Rockpile Exit to Thunder Run

Thunder Run Participants Late Last Night at McShawn's

I was roundly and justifiably criticized yesterday by two of the ladies in my life, Cali-Daughter and Great Aunt, for failing to blog yesterday. I pled guilty with the codicil that I wasn’t engaged in any man cave laced torpor. I spent the entire day in the dirt behind Deckzilla. My engineer son would have been proud of the care I took in placing the bottom row of the retaining wall stones, even if it was a monumental pain the butt.

The First Stones are Laid

Wall Progress at End of Day

I clearly remembered an earlier wall we did together when he took me to task for trying to cut corners on that all important first row. Buddy supervised from the shade under Deckzilla. I re-learned the significant lesson that I’m not as young as I used to be as my back was doing some serious barking by the end of the afternoon and a couple trips to the stone store. After another day hooking and jabbing with the ever present and always inconveniently located rocks I raked out the path and started the pathway of pebble stone that was the whole point of the exercise. All this was going on while new next door neighbors were moving in. I didn’t even realize the former neighbors had moved out. We’re no longer the newbies on the block!

Pathway Work Started

Got to Get More Pebble Stone Today

I had to spend the entire day out back because Great Aunt had invited me south for a thunder run to McShawn’s Pub with Soxfather’s family. It had been altogether too long since I’d partaken of one of these signature gatherings and I was psyched. I confirmed that cold beer tastes infinitely better after a long day of physical labor, probably why the damned stuff was invented.

Table at McShawn's With Elusive Photo of Soxfather Sister

Soxfather and His Brother

The best part was hanging out with Soxfather’s incredible family, who once again totally dominated a sizeable portion of McShawn’s. I wish the distant wife was with me because she enjoys these almost as much as I do. I did FaceTime with her to share the experience; at least I think I did. I journeyed back early this morning so I could sneak this blog in before going to get another load of stone to add to the wall and then set out on a northern thunder run to link up with Keene Friend. It’s a lot of work but someone has to do it.

Wingman's Final Tour Started out in Denver Before Heading to Hawaii

The Cat Pursuit Continues Unabated