Monday, June 22, 2015

Part Two: Birmingham Alabama—In Alden Pebble Grain

Well to be honest I’m not quite ready for part two of my Alden Pebble Grain—Birmingham story. And I promise there will be more about haberdashery-esque observations and less ramblings about Birmingham in the tumultuous civil rights sixties.

But I’ve still got a little more of that stuff that I need to purge from my little system. The Mountain Brook Club and the Country Club of Birmingham and what I’ll call the Angst of the Mules must be addressed briefly in the next installment. Stay tuned.

What I am ready to talk about is Father’s Day. My hope is that all of you fathers in my sphere and all who comment on my blog and tumblr drivel—many of you who’ve become great friends—had a stellar day yesterday.
LFG and her mother came over to CasaMinimusBethesda and we had a nice dinner. Outside. Swathed in Deep Woods Off with DEET. And Miss Reilley, Lily’s Cavalier King Charles Princess was here in full form. She is forbidden to have table scraps. That’s code for “ADG gave her wee bits of grilled NY Strip steak and a lot of it." Yep.
I’m not sure I used my Father’s Day gift properly. LFG's mama was a hollerin' and suggesting that we call the fire department. 
And let me tell you. All of you huggers who think that DEET is the devil, well you must not have the high ass caliber skeeters that live here in my patch. These bad boys bit thru my heavy starched linen shirt last night. I think it’s a combination of the predictable skeeter insatiability  and a special siren song pull of knowing that my particular sweet meat awaits them. Otherwise, I just don’t think a skeeter would risk damaging their fencing foil snouts trying to punch through my stiff linen barrier. Shut the _____.
LFG and her mom. My baby is anything but a baby anymore.
And finally, the greatest gift that I could have received yesterday came from a friend—blood brother caliber friend—who started out as a client of mine. Almost bought tears to my eyes. Bill is navigating his journey with a level of grace and gratitude that can be a lesson for us all. He has two elementary school age little girls and an incredible wife. Bill and his wife are lovely inside and out because of the energy of sweet kindness that illuminates from within. Bill’s wife has metastatic breast cancer and is now declining further treatment. They are living moment by moment in gratitude for...The Moment.

The Moment. Folks, it’s really all we have.
Onward. With loving kindness. And wearing Hogg Howell GTH Kilim shoes. Just to piss off LFG's mom. 

ADG-II

6 comments:

NCJack said...

Of course you threw that beautiful puppy some table scraps.

Ask yourself: could you possibly befriend a man who didn't?

Unknown said...

Man she's grown up! Poloist12, I know long time no see. Busy, busy.

Paul in NoVA said...

I have always admired your cordiality with your ex-wife. I have encouraged my brother to show the same civility as he finalizes his divorce because no matter what he will be linked forever with his ex-wife through their two daughters. Any other advice I should pass on?

ADG said...

NCJackie...But now I've helped create a monster. This little Cavalier King whatever has been with me for a week--with LFG in tow. If my young'un wasn't here along with what has turned into a ghetto calibre mean dog, I'd a returned this scrap grabbing little terrorist back to her other abode in a heartbeat!

John de' GrefPolo-ist...how's your daughter?

ADG said...

NoVa Paul...Any advice I have would be coming from one who, if there's any expertise possessed, exists as a result of failure. So I'm not sure I'm qualified to give advice. But you might want to refer him to the story that I wrote about divorce. Otherwise, the singular piece of advice I'll offer in this blog comment is:

Use your daughters and their best interests as the filter through which you run EVERYTHING. Before you make decisions about which battles to pick with your former wife, run it through the filter of "How's this going to impact my daughters?".

Joe said...

Hi. Love the blog, but am concerned it may be "finsished."???? ie-have the posts stopped?? I have not seen anything new since the pebble grain Alden 2 part post. ru still around??
Joe