Saturday, November 5, 2011

First weekend without sports

4:10 pm: So far, so good. It helps that the weather couldn't be more beautiful. Texas weather can be summed up thusly: summer's intense heat and winter's bone-chilling cold, bracketed by tornado and hurricane seasons. That leaves only a half-dozen weeks in October and part of November to enjoy, and this is one of those rare days you don't want to waste. I spent part of the time working in the yard, mowing the grass one last time (hopefully). I bought a 16 oz cup of beef stew for Jackson, who's nursing a bad cold, at Whole Foods, which has really hearty soups. Then I drove to Lake Arlington to scout out the possibility of spending Sunday kayaking with Natalie. I've heard you can rent kayaks there, but I couldn't find any evidence of that and the Lake Arlington office was closed. Must be only a weekday deal -- I'm glad I checked. It looks like we'll have to drive into Dallas and head to White Rock Lake, where they do rent kayaks and canoes. So that's the plan for now.

2 comments:

  1. You mean there are some lakes in Tejas that still have water? I thought this past summer had turned the state into Arrakis but without the sandworms (which just made me think of armadillos the size of a sandworm - yikes). Anyway, you know kayaking is a kind of sport and you're not supposed to be doing that, right?

    ReplyDelete
  2. My goal is not sit around on my duff for six hours on a Sunday watching football. That's what I meant by a year without sports. It's a year spent doing other things besides following these sports franchises that had taken up too much room in my life. I'm trying to find my balance. But I'm not about to rule out playing hoops with friends or tossing a ball back and forth with Jackson or heading out to a lake with Natalie to go kayaking. In fact, that's the point of this exercise. I've also been told I can't read Sports Illustrated. That's just bull. Sport Illustrated has some of the best nonfiction writers in the country. I'll have more time to read great writers like Gary Smith because I'm not sitting in front of the boob tube for six hours on a Sunday. Speaking of sandworms, however, I have seen armadillos walking in a line in a way that does resemble a sandworm, now that you mention it. And on another note, Jimbo, I just saw the movie Wonder Boys, which takes place in our hometown of Pittsburgh. It's wonderful, no pun intended. If you can get hold of a director's cut, there is a tour of Pittsburgh based on the movie after the film is over that is great. Almost makes me want to move back.

    ReplyDelete