Progymnasmata

I just returned from a week or so in the Rocky Mountains with my family. I grew up there -- in the foothills at the base of the mountains. I used to ride an ATV up the face on a dirt road that gets closed in the winter and turned into a snowmobile route.

We stayed with my mom and her husband.

While there we took our daughters on their first true mountain hike. My oldest was great. We gave her our little camera to take pictures of the wildflowers that she saw along the way. When we returned, we printed the photos and identified them (a hobby of mine that she's pickin' up on). Then she wrote the name of each flower on the photographs and put them in a little photo album. It was nice.

I also did my best to avoid being seen by any of the high school hold-overs in that small town. I wore my sunglasses and hat all the time. I avoided eye contact with most everyone. When I go home, I go in disguise.

I love my family and I love my mom. High school. . . not so much.

One of my daughters turned six while we were there. She wanted this big fancy dinner. So we drove to the nearest "big" city and found a fancy restaurant. She and her sister wore their Halloween princess dresses. I wore a suit and tie (which I wear a lot at work) and my wife wore an awesome dress. My mom and brother came along too. They also dressed in kind.

I ordered two Shirley Temples with extra cherries for the kids. I had a Martini -- I don't like them very much, but I thought they'd get a kick out of the silly glass that they come in. My wife had wine. My daughter -- the birthday girl -- didn't want to order off the kids' menu. So she ordered cheese fondue from the adult menu. Then we brought in our homemade cake and sang "happy birthday" to her in the fancy establishment.

Some people stared and scoffed at us. Others smiled at how cute the whole scene was. It was a riot. I had a hard time not laughing. That wait-staff couldn't stop smiling. Our waitress had a couple of kids and this was her night job -- single mom. She was great to us.

That's it. Just wanted to write what I've been up to for past week or so.