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Monday at Conestee

Monday 16 February 2026

After a day of rain yesterday — it absolutely poured for most of the day, which is why I didn’t go for a walk during the Boy’s practice — we were thrilled with the lovely light streaming into our kitchen this morning. The sky was a rich blue, which meant we had to get outside.

I spent the morning grading — remember that? I don’t do that much grading at home these days because I no longer teach a heavily academic subject.

I still have a bit, though: the kids keep a daily journal as their warm-up in class, and I use that as a major assignment grade. As such, I take the time to read what they’ve written. For example, we’ve had a change in our school’s morning routine, and I asked the kids what they thought of it. With 150 students, though, it takes a long time to work through all those journals.

After lunch, we headed to our favorite park for a walk. We thought about going to a local state park and going for a longer walk, but in the end, we elected for the closer park and shorter walk.

2025 Day 1

Wednesday 1 January 2025

We always like to begin the new year with something outside. Last year, we were at Hilton Head with Babcia; the year before, we were hiking somewhere — can’t remember the name. This year, with L still recovering (though she’s mostly fine now) and the Boy feeling a bit reluctant, K and I went for a short walk at our favorite park, just the two of us. And the dog.

And a lot more people than usual. But can you blame them? A beautiful New Year’s Day with temperatures in the mid fifties and a blue sky — of course, you’re going outside.

In the evening, we decided on a family movie — a classic. Well, not quite. But the kids had never seen Titanic, and it’s such a 90s film that both K and I have memories of and — well, okay. There’s no reason to watch that film except for the sinking scene.

The Boy watched about half an hour; we made it to the halfway mark. We’ll finish it Friday or Saturday — tomorrow is a sleepover for the Boy. We’ll have a house filled with kids.

Boys. Twelve-year-olds…

Sunday

Sunday 17 November 2024

Conestee and Ognisko

Sunday 13 October 2024

This afternoon, we went to our favorite park — the first time since Helene. We knew a lot of the trails would be closed: those winding through the forest would have trees blocking the way, and those along the coast of the small lake were boardwalks and would likely be destroyed.

Most of the unpaved trails were closed; not all were. Most of the boardwalks were washed out; not all were.

In the evening, a party — the best parties are often the unplanned parties.

“We’re having our first ognisko tonight. You should come.”

“Okay — we’ll bring dessert.”

The evening flows, a bottle of vodka appears, the evening continues, the bottle is empty. A Sunday-night party that ends just a little later than it should.

Conestee Changes

Sunday 11 August 2024

We’ve been going to Conestee Park for some years now. We’d lived here for several years before discovering it: our now-sadly-deceased neighbor, Mr. F, mentioned that he went to Conestee every day to walk.

“What’s that?” we asked.

Once we went the first time, we kept going. Again and again. We know all the trails by heart now. A few years ago, they closed the off-road trails to pets and cyclists. They eventually reopened them for pets but not for cyclists. Instead, there’s another off-road section nearby that’s open to cyclists.

We’ve been going there regularly this summer, almost neglecting the Conestee we’ve come to love.

In the meantime, there have been so many changes in the area.

It’s a poorer area for the most part. There were few homes and a lot of trailer homes in small open areas in a forest.

Then the forests started disappearing. Across the street from this trailer home appeared a Dollar General — a sure sign of an economically depressed area.

Then the trailer disappeared and this monstrously huge home appeared. It’s across the street from a Dollar General and some trailer homes.

We’re trying to figure out who would build such a home in such an economically depressed area. We wonder that almost every time we drive by on the way to our now-favorite mountain biking trail, as we did tonight.

Conestee Sunday

Sunday 17 September 2023

“Let’s go for a walk at Conestee this afternoon,” K suggested after lunch. She and the Boy had gone to church while I stayed home and did school work and the Girl headed off to work, so we hadn’t spent any time together as a family. Yet as is often the case these days, “time with the family” really only means K and I with the Boy.

The Girl, almost 17 now, has her own life: she hangs out with friends, meets them at football games, goes to dances with them, drives them here and there. She has volleyball and work along with her heavy load of AP classes (all four classes she’s taking this semester), which means when she’s home, she’s usually doing homework. Or sleeping.