I survived the Family Reunion

Not tons of information to share.

I spent much of the event being Quicksilver's wingman because it was held outside and the host's property was on a lake.

One conversation worth sharing was with Cousin Howie. He is currently 69 and spent most of his working life as a maintenance man for an apartment/townhouse complex that measured in the high-hundreds for units. Many of their tenants were empty-nesters who downsized but didn't have the money to move to Florida.

It is Howie's opinion that the old men with little dogs live ten years longer than the old men who didn't have a little dog. The twice-daily dog walks were a combination of aerobic exercise, socializing, flexibility exercises (bending over to pick up "business cards"), fresh air, sunshine and time away from "the little woman".

Another notable thing that Howie shared was that his son (now in his mid-30s) was totally freaked out (in a good way) when he caught a toad in their back-yard. His son was nine-years-old at the time. It was the first amphibian his son had ever seen. That is when Howie realized that there were absolutely no amphibians in inner-suburbia (north of Detroit). As he was sharing this story, the boys (grandkids) were catching frogs and "silver-dollars" (newly hatched, softshell turtles) along the water's edge.

The weather was nearly perfect. The high temperature was exactly 70F and there was a 15mph breeze out on the lake but it was tempered by the house and landscaping where most of the people were.

I ate too much. I did OK on the drinking, four beers over seven hours is not excessive, all things considered.

None of the Maryland or New York cousins were able to attend.

We brought Quicksilver back to our house for an over-night because SB and HH had a wedding to attend.