Censored
Censored
By Allan Olson
It’s finally happened: I’ve been censored, at least by someone other than my wife.
I came home from work last week, and Marcus began to talk to me about his recent regular yearly doctor’s appointment. He told me about the procedure, and how the doctor checked him over, looked in his ears and mouth, listened to him breathe, and all the other routine stuff he does during an annual check-up.
His sister had the same stuff done to her, and they were both told they were good, healthy and normal (not sure whose definition of normal we’re using here) and all ready for school.
Now for the censored part.
I’ve been writing these columns weekly for just over a year, and on occasion I read them to the kids. Of course, if I have the kids with me in town, on occasion people will comment on them or on something I wrote about. Now, apparently, Marcus has decided that he can censor me.
After he was done rattling off the various things about the doctor’s office, he informed that I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about what the doctor did. Perhaps he believes this falls under the rules of doctor/patient confidentiality? Regardless, it was funny to hear him specifically state that I was not allowed to inform anyone of his visit. He didn’t censor his mom or anyone else about it; just dad. So to humor him, I will keep all the interesting details about his visit out of my column this week.
The Weekend
For many of us, the Labor Day weekend was the last big weekend of the summer, with the school days now beginning along with the routine of getting kids out of bed and ready for the bus or the trip to the school in the early morning hours of the work week.
For our last weekend, we ventured up to Lake of the Woods, the youngest county in the state, for one last summer fling. The plan was to fish all weekend long. Of course, the weather didn’t cooperate. Saturday and Sunday were once again too windy to venture out on the big lake.
The weather Saturday was windy and occasionally rainy, but all of us and a bunch of nieces and nephews still managed to spend most of the day outside. Since we couldn’t go fishing, we did the next best thing and started preparing for the big hunt, which is only a few months away.
To help us in our hunt, we constructed a bridge over a currently dried up creek bed. In my lifetime this could be the first time I’ve ever seen that creek virtually water-free. The bridge was made from a couple old poles found in the yard of my brother’s new home. While we were working on the getting the poles set in place, Nikolai and his cousins were busy running in the creek bank, finding evidence of the beavers handiwork. One of my nieces came back with a small chunk of beaver hide, fur, skin or whatever you want to call it, and a nephew came back with a small piece of wood half chewed through for his treasure trove. Thankfully, Nikolai didn’t bring any “treasures” back this time.
On the last day of the summer, Labor Day Monday, the wind was nearly calm and I heard the lake calling my name. While the lake might have been calling, apparently the fish didn’t get the message – after over two hours of fishing with my brothers and dad, I came back to shore with just as many fish as I had left with. I was officially skunked. Thankfully, my youngest brother and dad came through for us, catching enough for us to enjoy a meal.
All in all, the weekend was fun (but long) and the kids, in particular the girls, got kind of crabby before it was over. Their mood won them an earlier bedtime, much to their dismay.
This week we turn a new page, with three children now in school. It’s hard to believe that the time has flown by that fast. There are two things of which I am certain. The first is that two more kids in school should make for some interesting stories, and two, this dad is going to be nervous again about having two more kids in school.
Thanks for reading, and please remember to watch out for those buses! As always, feel free to drop us a line or photo at cltimes1@arvig.net.
By Allan Olson
It’s finally happened: I’ve been censored, at least by someone other than my wife.
I came home from work last week, and Marcus began to talk to me about his recent regular yearly doctor’s appointment. He told me about the procedure, and how the doctor checked him over, looked in his ears and mouth, listened to him breathe, and all the other routine stuff he does during an annual check-up.
His sister had the same stuff done to her, and they were both told they were good, healthy and normal (not sure whose definition of normal we’re using here) and all ready for school.
Now for the censored part.
I’ve been writing these columns weekly for just over a year, and on occasion I read them to the kids. Of course, if I have the kids with me in town, on occasion people will comment on them or on something I wrote about. Now, apparently, Marcus has decided that he can censor me.
After he was done rattling off the various things about the doctor’s office, he informed that I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about what the doctor did. Perhaps he believes this falls under the rules of doctor/patient confidentiality? Regardless, it was funny to hear him specifically state that I was not allowed to inform anyone of his visit. He didn’t censor his mom or anyone else about it; just dad. So to humor him, I will keep all the interesting details about his visit out of my column this week.
The Weekend
For many of us, the Labor Day weekend was the last big weekend of the summer, with the school days now beginning along with the routine of getting kids out of bed and ready for the bus or the trip to the school in the early morning hours of the work week.
For our last weekend, we ventured up to Lake of the Woods, the youngest county in the state, for one last summer fling. The plan was to fish all weekend long. Of course, the weather didn’t cooperate. Saturday and Sunday were once again too windy to venture out on the big lake.
The weather Saturday was windy and occasionally rainy, but all of us and a bunch of nieces and nephews still managed to spend most of the day outside. Since we couldn’t go fishing, we did the next best thing and started preparing for the big hunt, which is only a few months away.
To help us in our hunt, we constructed a bridge over a currently dried up creek bed. In my lifetime this could be the first time I’ve ever seen that creek virtually water-free. The bridge was made from a couple old poles found in the yard of my brother’s new home. While we were working on the getting the poles set in place, Nikolai and his cousins were busy running in the creek bank, finding evidence of the beavers handiwork. One of my nieces came back with a small chunk of beaver hide, fur, skin or whatever you want to call it, and a nephew came back with a small piece of wood half chewed through for his treasure trove. Thankfully, Nikolai didn’t bring any “treasures” back this time.
On the last day of the summer, Labor Day Monday, the wind was nearly calm and I heard the lake calling my name. While the lake might have been calling, apparently the fish didn’t get the message – after over two hours of fishing with my brothers and dad, I came back to shore with just as many fish as I had left with. I was officially skunked. Thankfully, my youngest brother and dad came through for us, catching enough for us to enjoy a meal.
All in all, the weekend was fun (but long) and the kids, in particular the girls, got kind of crabby before it was over. Their mood won them an earlier bedtime, much to their dismay.
This week we turn a new page, with three children now in school. It’s hard to believe that the time has flown by that fast. There are two things of which I am certain. The first is that two more kids in school should make for some interesting stories, and two, this dad is going to be nervous again about having two more kids in school.
Thanks for reading, and please remember to watch out for those buses! As always, feel free to drop us a line or photo at cltimes1@arvig.net.
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