Recall your Pirates of the Caribbean boat?

Do you remember the Pirates of the Caribbean Queen Anne’s Revenge Hero Ship Play-Set we once had? We bought it in fall 2011 during a visit to Disney. You'd been looking it over a lot during previous visits, but it was awfully expensive.

Then I landed a little extra money editing and with a 10% discount on my Disney annual pass, decided "Why not?"

You were in the stroller and had to hold it the entire way back from Downtown Disney to the parking ramp because it wouldn't fit beneath it. You were so excited you couldn't stop looking at the box and gripped it hard so it wouldn't fall.

I lived in Encinitas at the time, and we put it together the following morning. It was huge - about 2-1/2 feet long and 2 feet tall. It included an escape hatch, a retractable plank, a mid-section that slid open, and a rotating crank. I recall a cool glow-in-the-dark skeleton that hung on the ship's prow.

We had lots of Pirates of the Caribbean action figures that we were able to play with it, too!

Learn something new every day

Unfortunately, I am not allowed to be with you each day, Kieran, so I am unable to lisen to and talk with you about your concerns and problems. Because of that, I will on occasion offer advice about moral codes to live by. Here is another such entry.

As we go through life, we have a tendency to focus on a few narrow paths: our careers, our immediate family, our college major, our community. Each of those areas certainly is enough to keep us busy!

They may not be enough, though.

Often we feel unfulfilled because we do nothing but work, raise our kids, study a specific field, live in one small area. We desire to get away from it all for a while. This is necessary to keep our minds fresh.

We don’t necessarily have to travel long distances or abandon all we find comfortable to reboot our mental and emotional health, though. Oftentimes the solution is as simple as learning a little something new every day.

Picking up new knowledge also may be paramount to maintaining a job, family and community. With new information, we can bring a different perspective to work problem, parenting, and local issues. With new information, we can better adapt to new situations because we’re no longer trapped by the notion of “But we’ve always done it this way.” With new information, we’re better able to think creatively. This all occurs because when we actively learn new stuff, our understanding of how the world operates broadens. We gain an understanding that transcends our everyday lives.

How can you learn something new? It’s easy. Google a word. Open a dictionary to a random page and find the first word you don’t know. Go someplace you’ve never been before. Talk to someone who specializes in something you know nothing about. Take a class. Listen to public radio. Attend a lecture. Read a book.

What new thing will you learn today?

Remember that big St. Bernard stuffy?

When we lived in the grene house in Lancaster, you might recall that I had a couple of big pillows a large fluffy St. Bernard dog stacked next to the television in the living room.

Sometimes you way lay on the pillows and dog while watching television. Other times you'd play tackle the dog!
When we did football, "tackle drills," I'd place the the pillow beneath my knees so I'd beyour height for you to ram into.

The dog was a stuffy I got for your mother before you were born. She liked St. Bernards, and for a while we were putting together a mystery novel about a nurse whose St. Bernard solves murders that the nurse gets entangled in!

Always stay physically fit

Unfortunately, I am not allowed to be with you each day, Kieran, so I am unable to listen to and talk with you about your concerns and problems. Because of that, I will on occasion offer advice about moral codes to live by. Here is another such entry.

In our modern times, most of us are spared the physical labor that our ancestors had to endure just to survive. Machinery does the work instead, and many of us now spend our days seated comfortably at desks. The result is many of us gain weight and become physically weaker.

“So what?” you might ask. “Less physically demanding labor sounds like a good thing.”

That’s true enough. We’re now free to pursue personal interests and have more leisure time.

Still, there’s plenty of good reasons to stay physically fit by exercising, walking and watching our diet.

Research shows physical fitness reduces the risk of contracting debilitating diseases from diabetes and heart ailments to various cancers. Each of these diseases can be expensive to treat and can limit our ability to function even if we’re just sitting behind a desk.

In the short term, staying physically fit improves one’s mood. Exercise increases production of endorphins, which in turn reduces depression. A brisk walk or swim has been shown to boost your memory and ability to learn.

Regular exercise also means you’re more likely to live a longer life. With strong bones and muscles and not suffering from disease, your body will be able to recover more quickly from illnesses and injuries that strike you in old age.

So why not make a difference in your life right now and for the long-term by lifting some weights, dancing, or even just stretching?

Remember our Disney figure sets?

During our many visits to Disneyland, we got into the habit of purchasing play figures of characters from Disney movies or rides. Usually six or seven came in a set, and there were at least a dozen sets!

One of them was the villains set (see pictures). It contained bad guys from various Disney movies.

Often these figures/characters became parts of other play sets! The Peter Pan pieces, for example, were part of our pirate toys while the Buzz Lightyear toys became part of our space toy collection.

Unfortunately, none of the figures had movable parts. Still, they stood upright quite well (better than our various action figures!) and were a lot of fun to play with anyway!

Our hike along the Sierra Alta Trail

Sierra Alta Trail, Aug. 25, 2010

Three years ago today we hiked the Sierra Alta Trail in the Angeles National Forest!

The trail was about 6800 feet above sea level so nicely overlooked some canyons yet was shrouded by higher mountain peaks.

The trail was surrounded by greenery and very comfortable in temperature, a nice respite from the sandy, hot desert where we lived!

You got your own trekking pole for this hike. It was a brief enough trail that I let you walk it by yourself. You had a blast, though I had to keep telling you to wait up as you wanted to run ahead out of my sight!

Here's a whole bunch of pictures from our adventure!

My email to you for Aug. 24, 2013

Here is the email I sent to you on Aug,. 24, 2013, in case you do not receive it.

Dear Kieran,

How are you today? I’m doing fine, though I miss you like crazy! I hope you’re doing well and are having lots of fun during this last week of summer.

I so enjoyed our time together on Thursday! You’ve gotten really tall and have quite the powerful swing when it comes to light saber battles!

Your knowledge of the states as we put together the USA map was very impressive, too! I really enjoy talking about all of the places we’ve visited and hearing about all of the states you’d still like to see. I am looking for a world map puzzle so we also can learn about countries and oceans. While you’ve never been out of the United States, perhaps when you become 18 you’ll want to travel overseas.

Teaching you how to play chess was a lot of fun, too! The game is very complicated and will take a long time learn, but you're well on your way by learning the names of the pieces, where they go on the board, and how they move.

Building the ancient Egyptian city out of the craft blocks was a good time, too. It looked just like some of the cities we saw when visiting the Egyptian section at the Museum of Man in San Diego. I posted pictures of our work online!

How did you like the book about the Titanic that you took home on Thursday? I remember reading to you kids’ books at Barnes and Noble about the Titanic and how much you enjoyed them. I thought you’d like that book!

I am so proud of you that you are about to enter first grade. You will find it a lot of fun. Always do your schoolwork, even if it’s boring or difficult, and you will do fine. In fact, you’ll find that that first grade and school in general gets easier when you do your assignments!

One book I recently read that you might like is about going to first grade. The book was called “First Grade, Here I Come!” by Nancy Carlson. It tells the story of Henry, who after the first day of first grade, isn’t sure how he feels about it. The teacher isn’t like his kindergarten teacher, and the fifth-graders hog the monkey bars! Will Henry come to like being in first grade? You will have to read the book and find out. When your mom takes you to the city library, I bet you’ll find the book there in the children’s section.

We next get together on Friday, Aug. 30 – just six days from now! Let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to bring. I see your email “send” button is not working again, as I haven’t received an email from you since Aug. 11. Perhaps you could have your mother help you with that. In any case, I have saved all of my emails for you so that if there are any of mine that you do not receive, you’ll be able to later read them.

Well, that is all for now. I love and miss you very much and will see you on Friday!

Love,

Dad