Free Day

The sun is out this morning and I'm hoping it stays for a while. We had a nasty storm Thursday, including hail, golf ball size in some places.

My guys have gone rafting on the Guadalupe River in the beautiful Hill Country of Texas this weekend. The Boy Scout troop has lots of adult volunteers to accompany the boys on this trip! The Canyon Lake dam has released a lot of water so the river is high and moving fast. I hope the weather holds for them.

I'm having a girly weekend here, enjoying the quiet and doing whatever I feel like doing. My Mother's Day present was delivered yesterday. It's a pretty plant. Some kind of tropical blooms on it. If I was smart about this area of knowledge I would tell you what it is. But I don't know plants and flowers so I just enjoy their beauty and try not to kill them. My thumb is not very green. I have the desire and enthusiasm to grow pretty things, it just doesn't always work out.

I was sipping my Boca Java this morning and checking my e-mail when I noticed a note from the company saying the shipment I contributed to for the troops overseas has been shipped. This one is going to the 310th Military Police Battalion. Okey Dokey.

I was pondering the differences in the level of interest in outdoor activities with my son and husband. My son's camping experiences and outdoor adventures have mostly been with the scouting program and some from his school years. The private school he attended in elementary and middle school had an outdoor 'education' program that each class participated in each year. They took some awesome trips. By middle school they were ready for a week's camping adventure in the Big Bend section of west Texas and then for 8th grade they did 10 days in Colorado.

My husband developed a love of caving during his teen years in south central Indiana. Lots of caves in that area of the country. He went caving every weekend, to hear him tell it. He became an expert caver, as a matter of fact. He developed a new technique to ascend a cliff after repelling down on ropes. So, he's written up in the books as the one who invented the 'inchworm technique'. He's presented a paper at a national convention in Nevada as a young man. He did the deepest cave in the world, in Mexico. And, he's participated on rescue teams when cavers have needed help. He's the man. Uh huh, uh huh.

My son loves the water. He really loves to canoe and I know he will love the rafting trip. He was born and has always lived on the Gulf coast so it's in his blood. Just like his mom. I'm not an outdoors girl but I need to be near water. It soothes my soul. A big thrill for his memory bank was snorkeling in Hawaii in a lagoon in Kona. And jet skiing with his dad in the Pacific Ocean there, too. We went on a whale watching boat but didn't see any. We did see sharks, though.

From the time he was a small guy, my son has expressed an interest in marine biology and he has a big fascination with sharks. He may pursue marine biology in his college career. We'll see.

And, the joke around here? What's Karen's idea of roughing it? A hotel without room service. Yeah. That's me.