matching tracksuits

fun in threes, sometimes fours

Hoodie

I don't think I will ever understand the fashion of wearing hoodies -- with the hood pulled firmly over the head -- in the heat of summer. One of our neighbor's sons was doing yard work the other day wearing a hoodie. It was ninety degrees; it was a full, thick hoodie and not one of those fashionable cooling hoodies that have come on the market in the last few years. A long-sleeve, thick hoodie in ninety-degree weather.

I have students who, when they can't wear hoodies (dress code violation), wear sweatshirts in class. When my air conditioning in the classroom was out the first week of school, they complained about how hot it was. While wearing sweatshirts.

Journal

First Day of Soccer

The Boy played his first two games today: tied the first one.

And in the meantime, two idiots proved themselves to be such.

Planning

Church

Revisiting Krakow Shot

Caesars Head

On the way to look at lots Sunday, we stopped briefly at Caesars Head. I didn't get a decent shot of it because of the haze, but I tried cleaning it up with Lightroom...

Start of the 2023 Season

Tonight was the start of the 2023 volleyball season. As defending state champions, the girls have a lot of expectations on them: from the coach, from other teams, from parents, from fellow Mauldin High students, and from themselves. Each component of that list has different levels of expectations for the girls, but the most significant component is the girls themselves.

I guess it's a little inevitable that the girls put pressure on themselves. All athletes do that to some degree or another. There are likely some students putting pressure on them inadvertently with calls to bring another state trophy back to Mauldin. Some parents might be doing the same. And the other schools in the area? They're probably rooting for them to have a less-than-perfect season.

What are K and I doing? Making sure L knows we love her, we love watching her play, and we want her, above all, to enjoy what she's doing. I don't know if that will help with the stress she's probably putting on herself, but we can hope.

The Lot

We went looking at lots in North Carolina. We found one. Boy, did we find one...

August Saturday

The whole day in the yard -- every bush or shrub that could be trimmed was. For example, I turned this

into this

The day started calmly,

But soon, I was turning this

into this

bringing everything I cut off of every bush (and every blade of grass I trimmed) to the community dump pile across the street.