Long jump.

Count steps. Approach and accelerate. Hit mark. Upward and outward momentum. Extend arms and keep legs forward. Land forward.

Long jumping at the Waterford Club Invitational yesterday (W-Club Invite).

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"Kids say the darndest things." #2.

So I'm on the last leg of my 4-mile walk on the bike trail and I see a boy and girl playing in the woods alongside the trail. I said to the boy, "It's fun back here, isn't it?" He says, "Yeh." "I used to play out here when I was your age," I said...and I continued. "You know, while you kids are playing, you should pick up some of the paper and crap that's scattered about."

The girl says, "Well, we just moved here." And I say, "That's nice. Even more reason why you should pick up the litter. You're new here - you need to earn the right to enjoy your new neighborhood."

Click here for Kids Say the Darndest Things #1.

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It's Wednesday and I was mentioned in "Tuesdays" on Friday.

(reprinted from Tuesdays)

don't i know you?
interesting when two friends meet...i went to waterford union high school with blogger jeff ircink (passion=truth) who now lives in LA and works as an actor, playwright, and...what else is it you do jeff? jeff's a published playwright (and a good one) who in his spare time fishes, smokes cigars, and has a major man-crush on brett favre. (yes, straight men can have crushes on other straight men without thinking about penis.)

i've worked in milwaukee theater with blogger jonathan west (artsy schmartsy) many, many times, and i actually just saw him in a wonderful production of tally's folly at milwaukee chamber theater. over the years, jon's been an actor, a director, a writer, run a theater company of his own...and i'm sure there's more. these days, he's also a devoted father and spouse.

two days ago, jeff and i had a delightful phone conversation about the recent brett favre "i'm retired -- no i'm not!" debacle, easily summed up in two lines:

tony: "it makes that weepy news conference seem like bullshit."
jeff: "he changed his mind, it happens all the time."

this morning, i realized these two (jeff and jonathan) "old" friends were already having this conversation...

Posted by tony at 10:20 AM 1 comments

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Heard in Waterford, Wisconsin.

"What the fuck..."
- my father, upon seeing film of downtown Cedar Rapids under water

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Vacation: Part 21 - Brolen Farms.

My father's boyhood friend, Frank Lenton and his partner, Mike, live on 30 acres (something like that) out in East Troy, WI (15 minutes from my hometown). "Brolen Farms" is a respite from even the country life I'm used to in the Village of Waterford - quiet, secluded and Frank and Mike put on awesome parties. We were there for Frank's 71st b-day and I took a few shots of the property.

The lilacs are in full bloom across Wisconsin. That fragrance is as strong as any flower or plant California has to offer.

An abandoned tree stand.

Frank and Mike have a small herd of Sika - a red deer indigenous to Vietnam - sectioned off on some acreage with a pond, the pond being one of the last original kettles in the state of Wisconsin. Every time we're at Brolen Farms my father asks Frank if he can shoot one of them with his bow. Frank is never amused.

A wood tick on my brother's pants leg - not to be confused with deer ticks which potentially carry Lyme's Disease.

Closer look at a wood tick on my brother's pants leg. Looking at them makes me wanna puke.

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Vacation: Part 1 - A Walk Down the Bike Trail in Waterford.

From 6th grade on, I grew up in the Village of Waterford, about 25 miles south of Milwaukee - out in "the sticks". There's a bike trail that runs 10 miles into Wind Lake. So, the day after I arrived home, I headed out on a 6-mile walk (round trip). It was around 80. Gorgeous day. Lots of fields and barns. Well, that is the country, ain't it?

(Wait! There's more...)

Old Norway Church (1843). It's only used for special occasions now (there's a new church to the left). It was the first Norwegian Lutheran congregation in the state of Wisconsin. I ran into two sister planting flowers on their parent's and brother's graves and got to talkin'. Their brother just got back from Vietnam and got killed by a drunk driver. Makes one sick.

This was the oldest gravestone I could find, dating back to 1795.

You can see the statue to Col. Heg and his memorial plate in my Memorial Day post. We used to come up to the park a lot when we were kids to see the Civil War Reenactments.

Col. Heg's boyhood home. OK - time to turn around and head back home.

Oops. Almost stepped on this baby painted turtle. As big as a half dollar piece if that. I picked it up off the bike trail and set her down on the other side out of harm's way. Right away when I got home, my dad and brother (founding members of the Izaak Walton League) asked, "What direction was she facing when you picked her up?" (if they're facing west you take them to that side of the trail) and Jason said, "Why didn't you bring it home?". Liberals.

Got a mile or two to finish here, so I best kick'er in high gear. It's almost been three hours since I left. Mom's probably worried. As a matter of fact, she called me to see where I was.

Mothers.

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