Stu News and Photos

I'm about to turn 40. Just bear that in mind.

This weekend was an adventure, boy howdy. Friday night was simple, a walk along the strand to the best fried clams in the South Bay.

But Saturday, well, that's another story. Leslie and I woke up early and went to do snack-bar duty at the gym where Nich plays basketball (as a keep-in-shaper for soccer). He had a game at noon, but our scheduled work time (one time a season) was from 10:30 - 11:30, which was perfect. And then, bless our luck, it turned out that we didn't have to do snack-bar, we had "gym duty," which meant that we just had to spend an hour cleaning up the gym. Much easier than running the snack-bar. Less complicated, less harried, and we got to do stuff most parents shun, like, uh, cleaning.

Seriously, when we showed up, the person in charge said, here's the duty, and we both brightened up, which surprised her. When we asked why, she said, "Most parents say, 'We don't do trash pickup'" - Wow! So we dug in and spent the better part of our hour cleaning under the stands and beating the dust and junk out of the wipe-your-feet mats near the doors. It was fun, although I suspect that part of that was that I was with my darling Leslie.

Then, after the game, Leslie and I packed up some water and our guitars and headed to Wilderness Park. This is a park near our house that has been cordoned off, so that the trees grow wild. Sort of a botanical garden, but just barely. It's a cool couple of acres, and Leslie and I try to get there as often as possible.

We played songs on our guitars, walked around, looked at the different trees. Suddenly, with a burst of enthusiasm, I bolted up one of the nearby pine trees that looked ripe for climbing. Higher and higher I went, recalling my youth and my love for climbing - trees, rocks, buildings, anything. I got up about 50 feet, but then the branches became too dense and I couldn't go higher. After looking around for a bit, I climbed back down, and then crowed while Leslie applauded, feeling good about turning 40. I still had it.

That would have been Pride talking. And we all know what happens when you experience Pride...