This is a day…

…that I try to forget. The (holy crap) 41st anniversary of my father’s death. Wow that makes me old. I lost my dad at a really young age. He left for Vietnam when I was still 2, and less than 3 months later he was killed by sniper fire from a tunnel in an area they thought had been cleared. He was top dog. The Viet Cong must have been pretty proud of their accomplished hit. They probaby celebrated it. I miss and love my dad, but more than anything I wish I knew him.

April 27, 2008 | Filed Under Rants, Moods and Attitude | 11 Comments 

Boy Oh Boy!

Despite what I learned in biology class — that males determine the sex of a child — according to this study, I am the one responsible for our three boys!

“Oysters may excite the libido, but there is nothing like a hearty breakfast laced with sugar to boost a woman’s chances of conceiving a son, according to a study released Wednesday.”

So apparently it was all the Lucky Charms, Captain Crunch and packages of Neccos I consumed, not the Y gene. Who knew!?

April 23, 2008 | Filed Under Fun Stuff | 8 Comments 

National Park Week

It’s National Park Week and Child’s Play has tagged me for her meme to write about a National Park that I love. She’s particularly interested in Virginia. I could write about so many great and well-known national parks in this area, but I decided to write about a little-known park that is near and dear to my heart.

Fort Hunt Park in Alexandria, Virginia, was originally built to protect Washington, DC during the Spanish American War. About two years ago, however, a more nefarious use as a World War II Nazi interrogation center came to light. Follow the links in this Wikipedia article for some very interesting reading.

I grew up in a neighborhood very close to this park, and we played here all the time. Back then, though, the forts were all covered with overgrowth and the openings had not been blocked off. We used to take flashlights and explore. Of course, those were the days when kids would leave the house in the morning with the promise of being home for lunch or by dark with no mention of exactly what they would be doing! As I grew older (late 1970s, early 1980s), this park was our hang out place. They have since closed the section of the park where most of the “hanging out” went on though, and they’ve even renumbered the remaining sections so people don’t even realize there was another section.

For us now though, Fort Hunt Park is the ultimate place to play. The old forts have been uncovered and the kids love to climb on them and explore the parts that are open. A couple of weeks ago, they even got to look inside a previously inaccessible section of the main fort because someone had broken through the barriers.

I wish I had more pictures to share, but I never seem to have my camera with me when we go.

April 2003

Fort Hunt 1

Fort Hunt 5

Fort Hunt 2

Fort Hunt 6

October 2007

Fort Hunt 3

Fort Hunt 4

Fort Hunt 7

April 17, 2008 | Filed Under Trips and Travel | 9 Comments