FIVE THINGS : the Countess loses another race.
A. My wife ran in a race. She didn't win. We are all disappointed. Except her.
B. I had a doughnut.
3. We went to a lovely sandy river beach. With beautiful sunbeams showering us. My son found an ant by the public bathrooms and hung out there, playing in the shade.
4. I had a great conversation with a guy named Patrick and his eight-year old son about music (Loggins & Messina, Steely Dan). They were skipping rocks and whittling spears on a little cove off the Columbia.
V. I told my children a story in which I was the protagonist, and in which I was incredibly brave, and in which I leaped off a cliff, and their peals of laughter led me to believe they enjoyed it; a post-story discussion uncovered their mis- interpretation of the story, in which they decided I was very un-brave. That made me very sad.
So, all in all, a horrid day. Thanks for asking.
The Art of the Deal
"Okay Daddy, I will give you a choice: you can either buy us doughnuts OR...you can tell us a story."
Two hours later, as I finished off an apple fritter and responded to a Q&A regarding the murky details of my cliff-jumping tale of bravery, it dawned on me that I had gotten played.
Never again, I vowed to myself, as we headed to the river, and then the playground.
More on the race, since everyone’s asking
Had one of the more strangely-fun experiences of this year as I drove in the Color Me Rad 5k Run.
Yes, I did say "drive." I was heavily involved in telling my children a story involving me and cliff-diving (see above), and somehow got distracted and ended up in the middle of the pack, the lone automobile amidst millions of thousands of runners.
We looked for my wife, the colourful @countessbecca as she ran toward potential victory.
Alas, we never saw her, but we did make many friends, and cheer some on, and offer free rides on our roof to the weary. And speaking of weary, it was exhausting driving four miles per hour for 45 minutes.
So afterwards, we took my wife and crew, in all their colourful glory and non-winningness, to Krispy Kreme. We all deserved it.
Also, I had a great conversation with one of the flaggers.