Finn’s rendition of a camper van…going to New Jersey…to go camping? Then again, there’s a big ol flat screen in the back seat - maybe that’s how y’all camp down there in the Garden State.
DOMA Ruled Unconstitutional By Federal Appeals Court
“
hey Dad,
Just waiting for the storm to come. Pretty mellow so far. I saw a wild turkey this morning with it’s chicks. Mom, Fern (the goat), and I startled it. I went swimming in the lake 2 times. There is a new rooster in the chicken house. I got to name him and I chose the name Fritz. Strawberry the cow gave birth to a new bull calf named Stubby (because he has no tail). I also got to see new chicks this weekend. I have a favorite and she is the smallest chick in the layer flock. She is a red chick. I named her Fire. M has a favorite. She named hers Flicker. M and I played in Indian Brook and we had fun.
I miss you. See you tomorrow.
Finn
” —My first email (ever) from Finn (just received it minutes ago). I’m working from Montreal for a couple days (visiting dbg) and have been texting his mom much of the day about the severe storms passing through Vermont today.
I love this kid to no end!
[video]
As promised, I cleaned up the deck yesterday and cleared out a lot of crap from my garage as well (thank you Craigslist’s Free Stuff postings). These hanging flowers - called Mandevillas - will spread vines through out the canopy and produce copious pink flowers all summer. I live on this deck most mornings and nights throughout the summer. On hot summer nights, with the xmas lights on and cool drinks in our hands, it’s pretty magical.
Sadly I am working on this Memorial Day. I have a fuck-ton to do this week and just need the time to plow. My mentee at work is giving her notice tomorrow (I helped her get the new job…she is way too good to stay in the position she’s in). No doubt shit will hit the proverbial fan, requiring me to talk in endless meetings rather than do actual work.
Then off to derby practice tonight, then Montreal for a couple days (Finn is with his mom the beginning of this week because he and I are in Boston for his brother’s Bar Mitzvah and ballet performance all next weekend). Busy busy boys.
These two guys (Finn’s BFF) are geared up and taking our perfect little town by storm this AM - as you can tell this is serious business. They are walking downtown to just go hang out…solo. A kinda big step…mostly for me.
I’m ridiculous. My parting words to them:
Remember… 1) Have fun 2) Be good 3) Don’t die!
Happy Sunday y’all!
And yes…that is Finn’s man purse (which he calls his lute bag…riiiiiiight!)
Summer in VT. Such an amazing day.
[video]
Happy 3 day weekend from the discoball boys.
Cows just wanna have fun. And you thought you were starting the long weekend early.
[video]
[video]
So dad it hurts.
DJ, your dad is the dad-est of dads.
It’s great to see another rise up against hateful anons messages within the Tumblr community with #swimsuitsforbagel. It is awe inspiring to see a group of supportive (and creative) people coming together to fight back against the unfortunate, yet inevitable, vitriol that comes with having anon messages open.
Recently, Finn and I have been talking about bullying. His school has been doing a bunch of great anti-bullying work over the past year and he is incredibly intrigued and thoughtful about it. A couple weeks ago we were talking on the subject and he asks me why bullies bully other people. It’s a great, but difficult question. I told him that I thought it was because it makes them feel better about themselves and powerful when they feel powerless in some way. I told him that I thought this was ultimately a fleeting and temporary feeling. On some level it makes them dislike themselves even more (hate begets self-hate) and drives them to bully again to get that temporary relief (very 12-stepy I know).
He poignantly remarked that the opposite is true as well - that being nice and giving to others makes you feel better about yourself. As he often does, he blew my mind. The conversation came back to - as it often does with me - the importance of good decision making. We talked about how everyone makes bad choices at different points in their lives (like treating someone badly, despite ourselves). We even regret our decisions sometimes. It’s not so much about not making bad choices (or mistakes), but learning from them to make better choices the next time.
He thought about this for a bit then asked me how bullies could make better choices to treat people nicely. I told him THAT was THE big question.
Flashback Friday - Give that pic a caption edition.
Finn is about 2 1/2 here. He’s at his mom’s hanging with his ladies in the chicken coop.
I was trying to come up with all sorts of pithy captions for this one, but realize most of you are far funnier than me. So if you are so inspired, comment with a caption and I’ll repost my fav.