My wife, second son and myself finally finished watching all 91 episodes of Chuck last night. It was one of 3 or 4 shows that we alternated back and forth with.  The Walking Dead, Amazing Race and other shows have been in the rotation over the past few months.  We attempted to screen new shows for life “after-Chuck”, but as of yet, we haven’t found one.  (We have tried The Following [too graphic] and a couple of shows with aliens or dystopian themes, but nothing else has risen to the top.)

When Chuck started, it was goofy and entertaining.  I enjoyed how they handled Chuck evolving into a “spy”.  Or, more appropriately stated, Chuck’s version of a spy with different versions of the Intersect and the inability to pull a “real” trigger.  The tension between Chuck and Sarah was part of the fun.  He was crazy about her, and she couldn’t (wouldn’t) admit she liked him.  The emotional sparring was what made the show really “fun”.  But, as their relationship evolved and became more permanent (i.e. marriage) the lack of tension became more passion.  And, the story lines became more “gal” friendly than previous “guy” friendly.  I still was able to enjoy the show, but as we watched the last episode last night, I felt no regret.  It was relief and satisfaction of a task completed.  I am looking forward to the next show we can enjoy as a family.

It was just a normal walk in the neighborhood.  I had already walked 3 or 4 miles earlier in the day, but I always save a post-dinner walk for my wife.  A few of the highlights…

• Due to my previous walk, my tachometer was set a little faster than my wife’s speed.  It is a normal occurrence.  I eventually back off or she speeds up, but it all works out.
• A mother was sitting on the front porch with a baby on her lap.  Her phone was extended and likely in “selfie” mode.
• I got bit my one of the neighbors dogs.  As we walked up on the neighbor, she was being pulled 3 different directions by all 3 of the dogs.  I commented, “You better watch it, or your arms are going to get longer.” (A reference to her getting stretched.)  As my wife and I continued to walk, I either smelled like chicken or the largest dog in the group was defended his owners honor.  I ended up with a little bite that barely broke the skin. Did I mention it was a bite?  I give the owner credit for asking the question where she really only wanted one answer.  “Are you okay?”  I did not give her full satisfaction.  I responded, “Yes, but it did break the skin.”  We quickly walked on.  My wife had to listen to my rantings for the rest of our walk–she is a saint.
• We saw another neighbor walking her dog.  She chose to cross the street and walk on the sidewalk on the other side of the street rather than allow her well-behaved dog to even consider tasting me for my resemblance to chicken.
• We danced through a couple of sprinklers as they seemed to be bored with merely wetting the grass.  They needed the challenge of seeing if they might encourage grass to grow on the concrete.  You think they would have learned last year.  Certainly, sprinklers have to have a very low IQ.
• When I wasn’t ranting about the dog, we discussed our VERY interesting days.  We discussed how we are so much skinnier than we were in high school. 😉  And, how we only love to eat foods that are good for us.  And, oh yeah, how we want to do the same jobs we are doing now until we keel over.  And, when we got through all of the chit-chat, we ended the walk realizing we are pretty lucky to have ALL we have.

With all of the warm weather, it is not unexpected to see the color come to our neighborhood.  The daffodils are very familiar from my Ohio days, but not sure about this other plant.  Very pretty pinkish blooms–I am glad I had my camera on the walk today.

The other “color” of spring is not nearly as pretty or photo-worthy.  As I drove back from dropping the kids off at school yesterday, a buzzard or some other “road kill” eating bird had pulled a squirrel from the middle of the road.  They sat with breakfast in the middle of a neighbors sidewalk eating. It looks like they left the uneaten part of breakfast for the homeowner to find. (Possible the source of “off-color” word choices when the carcass is discovered by the homeowner.)Texas grass will NEVER be the blue grass (It is not really blue) of my Ohio roots.  It is still brown and slow to consider other color choices.

Regardless of grass, blooms, or animal life, my favorite spring (very, very frequently Texas in general) is blue.  I have really become addicted to blue skies.  When the sky is blue, the sun is out.  And, I have about a 90% chance of a good day!

Got to go now – I have a track meet to enjoy under some more blue skies!