How I Spent My Summer

It's been a while since I've been in the mood to write something in B.S. From J.E. The summer months seem to be more for enjoyment and doing things and besides, the six people that read this sh*t already know what I've been up to. I'll sum this up as briefly as possible and get you up to speed, if you're not one of the six people.

1. I turned 60 in August and had a big party for the occasion. Friends and family were here and we partied until the wee hours of the morning. Well, a lot people did, I was in bed by midnight resting my back. I received a lot of great gifts and it was great having everyone over to party. Nothing like having friends and family over that care about you, that would travel long distances to attend. Or maybe it was the keg of beer, the food and the 15 -20 fifths liquor that brought them around.

2. On July 2nd, a tornado or extremely high winds came through the the country side of Eaton Rapids and ripped the sh*t out of our place. We were without power for a few hours and couldn't get out of the driveway even if we wanted to because of the trees that were blocking the road. We had to put on a new roof, re-plant 90% of the flowers that Debbie worked so hard planting. I powerwashed and stained the deck, along with re-painting the shed that I finished painting two days prior to the storm. And, with the tree behind the shed uprooted, I also had to re-build the fence that was around the shed, finishing that chore two days before my birthday party. But, it all came together with Deb's assistance and 'Leadership'.

3. Deb taught summer school for the first time in her 25+ year teaching career. She said that she wanted to experience teaching summer school, but I heard her tell someone that she didn't want to spend all of her free time with me. Does that mean I'm free to go out on the 'Prowl'?

4. Summer is over and we really didn't do a damn thing exciting and I'm extremely bummed about it. Next year it will be different. I never even put the kayak in the water and maybe this weekend I will take it out to the Grand River and paddle from the Smithville Dam into town. Wow, that will take a whole 30 minutes to do. Takes longer to put the damn thing in the water than it will to go from one end to the other. Maybe I'll just take it to Narrow Lake and paddle around, or just say the hell with it and leave it in the garage until next year.

5. Thanks to Hurricane Ike, we received massive rains that flooded our side yard and that was all the damage it did to us. Maybe the 'Weather Gods' felt sorry for us because he ripped the sh*t out of us in July and decided that we had been through enough this year. Our house sits up on a hill and that saved us from any flooding. Of course, our sump pump ran a lot, but it did what it was supposed to do, keep the water out. I was thinking of putting the house up for sale, now that we have lake property and also have a home on a one hole golf course.

6. Now that summer is over, Deb is back at Frost Elementary where is she is a Third Grade Icon. I've heard rumors that they want to put a statue of her at the entrance to the school holding her class grade book, somewhat like the statue of Rocky Balboa in Pittsburgh. This though, with words on the granite base, "Yo De'Shawn, you be 16 and be going in da Fourff Grade."

Well, that's about it for my wonderful summer. It was short and it was sweet as summers go. It seems that the older you get, the faster the year goes by. But, it wasn't too hot and was very enjoyable sitting out on my deck, reading and hanging with Debbie and friends that stopped by. In about a month, it will be that time of the year to take the snow blowers from the shed and put EVERYTHING on the deck into the shed for the winter. Time to put the Christmas lights up before the snow flies and it gets to cold to do it. Guess it never ends.