Rapid Reflexes

If you thought Mr. Deck Chair was living on the edge with his position near the beach, wait until you see what his distant cousins – the park benches – are up to this week.

Thanks to a whole lotta rain in the last 24 hours, the Wisconsin River (in town) was rising fast and prompted the Flood Warning in the area that I mentioned earlier this week. Hearing so many reports, I took a field trip down to the river during lunch today.

If you wonder why they call it "Rapids," around here. Look no further than this short video. You will definitely see rapids!

I also took several pictures of park areas along the river that are mostly underwater. You'll be able to see by the line of weeds and gunk that I am a day late and dollar short with my photos. The river water is already receding, thank goodness.

Now, a few pictures...

Welcome to Wet-Sconsin Rapids!

See why Mr. Deck Chair doesn't have it bad? At least we can still sit on him! There used to be a paved walking path that went right past the bench. Not you can barely see the bench and can't see the walking trail!

Back up by the dam area. Now you know why it is called Rapids!

Boat launch with dock removed. See picnic table in way back of photo.

Yes, parks were closed, but I couldn't resist snapping a photo of at least one other offender!

Sign says "no swimming." I hope that doesn't apply to the ducks. They seem to be doing OK with this change!

 More actual Rapids.

 Lyon Park: City's first water park!

Boat landing parking lot under water.

 Water up by former East Side Pool area is spilling over onto the walkway. Yikes.

 Look at those whitecaps! And it wasn't even that windy out today compared to yesterday!

Park closed. Water receding, though. Time to come to dry land, stay there and go to bed. Be careful out there!

Drama Queen

Just for giggles sometimes, I look back at my old diaries to see what I was doing "on this date in history." Wow I got a good laugh out of my junior year of high school. I must warn Carter that girls have been drama queens since I was in high school.

And I was one of them.

In November of 1984, I was 16 but still didn't have my license yet. Neither did my twin. I guess we just didn't get enough behind-the-wheel time between the two of us. (I'll have to remind Carter how good he has it!) So 29 years ago on this date, I actually had to get my permit renewed so that I could still practice. As it turned out, I ended up testing that Nov. 21st and getting my license on my first try!

I couldn't go anywhere, though.

Listen to this dramatic excerpt: "My weekend was such a bummer. Everything went wrong! And to top it off, Mom grounded Raylene and I from going anyplace for a whole month!! Except for things that are necessary. Well, to me, everything I do is necessary! But I'm sure my mom doesn't see it like that. What a bummer!"

Oh the horror. How did I survive?

I can tell you that we evil twins were grounded "for a month" so many times in our teen-hood that we are probably still grounded! Somehow, though, we still got to do things. I sneaked a peek ahead in that journal and saw that 3 weeks into my "sentence" Mom let me go to a basketball game.

That was a "necessary" event -- critical even -- since I had a crush (that week anyway) on a basketball player and was excited to see him in shorts! "I must say it was an amazing sight," I wrote.

Good lord. If I was that boy-crazy as a teen, I pity Carter and the drama he must have to deal with today. Honestly, it's there in black and white. A lot of different initials of "who I like now." Not that any of them liked me back. Then there really might have been some drama!

Wow. Lots more fun to look forward to in Carter's teen years. Thankfully, he's a boy. Not that he doesn't have his dramatic moments and not that he isn't plenty like me in many ways, but hopefully we get a few less Oscar-winning performances.

Hopefully. But I am not counting on it.

I've already seen the writing on the wall, er, paper.

Focus

When I was 13 years old, this is what I wrote in my diary for March 13, 1981:

Dear Diary,

Today one of my friends told me that Darrin wrote Robyn + Darrin in his tablet. So now, if they're right, a boy likes me and I like a boy, but the boy I like isn't the boy that likes me. I wish Ross did like me. Maybe he does. I just wish I knew 'cause I like him very much.

G'night.

If my 13-year-old son kept a diary, his entry for March 13, 2012, might go something like this:

Dear Diary,

Today my parents and I met with the guidance counselor at school to map out a career plan for me. They call it an Individual Learning Plan and it will help me take all the right classes to prepare me for college, plus participate in plenty of community and service projects to build a resume for scholarships and college applications. We discussed lots of assessment tests I've already taken in Middle School -- academics to personality -- and everything points to me using my wonderful math or logic skills. Should be an interesting journey.

Oh, and I think a girl likes me.

G'night.

OK, not sure Carter would word it that way, but you see my point. Anything related to my future -- other than marrying Ross or Darrin -- was far from my mind in 8th grade. It's a different world today.

But that's a good thing.

We felt encouraged after our meeting today knowing our school does emphasize college and career prep -- and doesn't wait until the last minute to get it started. Sure, Carter might want to be a math teacher, architect or engineer, but he doesn't have to decide that for sure right now. Just sort of point his Learning Plan in that direction, focus, focus, focus and refine it as time goes on.

Phew. Can't believe we're having this conversation. I sort of sat there dumbfounded, thinking we could not possibly be talking about my baby deciding on a college in 3+ years. No, that is someone else's kid. Isn't it?

In my defense as a boy-crazed teenage girl, Carter is not necessarily more mature than me at 13. I am sure my son would be writing something similar about the girls -- if he had a diary.

Of course, if he did, I will admit he is smart enough not to let me find it.

He's using his brain for something!

National Crisis

From the pages of my diary Jan. 14, 1981 (age 13):

I just learned on the news that the U.S. hostages may be
released by Tuesday. I guess I better explain. Iran has had American hostages since Nov. '79. I don't know why. They just held 'em hostage.

You wonder sometimes if kids understand the relevance of major news events when the earthquake in Haiti and Jay Leno's future with NBC both seem billed as a national "crisis." I am sure I am not the only parent who hopes their child is brushing up on "current events" in class every day. But that shouldn't be their only news outlet.

Every morning when Carter calls me at work, I hear a run down of just about every sports score imaginable from the previous night. So I know for a fact, he's tuned into ESPN News while eating his Cocoa Puffs.

But I know we, as a family, don't sit down and watch the 6 o'clock news together every night. Do people still do that? Hubby and I pretty much get our news from various Web sites and some from the radio on our commute.

That's why tonight when I was talking about a chili cook-off fundraiser for Haiti that we're doing at work, I had to ask Carter if he'd even heard about the earthquake. I was relieved he had. And I thank all educators out there for keeping our children in the loop while adding some "current" value to their lessons.

Because after reading the second half of my diary entry from 19 years ago, I can see kids Carter's age may think about an international tragedy, but they're usually dealing with a crisis or two of their own....

Today we had a Pep Fest in school. It wasn't that interesting tho'. Lots of people liked my new glasses. They said they looked good on me but some boys thought they looked dumb because of the fancy bows. Good night.

Whew. Glad I survived that one!

Young Love

Since I never know who is reading my blog (or may accidentally stumble upon it), I am going to keep names out of this one.

When I was a little older than Carter, I wrote in my diary (about this time of year) that I just couldn't decide which boy to like. "I like so many boys right now I can't decide if I like them or I just think I like them." I then went on to list three contenders, one confirmed "no" and one "stand by" -- the guy I probably had a crush on from 5th to 7th grade (and maybe beyond).

So it really should come as no surprise to me that Carter has been having this same dilemma with deciding if he likes a girl or just wants to be her friend. It's been a constant soap opera this school year -- with the last episode featuring two girls fighting (not really) over Carter and both of them giving up. But now I know there's a new Valentine in the mix.

I asked Carter yesterday after school if he got any special valentines. He did! A box of chocolates and a homemade card that clearly spelled out "from your girlfriend." He told me not to tell Daddy (he doesn't want to be teased) but Daddy asked him the same question 10 minutes later and Carter responded honestly. Of course, today he was teased about it a bit with Daddy asking him if he was going to call her and wish her a happy Valentine's Day. It hasn't happened yet (to my knowledge). And he's had plenty of time.

We had a pretty low-key day around here. I was pleased that by noon I had swept, dusted, vacuumed, spent quality time on the treadmill, showered and shaved my legs. Ask any woman and she'll tell you that's pretty good for a Saturday!

This afternoon I got some scrapbooking done while Carter did homework and played outside and hubby relaxed, playing cribbage online and watching college hoops. Tonight we're staying in (since we went out to eat last night) and I get to watch Grey's (since I missed it Thursday night).

Who can top that? McDreamy on the TV and my McValentine on the couch. I should have some sweet dreams tonight. Happy Valentine's Day to me!

Dear Diary...

While I was pondering my New Year's resolutions yesterday -- and their consistency from year to year -- I wondered if I had a record of them anywhere. I found a box last night containing high school yearbooks, all kinds of my reports and papers, school pictures and (jackpot) several diaries and journals I kept as a girl.

The oldest one (as in earliest one) I had was a handmade one that consisted of several pieces of 8 1/2 by 11 paper folded in half, with two holes punched close to the left edge, with brown yarn looped through to hold the pages in place. My handwriting on the front just said, "My Diary." I had just finished 5th grade and turned 11 when I started that one.

I started reading and was fascinated. So this is what my life was like when I was Carter's age. Or at least, this was my perspective on what life was like. With the turn of each page, I could picture myself in my old room, probably sitting on the top bunk, writing down those thoughts and observations from the day. Not necessarily because they were earth-shattering or major news events but because, apparently even then, I just enjoyed writing.

If you'll humor me, please, I think I'll be sharing an occasional entry this year as it ties into other aspects of my life today. Maybe it will take you on some of your own trips down Memory Lane.

Remember, girls, when our whole life revolved around boys? (Maybe that hasn't changed.) That's how my diary started. This is my very first entry that I could find. It must have been about the first week of 6th grade. (Last names are deleted to protect the innocent! Spelling and grammatical errors are not edited either.)

August 23, 1979

Dear diary, at school I had too high of desk, you see I'm very short for my age. So I had to get it lowered. I had to sit in Joel ___'s desk for Health because two legs of my desk were up and two of them were down, it's lowered now. Today in afternoon recess Leslie and I were out in the football field with some boys who were playing football. I took Paul's hat. (He used to be my old boyfriend.) We had lots of fun. Now Brent ___ is the love of my life. He almost got this one sheet of paper I tore up because Jon ___ wrote Robyn + Brent and I didn't want Brent to see. He stole my pen and wrote Robyn + Brent on his pants.
Signed,
Robyn H.

Yikes. Now do you see why I am getting gray hairs already about Carter and his girlfriends? If this was life in 6th grade almost 30 years ago, imagine what's happening now! Ahhh. This should be an interesting and perhaps educational flashback. I hope you'll enjoy the journey back in time.