their way is the "right" way.  And when you attend a place of worship, this is what you subscribe to.  The way it's done in that place.  And I would never suggest it's wrong to do so, Conor.  For many, a house of worship is a place where guidance is met with hope and love, and I would certainly never begrudge anybody those.  Though for me, I believe the power of prayer radiates from your heart and through you mind.  I simply believe that a prayer for your fellow man is as much for you as it is for them.  It's an opportunity to search for something greater, to find whatever that may be, and to give it to someone more in need... And should you (or I) be the one in need, it never hurts to say a prayer for yourself!  Though I find more power in praying for others... And when I pray, I do it whenever the thought occurs.  I personally do not feel the need to structure it.

With all that in mind, I pray, Boy'O.  A lot.  I pray for my friends and family experiencing physical strife.  I pray for my friends and family experiencing difficult decisions and heartache.  I pray they all find their pain short lived and free of burden.  I pray for these things because it's what's in my heart.

Several years ago I read something that struck me so hard I had it scribed as a tattoo on my right arm, albeit in Gaelic.
--
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and in rights.  They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act toward one another in the spirit of brotherhood. "
--
Those two sentences actually make up the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  And I believe, if every person on Earth heeded those, there'd be no strife at all.  But the reality is, that'll never be the case for Mankind.  And so the World turns...

The point in any of this is, Conor, when you fall on troubled times prayer is a great place to start.  More over, when you realize how strong you are, both in mind and in body, you'll realize that it's your prayers that lift up those in need... And in so doing, you lift yourself up, Son.  It's truly the greatest act of selflessness.  At least as far as I'm concerned.

It's the man I strive to be and it's the man I feel you'll be.  A leader.  A pillar of strength.  A guiding light.  A man strong in body, fierce in spirit, and tender in heart.  It's all any of us should hope to be.

Tonight Conor, we're praying for our loved ones.  Tonight we're praying for your Great Aunt Maggie - arguably your biggest fan, though she's got some serious competition from both her Sister (your Grandmother) and my Mom (your MomMom)...  Tonight Son, we're praying for Ziggy and his family. Tonight Lion Heart, we're praying for those we love who are in need of our prayers.  Because that's what we have to give, Son.  And they're the greatest gift...

A bit deeper of a piece tonight, Son.  Though when there are people in need of love and support, a little philosophy never hurts.

I love you, Conor.  And I pray for you every night.  You can count on it.
-Dad

Gotta Eat Your Veggies!

Day 194:

As men go, Conor, I'm not the largest man, but I'm certainly not the smallest either...  Though compared to most I'm a pretty sizable guy.  Just about 6'3" and around 250 lbs (and I could stand to lose a few of those, by the way).  Still, I didn't get to be this size eating beans and lentils, Conor.  I like to eat, a LOT.  Though I'm not a picky eater and so that has served me in feeding my desire to feed!  Meaning, if it's food and it's presented to me, I'll likely eat it!  Your Mom isn't a very finicky eater either, Conor.  And with that in mind, we're really hoping you're not either...  Cuz of this I'm certain, you're gonna be a big kid, Son.

The report from Ms. Zeny's today was good, Boy'O.  Turns out you ate an entire serving of vegetables!  This is certainly a first for you as neither Mommy or me have been able to get past more than about a half dozen spoonfuls.  Impressive!  This is news that makes the day, Son.  Just another first.

So it would seem the routine has to change yet again and within the next few days we'll be getting up a little bit earlier and, rather than feeding you in the glider in your nursery, we'll be setting up shop at the table in the dining room and going for broke there... I've been waiting for this fun and messy time, Son!  Should be a blast.

By the way, Mommy caught you stylin' today, Boy'O... Taking a page right out of the Zoolander school of male modeling... A little move we call "Blue Steel"!  Hence tonight's picture...

Ya little showoff...

I love you, Handsome boy.
-Dad

The Daddy Monster

Day 193:

As much as anything about being a parent, the learning curve is the biggest adjustment.  It's not the lack of sleep or changing diapers or the expense... No, it's quite literally the most intensive course of learning and understanding that any person can take on.  And surely, learning the ins and outs of diaper changing and feeding schedules are important but it's learning the queues that make it interesting... And what I mean by queues is, what are YOU doing?!  Are you happy and smiling?  Rubbing your eyes? Reacting to a certain sound or movement?  Are you cranky?  Why are you cranky?  What makes you laugh?  Why do you cry?  (Don't know that anybody figures that one out, Son.  I don't care how good-a child psychologist they are or how many books they write, each kid is different.  Period.)

Yes sir, it's not learning how to parent that's intense, it's learning the child you're parenting.  It's quite the journey of course, and as I mentioned each kid is different and thus the approach will vary.   Generally speaking, you're a pretty easy little dude, Conor.  You primarily fuss when you're hungry or at worst, tired.  Either way it's easy to adjust.  But more than that, learning what makes you happy is my greatest pleasure in life.

Having the better part of the morning and early afternoon to spend with you, we did a lot of laughing today, you and I.  I've learned my schtick with you, the ever fearful Daddy-Monster act, is now anticipated.  And not only is it anticipated, it's expected!   If you're in just-fed-and-ready-to-burn-energy mode, when you see my face you'll immediately scrunch up that nose, grin ear to ear, and fully expect I say to you "it's the DADDY-MONSTER!" and then charge in on your neck and ears, tickling you madly with my gruff old beard.  It's easily the biggest highlight of my day, and surely one of yours as well...

Well, today you and me took Daddy-Monster to the next level, Boy'O.  While having you laid out on the bed and hovering over top of you, I sat straight up and down from my knees, spread my arms wide as they would go, and before I could call out "DADDY-MONSTER!" you were already smiling, scrunched up, legs in the air, hands by your face, and laughing hysterically!  I thought in that split moment, "I have to change it up!" and so I put my fists on the bed on either side of you and began rocking the bed back and forth!  You CRACKED UP like nothing I've seen before!  Squealing, giggling, laughing, and I could hardly contain myself...  I started laughing hysterically as well!  It was the first time we'd ever truly laughed together... And as if I hadn't ever lived a day in my life, I soared with excitement for the opportunity to, for the first time though certainly not the last, rough house with my Son.  Soaring........

Later in the afternoon, after a number of chores and tons of play time, I fired up the Harley and headed out to see Ziggy.  The news was definitely very good!  What a difference a few days makes...  Both me and your Uncle Doug were able to speak with Ziggy, laugh with Ziggy, hope with Ziggy... Just be there for him, and for the first time in weeks, he knew we were there!  Now THAT'S progress!  He's not exactly out of the woods yet, but he's talking, eating, joking... He's getting well and that's all we can hope for.

I love every part of you, Conor the Lion Heart.  You're the coolest little guy there ever was.

Always and forever-
-Dad