LINKS
- Attack of the 50-Year-Old Comics
- Super-Team Family: The Lost Issues
- Mark Evanier's Blog
- Plaid Stallions
- Star Trek Fact Check
- The Suits of James Bond
- Wild About Harry (Houdini)
Back Yard Adventures
Well, the back yard is finally shaping up for us. Last fall we had some guys come in and clear out the woods, taking down about 100 trees and tons of brush, roots and stumps, then bringing in some fill dirt and topsoil to smooth things out a bit. Next came a contractor to create a leveled-off play area for the kids, which turned out to be a walled-in “box” of sorts with 5-6 inches of wood chips for safer falls.
Finally this spring we located a playset with swings that (a) fit in the relatively small play area with the recommended clearance on all four sides and (b) didn’t cost more than the house. We looked at a lot of nice “play systems” in redwood, PVC and whatnot, all guaranteed to withstand a nuclear blast and last until the 23rd century, but then it occured to us we’ve probably got ten years max before the kids lose interest anyway. Maybe that other stuff would make sense if we were running a day care center, but it’s just the boys.
Anyway, Laura and Grandaddy got the thing together with a tiny bit of help from me and Jason and Scott have been having a blast with it, swinging pretty much every day it’s not pouring rain (and asking to go out and swing even then). Since we also added a fence, it means we can let the boys go nuts in the backyard without worrying about them wandering out front and into the street.