Almost Summer

Hello my nineteen year old amazing son, how the heck are you?

You’re branch members, brother and sister Baumert just sent mom some pictures from your birthday celebration. He said very nice things about you, which of course made your dad very happy. You look tanned and healthy, which in itself is comforting. I got a weather alert earlier about a tornado warning in Dalhart, which will make for an interesting afternoon for you there. Looks like it’s warming up too.

This is another milestone passing for you, the first birthday in the field is significant. You have shed most physical vestiges of a child, you look more like a young man as the months pass. This is what is referred to as the prime of life. And you are giving that to the Lord. That’s something kid.

This week around here was pretty standard after the holiday on Monday. My evenings were in the yard and garden. I guess as I age my hatred for yard work wanes and I don’t mind it as much. Especially if it’s not too hot and my earbuds are functioning. Yesterday, with the help of your mother and Jacob we got all of the garden’s weeded, I got the tomatoes planted (along with one jalapeño and one zucchini plant) and a replacement Japanese maple planted in the front yard. I also got all of the sprinklers working and programmed. There’s a few more garden chores I need to do, but for the rest of the year it’s mostly maintenance.

Before the gardening yesterday Jacob and I got up to help grandma with some simple repairs. The first two were easy. A light in her basement wasn’t working, turned out to just be a burned out lightbulb. Her doorbell was also not working, that turned out to just be dead batteries. I’ve never seen a battery powered doorbell before, but it sure made that on easier.

After that we went to go help uncle Steven move. They had a lot of help, so I don’t know how much I actually contributed. At one point I was just standing around waiting for the truck, so Ben and I bailed. Mom and Jacob stayed for a while longer though. There new house is about five minutes north of us in bluffdale just south of bangerter highway. It in that neighborhood that you guys used to say the nice looking old guy lived. It a really beautiful house. 

Looks like we’re back to a standard week this week. Mom’s done with school but jumping right into her full time internship at Copper Hills High School. She’s writing a paper right now. I know she’s still feeling some effects from her surgery, but you’d never know it. You’re mom is a bad a** man, nothing stops her. Jacob starts a new job tomorrow as a painters helper and translator. He’s nervous, but he’ll be fine. Work is a blessing, even if it sucks.

We’re in the sweet spot weather wise, I love being outside. We have an off-road adventure coming up in a few weeks that I’m looking forward to. We’re going back to that same road I drowned the jeep in. I won’t be crossing first this time. We’ll be camping and I hope you’re brothers can come. If not though, i have made friends in the group that’s planning it.

I finally finished my Red Barron Folker dr1 triplane model kit. I started that thing in December and the last few steps about had me smashing the thing on my workbench. But I kept my cool and finished it. It’s not perfect but I’m proud of it. I’ve started a tiny kit of a German experimental jet that I bought in 1993. It’s going together fairly well. I just wanted a pallet cleanser that hopefully will take weeks instead of months before I start on something more complex. It should also test, and hopefully improve, my airbrushing skills.

You brothers have begun rehearsals for grandmas 80the birthday party. As the discuss it, I don’t think they make it more than two sentences at a time without mentioning you. I know they miss you, we all do.

Ben just invited me down to watch the Last Waltz, the concert movie about the Band, directed by Martin Scorsese. So I’ll finish this up,

Talk to you tomorrow? A letter maybe?

Well, luv puv,

Pops