Maple Syrup with a Side of Chlorine

Usms

Busy couple of days at work (and I went to NEBC for the last hour of class after work last night), so I was happy to get into the pool today at lunchtime after my dentist appointment this morning. Stress relief (well, the swimming bit, not the dentist)!

Did 4 x 600, as:
- 200 Fr/200 IM drill/4 x 50 b/c (6/8/10/12) on :60
- 6 x 10 on 1:30 (with snorkel: 50 kick/50 pull)
- 4 x 150 on 2:00 (agility paddles 1-3, fast on 4 (went 1:49)
- 3 x 200 on 3:00 (loosen and out)
---------------------------
(Solo/Rec/2400 yds/60 min)

Did a fair bit of talking, including 3 x 5-7min breaks to catch up with folks I haven't seen since the end of July. I also have preliminary approval to host our third annual scy meet in April, so I am going to get rolling on that sooner than later. I hope

This is a bittersweet time of year for me. My wife's birthday in Monday, and this is the weekend of the annual Bennington Car Show , so there are lots of activities and old cars throughout town. Plus, the apple orchards are open, and we'll get to load up tomorrow with the exchange students to experience this delicious time of year.

Today also marks the eleventh anniversary of my dad passing away, so the rain that is falling today (it always does on this weekend!) is not doing much to help my melancholic mood. A high school friend of my dad supplies a great biography of my dad that Iove to look back on.

My dad was a dairy farmer, so was up before the sun and home well after dark to get two milkings of our 85-head herd complete, along with planting and reaping throughout the day. He tried his best to make it to our activities, especially swimming. We used to laugh at him as he attempted to do butterfly in the pond, but looking back it was a man that wanted to be involved and took our heclking in strive, I am sure knowing that now I can look back upon it knowing that he loved us so much that he would attempt it. Even after the ALS slowly robbed him of the ability to function, he made a point to "be there" for use, including my college graduation and things for my children, the only of his grandkids he was blessed to see.

Time to stand outside in the rain for a bit.