April 12, 2006

It's April 12, 2006.
What a beautiful day. My wife and I decided to do some yard work today so I broke out both of our mowers (one electric, the other gas) and starting mowing. After blowing up the electric mower (which I knew would happen) I switched to the gas one and finished up. (Who mows with an electric mower? Honestly) Konnie spent her time spraying weeds. The poor weeds never had a chance really. My wife has read every Martha Stewart gardening issue and it was like the Navy Seals vs the High School ROTC... she just hammered away at them.

April 12, 2006.

After mowing the dirt, I thought I should plant some grass so that next time I might actually get to mow some of the green stuff and not re-enact the dust bowl of the 30's. I went and bought some bags of seed and starting 'sowing'. I pulled out the water hose and began watering my new little friends, preparing them for their future execution. Konnie had finished up and was on the front porch swinging getting a kick out of me watering my leg more than the yard. She mentioned how happy she was. I said, 'you don't want to move do you?'. She said, 'well, I've been walking a lot and I'm tired'. I said, 'I don't mean that. I mean you don't want to leave this house'. She smiled and said, 'I do love this little house'. She's always smiling.

April 12, 2006.

After watering some of the yard and all of my right pant leg, she invited me to join her on the swing. We instantly went into 'old couple' mode and started commenting on the beauty of the day. About then our oldest son Kaden got home from school and as he was getting off the bus, I thought to myself that he is getting so big, so fast. Konnie told Kaden that his little brother Kenyon was over at the park if he wanted to he could go play. Off he went....

April 12, 2006.

As we watched our boys play, we just sat there silently. The wind was just pushing enough air to cool our immediate space and the trees were singing their tune of peace and contentment. I looked over at Konnie and she was just about to get teary when she mentioned how great our kids are and how old they're getting. I nodded in agreement and watched her watch the boys. You could tell she was already envisioning drivers ed, proms, what type of girl they would date, (I just hope they date girls), what college would they go to, etc. So many good days lie ahead.

April 12, 2006.

We often live life ex post facto; everything is in the rear view mirror and we are constantly trying to hit rewind. I know I do. I think things like, 'I wish I would have shot more in basketball', 'I wish I had stuck with baseball', 'I wish I had gone to Wichita State', 'I wish I wouldn't have been such a lousy husband the first time and not much better now', 'I wish I wasn't such an idiot some of the time', 'I wish I would watch my language', 'I wish I had a clue', 'I wish I would practice guitar everyday', 'why am I such a loser', etc, etc, etc.
Then, as the wind was blowing, I felt a voice say, 'Hey, you are talking about someone I love'. I looked up and said, 'Thanks God'.
My boys just played on laughing, running, full of life and confidence that they were going to be taken care of in this life. Such a great thing... family, hope, life.

April 12, 2006.

Later in the day I got called to work. I was hoping to go to the Wichita State baseball game, but the Railroad thought it best that I go sit on a train for 10 hours. I'm not sure why they always think that. It was a long night and when I finally got done I starting driving home very annoyed that it was 3:00am. I started listening to my XM radio and heard stories of death in Iraq, protests from immigrants, gas prices rising, Natalie Holloway still missing and the whole time I'm getting worked up over all of it.
On Iraq I begin to think that Thomas Hobbes was right; people aren't capable of governing themselves. On immigration I began to think, 'why come here illegally to fly the flag of the nation you risked your life to flee from?' On gas prices I think, 'no way do Oil Executives get to go to Heaven'. On Natalie Holloway I think, 'she's dead'. The more the drive went, the worse my mood got. IS THERE NOTHING GOOD GOING ON? Why all the sadness? Everyday it's the same thing from the same people on the same channels. Have we all gone mad? I'll never get these houses sold! I'm sick of my job! Barry Bonds should quit! The house better be clean! I better not be working tomorrow or someone's going to hear about it! Blah, blah, blah, blah... ad nauseum.

Then the announcer comes on and says, 'Good Morning, it's 4:00 April 13th 2006'.

April 13, 2006.

How quickly we forget..... *sigh*.