Sitting on the deck of the Nags Head cottage. The last 24 hours were spent with my first born, just Dad and his little girl.
The two of us sat on the beach, swam in the ocean, watched a wicked thunderstorm roll through and then out to sea, stared at a mesmerizing clouded moon/lightning storm over the ocean, ate shrimp and crab, drank beers and seltzers, reminisced, talked about life and how funny/sad/amazing it is, imparted what passed for wisdom (me), grinned and tolerated it (her), listened to our favorite tunes from her youth, told stories, played cards and then beer pong (her request) (with water cups), expressed how important the other is in our lives, and said goodnight.
And then goodbye, as she woke up and drove off to go be a college student starting this week.
In a weird circle of life thing, out of nowhere my Dad is currently driving down from Va Beach to visit the beach house where he spent the 80's and early 90's getting wild with my late stepmom. He's with his new bride, a wonderful human who has in many ways rejuvenated him. And he gets to come down for the first time in many years and impart some wisdom on his son while feasting on fresh seafood and drinking blended cocktails with family by the seaside.
Life... she gets me misty sometimes, but she ain't bad at all.
Posts
23 comments:
gets me misty sometimes, too. like right now. as long as she models the things her dad taught her (notwithstanding the booze and casual approach to academia), she'll be in good shape.
Great shots. Enjoy this time together.
I drove to college with my mom. I was 17 yrs and 9 mos old. I could not wait to GTFO of her place. My mom was a mess and did not want to leave. I had to shoo her away for my own sanity. And also b/c I had smuggled down a 12-pk of warm Busch cans and didn’t want to have one more argument about beer.
Starting to get more perspective on what she was feeling.
Love this, Whit. And not sure if that's the first time the "life" label has been used, but if so, perfect.
Awesome way to send her off, Whitney. My oldest was quite melancholy this morning because her two best friends, a boy and a girl, both left college today. And the colleges are University of Tennessee and University of Memphis. I felt for her even though I couldn’t totally relate. Like TR, I was ready to leave and while I knew I’d miss my friends and family while in North Carolina. I couldn’t wait to get to North Carolina.
My stern midwestern Father tearing up as he left me at college did get me a bit though.
In less emotional news, I can’t get enough of watching Portland in the bubble. Same is my favorite player to watch in the league. CJ McCollum is the most underrated player in the league. Jusuf Nurkic is a talented and versatile big man. And Gary Trent Jr. is a fucking revelation. I want a Lakers-Blazers first round matchup so bad.
Also, entirely too much Reggie Jackson for the Clippers.
Dame not Same. Fucking autocorrect.
Gary's dad had a tremendous nickname, "The Shaq of the MAC" - can we get the son a good moniker too pls
I just bought a keyboard and mouse for a home office for $20. And I bought two 24" monitors for $99 each. When did this stuff get so f'ing cheap?
Where’d you get them, TR? I’m getting my daughter a desk since she’s doing virtual learning for school for at least the first semester. To your point though, I picked up a new MacBook Air for $800 recently.
I have a very nice Lenovo Thinkpad X280 laptop that I bought in late 2018. Wasn’t pricey.
I went to Lenovo and called their support number. I got the docking station, two 23.8” monitors and the keyboard/mouse combo for under $400.
And while I’m at it, hi Gheorghies. Had a nice mini-summit w/ Dave, Zman, Juan Carlos and Paci at Casa de Carlos. The cause of the gathering (Paci’s mom passing in NJ recently) was, of course, not great. But meeting up to share drinks and old stories lifted all of our spirits.
Beautiful Whit.
This is the exact opposite of my college send-off.
worst post ever . . . who won at beer pong? what was the score? etc.
that's just lazy writing:)
Jerry Garcia died 25 years ago today. I was in New Orleans For a good friend’s wedding when I heard the news. We toasted the man more than a few times that night.
My Jerry Garcia ID died 27 years ago, minus maybe a week or two. As impactful a tragedy? Debatable.
I won every game. I’m not a parent who believes you must never let your child win, that beating them at games and sports enhances their character. She was just lousy and I was my usual decent beer ponger.
There was no score keeping, Dave. There are 6 cups on the table in triangular fashion. Once they are all sunk, the game is over.
I was amused that she knew and implemented about 10 above-and-beyond rules of play. Someone’s been busy.
I have been beating the shit out of my kid at HORSE all summer. My wife is like Whitney and believes I should let her win from time to time. That’s a strong No from me. She’s naturally competitive and I’m working to enhance that. We also race laps in the pool. She gets sizeable head start. I let her win some of those.
Speaking of my pool, I’ll be in it soon. It’s hot as fuck outside and I’m smoking ribs and grilling oysters today. Will have basketball/golf on the outside TV. Nice little Sunday.
It’s a lovely beach day here in North Cackalacky. Sunny and 84. Easterly winds means the ocean is warm and the flies are elsewhere. I’m camped out solo on our beach under an old umbrella, rocking one of those Spotify “you’ll like this” playlists, knocking back more than a couple, and contemplating my existence as compared to that of a ghost crab. Cheers, gheorghies.
And I won’t eat as well as Mark (do I ever?), but I did snag a couple of tuna steaks and a tub o’ jumbo lump at the fish market yesterday. Seared the fish and snacked on the crab. More of the same later today.
opposite for me. my son ian has started beating me at tennis rather consistently. i am trying like to fuck to beat him. no water in sight, pool is closed for COVID and we're stuck at home because guys ar working in the basement and upstairs bathroom. we did just get a fridge delivered, though-- we didn't have one for two weeks. high school soccer starts 9 AM tomorrow and it's going to be boiling hot all week. i will be coaching with a mask on. summer has ended (but did have fun at the mini-summit last night, goat carles served us some amazing carne asada tacos . . . reminiscent of Daytona 1992)
First episode of Loafy out:
https://youtu.be/Aj-4yJQkAFI
Pour some out for James Harris, who wrestled professionally as Kamala, the Ugandan Giant.
Post a Comment