The Old Man Down the Road

What's all this about The Old Man Down the Road?

For a long time I thought I might become a cantankerous old coot, sitting in my rocking chair on the front porch with a cane. I wouldn't need the cane, but it would be handy for whacking anyone who bugged me across the ankle. Seemed like it might be kind of cool being the neighborhood  crank!

John Fogarty is a genius of sorts, no question, but he's better at lyrics than the business of being in a band, thus, no Creedence. Since Creedence however, he's still whipped out some classics, maybe most notably, "The Old Man Down the Road". You know, the weird guy in the neighborhood pretty much everyone warned us about. Maybe the Boo Radley of the end of the century. The only difference is, you probably DO want to stay away from this one!

This Old Man is a far darker version of me rocking with my cane, waiting for someone to bug me.  Anyway, The Old Man Down the Road seems like a good blog handle, and the cool kids will get it.

Beyond the eeriness of the words, the music could have come from Green River, way, way, way, back in the day.

The verses scare me!

He take the thunder from the mountain

He take the lightning from the sky

He bring the strong man to his bended knee

He make the young girls mama cry

You got to hidey-hide

You got to jump and run

You got to hidey hidey-hide

The old man's down the road

He got the voices speakin' riddles

He got the eye as black as coal

He got a suitcase covered with rattlesnake hide

And he stand right in the road

You got to hidey-hide

You got to jump and run away

You got to hidey hidey-hide

The old man's down the road

He make the river call your lover

He make the barking of the hound

Put the shadow across the window

When the old man comes around

You got to hidey-hide

You got to jump and run again

You got to hidey hidey-hide

The old man's down the road

The old man is down the road

The old man is down the road

What can be cooler than this? Maybe some Chris Rea or Dylan could evoke the same scariness, but maybe not too.

Grampahood

It seems like everyone's blogging these days. How anyone ever finds any given blog and starts checking regularly is not well known - at least to me. My D-I-L started years ago and fans started showing up with comments, commiserations, and short responses. It became a generally safe place to make observations, rant once in a while, and mostly share the joy of all the steps a new family goes through.

So - I like to make observations, rant, and share the joy of being one of the patriarchs of her evolving family. Added to that, why not throw in politics, athletics, travel, my own nuclear family, and my Harley?

Grampahood? Well, most simply, being a Grampa is the best job I've ever had!

About six years ago Leslie quit her dream job to embark on a new adventure. Daycare for grandchild #1, driving to Bloomington from Northfield five days a week. I was in the midst of getting a $64,000,000 project built, and didn't know if I was coming or going much of the time.

We're not old, but certainly at least on the way. Our schedule consisted of hopping in bed at 9:00 PM, sometimes earlier, trying to read for a bit, conking out, and jumping up at 6:00 AM to scurry around and head out in different directions. We realized that we were spending about an hour and half actually together per day. Weekends were consumed with "catching up." Grandma started staying in one or two nights per week, and soon it became clear that her quality of life was better not driving.

We started looking at better ways to live, and ultimately sub-let a little condo about a mile from our son, daughter-in-law, and #1 for Grandma. I stay in our town during the week in a little room in the lower level of our house with various combinations of younger sons and significant others paying some rent.

I zoom up to "Grandma's new house" (according to grandchild #1) as early as I can on Friday. Strangely, we each have our chores all done before I get there, and we get to hang out and enjoy our time.

This combines to mean I get to spend a lot of time being Grampa. The Northfield rent equals Grandma's rent, and with the gas money we're not spending we have a net financial gain, plus a huge personal gain.

In December 2008 #1's  twin brothers were born and Grandma took on the whole gang, but added a helper. Not long after, our daughter gave birth to #4, and she joined the fray too. By now #5 has joined our daughter's family, and that was finally too much for Grandma.

#1, 2, and 3 are now with a family friend who was recruited specifically for this important treasure chest of little guys, and Grandma is with #4 and 5 full time.

One of the greatest joys of all this is that these cousins have grownup with each other on a daily basis and clearly each adores the other four.  In September 2012 #1 goes off to kindergarten and is so excited sometimes he almost is ready to burst. #2, 3, and 4 will all be together in one of the pre-school programs #1 went through earlier.

I try to see both sets of grandkids every weekend, and demand the right of first denial when they need weekend babysitters. 

Now, it may not be surprising that very many folks think we are off our rockers. I recently started thinking about "normal". All our stories are so different that I'm now sure there is no one normal.  I've come to call our situation the new normal, ours, and I no longer care at all what anyone else thinks normal is.

Grampahood is definitely a huge part of my normal!