It's Thursday

Thank you, Nan, for giving me a gentle reminder that there are a few people out there in the blogosphere who notice if I don't grind out a column or two.
It has been since June 20, yet it feels like yesterday.
The Ump and I have been very busy. I don't think we have had an unencumbered weekend since his birthday celebration at the end of April.
Then came the rain. I enjoy a good storm now and then. The sound of driving rain on the roof, even wicked lightning and claps of thunder so deep it resonates in my chest are a welcome change of atmosphere.
What I don't enjoy are the seemingly endless days of cloudy, rainy skies. I would not last in the parts of the globe where night rules the day. I am definitely photosensitive. I need the sun to feel good.
One of my cubemates at work enjoys the rain. Revels in it really. He's 25. What does he know?
The Valley was in desperate need of rain, so I did not complain too loudly. At least I didn't have to spend the evenings watering every plant in sight after a day of evaporation.
Today was gorgeous. One of those after-the-storm kind of days where the humidity was low, but the clouds were still plentiful. The sun made her presence known as well - darting between the clouds.
They were the kind of clouds that my brother and I used to look at and try to identify a shape. I wish that back then I understood how precious spending that kind of time with your kid brother is.
We spent a lot of time fighting and arguing and not appreciating our siblinghood. But there were moments of deep companionship - moments that will drift through the halls of memory and get caught in a ray of light causing me to examine it more closely.
I spent hours drawing and cutting out paper horses and building a castle for Scott (my brother). I made knights for the horses and created epic battles. Our dad worked at a paper mill, so we always had plenty of high grade posterboard on hand.
Recently, in an email, we discussed Myrtle Beach which is where we vacationed as children. Every other year we traveled to Litchfield Beach to stay in a house for a week of close living with various family members. In the case of some, I knew the local librarian better. But by the end of the week relationships had been established and letter writing promised. (Remember writing letters to people. Pen pals, for heaven's sake. Talk about delayed gratification. It took nearly a month to get a letter from my German pen pal.)
The Ump and I are headed to Myrtle Beach in the middle of July for some well-deserved rest. We will suffer separation anxiety over leaving the dogs behind, but I am anticipating some days of glorious freedom and beach roaming.
Maybe I'll even get the opportunity to take the Ump to some of my old stomping grounds, lo these 30 years or so.
We've never been to the beach together, so it will be an adventure to see if the Ump can actually kick back and relax if everything is removed from reach - no school, no farm, no football, no umpiring, no bus driving.
I am sure our trip will be fodder for a column. Maybe two.