Now that I've had time to upgrade my attitude to a sunnier level, I thought I'd update you on recent goings on related to a few earlier posts, with an edition of Notes from the Lab (I must clarify, the mobile lab), 32 months and twenty-five days into retirement. So here goes.
Chores (7/29/12) - When I updated this post last September, I was reveling in our procurement of lawn care services and a sprinkler system, significantly lightening my summer yard care burden. Well, nature got her revenge with the near-record Superbowl Sunday snow-mageddon dumping of 14 inches at our house. That's what I get for buying a new big-honkin' snow blower last fall, supposedly as a deterrent (our old big-honkin' snow blower was done in by the heavy snows of 2014). Here are a few shots of my ordeal.
That's not really a smile on my face. It's a grimace, frozen in position during what was my fourth snow blowing episode in 36 hours - a personal worst.
And if all this snow wasn't trouble enough, we had a little pipe freezing incident. Our upstairs half bath has water pipes that travel about three feet through an area in the attic that is not well insulated. Here's a shot of me wading through about 15 inches of blown insulation, balancing on a couple of loose boards laid over ceiling joists, doing my best to clean debris away from the pipes and install heat tape - without falling through into the front entrance closet. It was the most fun I'd had since my last root canal.
Reading (10/2/12) - As I noted in my last NFTL, I was knee-deep into Roosevelt biographies, an adventure prompted by Ken Burns' The Roosevelts PBS series that aired last year. Since then I have finished H.W. Brands' fairly recent Franklin Roosevelt biography Traitor to His Class and Edmund Morris' The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, Part 1 of his Teddy Roosevelt trilogy. I'm now about three quarters of the way through a re-read of Theodore Rex, Part 2 of the Morris trilogy. I think both of these authors have done a fine job of detailing the personal stories behind the long list of historically significant accomplishments of both men, as well as reflecting on their battles with life-long personal demons.
Somewhere in there between the Panama Canal and WWII, I was able to squeeze in a read of the recent Stephen King offering Mr. Mercedes. It's a murder mystery that's a bit more murder than mystery, as is King's way. It has several interesting twists and some very likeable characters, and a good dose of King weirdness. The best part is that the main character is a retired cop. I like stories about retirees. They afford me a good personal context. I can relate to the innermost thoughts of such characters. Another later period King novel about a retiree is Insomnia, a tome-ish story about death, after death, and shy little guys with lab coats that sort of manage the program. Insomnia also includes a brief brush with the dreaded Crimson King from the Dark Tower series. Both of these books are fun reads, and musts for King fans.
Baseball (10/12/12) - A highlight of every February for me is the incubation of a new baseball season. First pitchers and catchers, then the rest of the team including a host of names all but the most ardent fan has never heard of. The launch of the Grapefruit League also means a return to daily conversations with my mother about Miggy and VMart's latest surgeries, Iglesias' shin bones, the impact of Justin's love life on his fastball, and why Kirk Gibson is still not the Tiger manager (Kirk is a favorite of the Burk family women - go figure). So Mom fires up her MLB.TV Premium subscription, prints off the sortable season schedule for her three-ring binder so she can track game scores, and checks her HDMI connections to make sure there'll be no problems with streaming the games on her hi-def TV.
The start of the baseball season also marks renewal of our lunch bunch Tiger outings, the first of which this year will be on May 21st against the mighty Astros. Eh, what do you want for a Thursday afternoon? Watch for the invitation.
Disney (11/1/12) - First, an update on our family Disney (or as my granddaughter says, diss-a-knee) statistics:
Number of times the Burk family has checked into a Disney resort - 71.
Number of days involved with the 71 stays - 314.
Number of days at least one family member has visited a theme park - 77
A sharp eye would discern that since my last report our days at a theme park hasn't gone up nearly as fast as days at a Disney resort. That's because with the adulthood of our kids, more and more Florida days have been current generation only, dedicated to relaxation, basking in the sun and sampling "off-world" (that's "off Disney World") facilities. One exception to that trend was last week when all our kids and grandkids as well as my mother and two sisters all joined Nancy and me at Disney's Bay Lake Tower (the Disney Vacation Club facility at the Contemporary Resort) for a four generational week of fun. We did theme parks, a dinner show, a lot of pool time with the youngest members of the family, and a fair amount of mellowing out at in-room happy hours, rooftop bars and beer joints around the World Showcase at EPCOT (only those hardy third generation members were able to make all of these activities). Here are a few shots of the fun, starting with the family in line for the Thunder Mountain Railroad on Monday, our first theme park day. Here are Christy and I leading the way,
with Ted, Cathy and Matt close behind,
And this is what we were all waiting for.
Not being much of a roller coaster guy, this was a big day for me. So after surviving the ride (that most eight year olds would consider tame), I proudly purchased an "I survived Thunder Mountain" pin for my (nerdy) Magic Kingdom lanyard.
In between theme park sessions the family retired to the Bay Lake Tower pool for a dip and multiple runs down the respectable slide. Here's a shot of the pool,
and the happy sliders, enjoying some fun time with dad.
Later in the day we returned to the magic Kingdom for a few more rides. Here is a pic of Cathy and Christy flying in Dumbo, with Matt in hot pursuit.
Cathy and Christy have a long history of sharing Disney adventures as this "teacups" shot from 1991,
and this pic in the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" play area with Ted and Nancy, also from 1991, illustrate.
On Tuesday the family took the day off from theme parking with the third and fourth generations venturing to Joker Marchant stadium in Lakeland to see the Tigers and the first and second generations relaxing at Bay Lake Tower. That evening, a family dinner was held with all in attendance. Here are some candid shots of the action starting with Leili and Cyrus assisting Uncle Matt with some thorny Lego challenges.
And the full complement of Burk women catching up and sharing insights on family doings over cocktails. From left to right is my sister Cindy, daughter Christy, sister Wendy, mother Dolores, daughter Cathy and bride Nancy.
Of course several side conversations ensued through the evening, such as this father-daughter chat over a medley of chips,
and this first and fourth generation tete-a-tete over "I'd-sure-like-to-know-what". (For the record, I don't think that was Cyrus' beer.)
Progressing from happy hour to dinner, here is a four generation shot of the taco festival, another family vacation tradition,
orchestrated by our charming hostess.
Following dinner we assembled for a family photo to document this rare gathering of the extended clan. Sitting from the left are Cyrus, Ted, Leili, Dolores and Wendy. Standing from the left are myself, Christy, Nancy, Cindy, Cathy and Matt.
The next day, the third and fourth generations returned to the theme parks (the Animal Kingdom) while the first and second generations toured the resorts around the Seven Seas Lagoon, and shopped. Here is a shot of me with my mother and sisters on the balcony of the Grand Floridian lobby.
Later that day, the first, second and fourth generations took a boat over to the Fort Wilderness Lodge to attend the dinner show known as "The Hoopty Do Review", an all-you-can-eat ribs and chicken feast in a western style music hall complete with singing, dancing and comedy sketches. Here are a couple of shots of the crossing of Bay Lake.
A good time was apparently had by all although it wasn't obvious during dinner. Cyrus, who dislikes loud noises and has an almost-five-year-old palate, ate little and spent almost the whole evening with his hands over his ears. However, upon exiting the hall and walking to the dock for the return boat ride, he was overheard saying "That was a really good show." Either Cyrus has an unorthodox manner of expressing glee, or he's going to make a fine politician. When this story was shared with father Ted, he was not surprised. This it seems is typical Cyrus behavior. The lesson I took from the experience is that at this stage in my life I am better suited for benign grand parenting outings, where I only have to see that everyone gets home safely, rather than trying to match wits with Generation Z.
And speaking of wits and smarts, here is a typical shot of me sitting with my mother on the Bay Lake Tower veranda, sipping our morning coffee. She is sharing pearls of wisdom from her 90 years on Earth, in her fully coordinated lavender ensemble. I, in my Stewie-camo jams (a present from my mother) and Spartan tee, am listening intently as the dutiful son. All is right with the world. At least until lunch.
I'm still in Florida as of this writing, enjoying the company of our travel friends the Dyatts (Dave, Robyn, Jim and Mary) at South Seas Resort on Captiva Island. This afternoon I'm lounging on the lanai overlooking the Gulf, contemplating next Monday's return to the Great Lakes basin. Here's a pic of our little vacation club last night as we sat down for a traditional dinner of grilled steak, corn on the cob, green salad and key lime pie. Yum. (Look for a post later this year dedicated to our now 20+ year old Burk-Dyle vacation club for the full story on this august assemblage.)
That's it for now. Happy spring everyone! See you soon.
Grosse Pointe Charles.
Nicely done as always. You always have such excellent photos and good-looking people in them. I think I even recognized a few. Appreciate your keen documentation of the retirement experience. I need someone to blaze the trail for me. See you soon.
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