Rock on

When you first see this picture, I'm sure you're thinking one of two things, maybe both, which is:
"Wow! Look how easily he is hurling that boulder! He must have superhuman strength!"

or

"Why does Jeremy only have half of an arm? Did he lose half of it in a boating accident?!?"

Perhaps, it could be, "How did he throw that rock with a stumpy arm?"


While these questions might be racing through your head, I can assure you I still have two non-stumpy arms with hands at the ends. With that said, I may have superhuman strength.

Really the story is, the family and I went to Lake Lowell today, which is near Nampa since we've never been. Usually when we take the family to a lake, river, ocean or whatever Eric and Timo always have the time of their lives by simply throwing rock after rock into the water. Eric and Timo weren't with us today since they are spending time with their cousins. I knew throwing rocks into water was something little boys love to do. I've heard some boys never grow out of it.
It turns out that can be true, at least with me it is. For some reason on our past visits to bodies of water I never threw too many, just some here and there. On the beach of Lake Lowell it was loaded with rocks. I couldn't contain myself, I was throwing rock after rock.
It's a little different when you're grown up though. Little boys will throw almost any rock they can get there dirty hands on. I discovered I was looking for two different kinds; rocks you can skip and big rocks that will big a huge splash.
I never thought I would have so much fun doing something so simple. Maybe it reminds me of being a kid again. Maybe it was really fun only for today. I think it could be fun again...as long as I find big enough rocks to hurl with my superhuman strength.


Here's Noah at 22 months old winding up to throw his own rock. You can see this fascination starts at an early age.

Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth...

Thanks to getting the internet back last week, my hiatus from blogging is over! After moving Becka and the boys to Nampa last month it's been a roller coaster. Actually it's been one long continous plane ride for me. I stay part time in Seattle and part time at home in Nampa while I wait impatiently for my transfer to the Boise Airport.
My normal work week is Saturday through Wednesday. I try to work as much as possible in this period of time, picking up extra shifts whenever possible. Lately, overtime has a been a little harder to come by. So what do I do in my spare time? Naturally, I fly...home...then come back...an hour or two later.
When I can't pick up extra hours in the evening I try to fly home even if it's only a couple hours. Then, every Wednesday night I fly home(warm weather), stay two nights, then fly back to Seattle (cold weather, I know, it's July, summer lasted two weeks...that's not a joke, it's a fact).
Then it's back to the grind of working and flying.

Now, I figure I fly a minimum of 2-4 round trippers per week. That's up to 8 individual flights per week (I know everyone can add, it added emphasis). The catch is I don't always take the direct flights. I fly standby and flights between Seattle and Boise are busy. It's not uncommon to go through Califorina, Eastern Washington, and Northern Idaho before finally making it home. Or back to Seattle for that matter. As you can imagine I've read a lot of books in the last month due to all the flying, including a 600 page bonzer about the Bin Ladens. I barely finished it, I'm proud of myself.

To top things off, Horizon Airlines serves one speficic snack for an entire month before switching to something different. I am so tired of Bruschetta. Remember, this is airplane food, so it's more like stale bread chips. The first 12 times or so I had this bagged stale treat I thought they were "ok". Now, I put them in my back pack until I have a huge collection then give them to my boys on one of my trips home. They devour several bags in minutes like a pack of hyenas over a dead antelope.

Through this unusual grind I remind myself how lucky I am to be fortunate to spend so much time with my family despite working 500 miles away from them. Hopefully I will get my transfer soon. Then we can get back to "normal".