Ten months ago tonight I wrote one of these I called “Willpower, Procrastination, Emotion”.  I talked about needing to lose some weight, improve the appearance of this place I call home and to once again enjoy my time at the lake. The first two can be measured making it easy to monitor progress. The third is a feeling; it isn’t visible and can be very unstable.

I promise I will get back to you on the weight loss deal.  I really will.

I have beaten the lake thing to death in previous blogs and to be honest I am very satisfied with the progress I have made.  I won’t subject you to any of that tonight.

I still have a lot of work to do but I am finally making some progress on the appearance of the place.  I found it easier to find reasons not to attack it than to get off my butt and do what I needed to do.

Cale is back in Norman and he had a little break in what had always been a very hectic schedule.  I recruited him to help me; yes I pay him a couple bucks an hour if he stays busy.  We have painted some things, mowed some grass and weeds, trimmed some trees, cut some trees and burned some of what we cut and trimmed.  We sprayed some Roundup in the flowerbeds; I don’t think Sharyl would like that. One day we even washed a motor home.  Another day we cut some wine bottles for drinking glasses, we need to practice that just a bit.

As Cale starts to pursue some new interest, the time he spends with me will decrease, but I believe he has given me the jump start I needed and I will continue to make progress and one day soon Sharyl will like what she sees.

The previous two paragraphs described the measurable or tangible benefit of Cale spending time at my house; there is also an unexpected but very desirable intangible benefit.

From the first day we had grandkids  Sharyl and I were very much a part of their lives.  Unlike most people we never experienced having a grandkid  we started this grandparent thing with two.  We spent individual time with Rylie, Braxton and Luke, but with a very few exceptions, with Cale and Conner it was the four of us, sometimes just me and the guys or maybe Sharyl and I had just one of them but it was almost always the four of us and yes there are some great memories.

Sharyl and Conner were a little more vocal and initiated most of the conversation.  Cale and I would contribute or maybe just listen.  I went to visit him for a couple days when he was in Kansas and West Virginia. Those visits were actually brief, as his hectic schedule didn’t allow much time for Paw Paw.

The past few weeks have provided our first real opportunity to spend one on one time.  There wasn’t nearly as much conversation as when all four of us were there.  We spent most of the time quietly doing whatever the task was for that day. Our limited conversations included talk of the future, of the present and of the past, we didn’t avoid it but we didn’t dwell on it, I think that is how it has to be.

I don’t know if Cale has thought of our time together in this vein and I don’t really care, I just hope he has enjoyed spending a little one on one with the old guy he knows as Paw Paw.

Tonight I ask you to direct your prayers toward those affected by the tornadoes across our great state; especially those who lost loved ones and those who were injured.

Good Night and God Bless.

Dave