Leaving the country involves deciding what to take and what to leave behind. Experiences can’t be chosen either way, they stay here without us and keep happening. One of the things I’ll miss is LakeMary’s Special Olympics team. This weekend I’ve been on what will be my last Kansas Special Olympics trip for at least a year. It was a great tournament, and Bob and I managed to get a handful of pictures of the events. Some are up now, others are being uploaded as I type this, hopefully they’ll all be there by the time I press “Publish.”
I knew when I boarded the bus this would be it, but now that it’s done the finality has struck me. It’s not for good, but I’ll miss the guys a lot while we’re gone, and I’ll misses the coaches as well. The one time in person today seems somehow insufficient, so goodbye again you guys. Judy, Jeff, Bob, Lindy, Carolyn, former coaches like Tracy, Greg, Shawna, and anybody who has temporarily slipped my mind, thanks for the good times, the hard work at the tournaments, the Carlos O’Kelly’s after, and the sunflower seeds, bonfires, and shared beers in between. I love all of you, and I thank you in advance for all the times yet you’ll remind MB for me that he’s a punk.
Jeez O’Pete, I don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard in my entire life. I was a manual laborer at one point in time for a concrete construction company, but we got two days a week off then.
Seriously though, getting the house ready is a big job. Fortunately, some of the pressure is off. We’re not selling, a friend of a friend is renting from us. Renting as opposed to selling has its downsides, but it has the major up of giving us until the day we vacate to finish all of the work the house requires.
More time is great, because next weekend we’re going to Michigan, and the week after that I’ll be in Wichita for the KSO Summer Games. Shortly thereafter we’ll be on a plane, where I’ll think about sleeping, but will instead probably be finally finishing Snatcher, then we’ll be at a hotel, our temporary home until we get an apartment, and I’ll sleep for 12 consecutive hours if at all possible. Then begins the culture shock.
I spent this weekend in Hays.
Normally that sentence would be the entirety of a conversation about one’s weekend. Saying “I just went to Hays” is recognizable by anyone who’s been there as meaning, effectively, “I was just bored out of my mind and did absolutely nothing for however long I’ve been gone.”
This was a pretty good trip though. It was the Kansas Special Olympics state basketball tournament, and quite frankly it was the best KSO trip I’ve ever been on. Everyone had a great time, nobody was injured, the dance came and went without one tear shed or any drama staged, and there weren’t even any fights.
These tournaments are pretty exhausting, so I haven’t searched the pictures I shot yet, but I know from the previews on-screen when I was shooting them that many are not good. The camera and I had some disagreements regarding settings. Stupid point-and-shoot. If any of them are good, though, I’ll toss them up on Flickr later and post a link here.