Montgomery Bell

Spring break.  

Because I am still uncomfortable traveling outside the state, I vetoed the idea of going to the beach.  I think it was the right move because Jude hasn't been vaccinated yet and in spite of what some people believe, the pandemic has not ended.  

We thought about going to Sewanee again, which would have been great.  But, in the end, Jude wanted to rent a cabin at Montgomery Bell State Park in Dickson, Tennessee.  She has staying at a state park on her radar for a while, in part because she gets a state employee's discount.  I've laughed and thought, gratefully and more than once, that someone wives insist their husbands take them to the Caribbean.  My wife insists we stay in a cabin at a state park.  

We rented a cabin Monday - Thursday of this week, which felt about right.  I have a hearing Thursday morning and we can enjoy the weekend at home.  I've tried to disconnect from work and (almost) succeeded, though not completely.  I've worked on a couple of things and made a few telephone calls.  I guess that's not really being disconnected from the office after all.  Oh, well.  Someday.

It's been nice to get away.  The boys are at such a great age, I think.  They enjoy each other's company tremendously.  Jude and I are still cool enough - barely - that the boys are okay hanging out with us.  They like it, in fact.   

J.P. is cruising through 6th grade.  School will get serious and much more difficult next year.  No more recess and football playing with his buddies.  A lot more studying.  It's been a good year for him.

Joe is Joe.  Nothing at school or otherwise seems to faze him.  We had a bit of a hiccup a week or so ago when we learned, during a parent-teacher conference, that sometimes Joe keeps reading in class while the teacher is transitioning the class to math.  He also go frustrated one day, apparently, and threw an eraser on the floor when he couldn't think of anything to write about during class for a writing assignment.  

Jude and I talked with him and I made the decision to take away all of his electronics (iPad and Xbox), not that he is on them very often.  More importantly, I took away all wrestling viewing on television.  No more WWE.  That hit him where it hurts, for sure.  We had him apologize to his teacher at school - a substitute, as his regular teacher is out on maternity leave - which I think surprised her, because in the conference she had gone on an on about what a great student and classmate Joe was.  Still, we wanted to stay on top of things, and we did.

A client of mine, Ronnie Young, once said "It's easy to be a bad parent.  It's much, much harder to be a good parent."  So true.

Our cabin in the park is on Acorn Lake.  It's a short walk to the conference center and restaurant along the Wildcat Trail.  We're avoiding the restaurant, of course, just to be safe.  We've cooked at the cabin for the most part.  

Yesterday was a full day.  We played tennis in the morning on a couple of older, leaf-filled tennis courts adjacent to the hotel and conference center.  After lunch, Jude and the boys played golf while I went for a 4 mile trail run.  Before dinner, we rented a paddle boat and a 2-man kayak and paddled around the lake for an hour.  Last night, we walked around downtown Dickson and ordered takeout from Back Alley BBQ.  A full lid, as they say.

While I was skeptical on the front end, I must admit we've had an enjoyable time thus far.  It occurs to me that "State Fair people," like us, probably should be "State Park people," as well.