Back, but exhausted

I'm back in town having headed up to Maryland to give a lecture thingee. Driving back, I was the beltway speed-demon, making back in time for my daughter's swim meet's last two events: I missed her swim the IM and the 50 free, but got to see her backstroke and free relay. She's swimming with the 9-10 group now, which is a big change (longer distances plus the dreaded flip turns for free and back) but she loves it so. I actually love the swim meets---in her league, they are on Wednesday nights, and they provide a nice ritualistic structure to the Summer. It's a pretty casual affair, and there's something fun about the cheering for the kids because, once they're in the water, you really can't tell one kid from another, so it's an equal opportunity cheer-a-thon.

Anyhoo, probably nothing from me until later tomorrow evening---I'm butt-tired, and want to spend the day with the kiddies as well as getting some serious weeding done in the garden. For some reason, I've hit an inner karma with the gardening this year, and it is doing something for me at a pretty deep level. Driving home tonight, I was thinking in many ways the past six weeks have been the happiest ordinary days of my life---that is, setting aside the big ticket items of getting married/birthing of kids/discovery of a 1/2 off sale at Ben n' Jerry's, it's all been coming together lately. The garden has been woven through this in a way that I don't necessarily understand, and to be perfectly honest, I don't want to. Short answer: Stevie is very happy at a deep and quiet level. Maybe being 40 aint so bad after all.

UPDATE: QUOTE OF THE DAY DEPARTMENT

Scrolling around and catching up on the last few days I came across this gem from Jonah:

My link earlier today to my column on the "perfidious influence" of Wilson made many readers think they'd get a column on that other crapweasel Joe Wilson. I meant Woodrow.