Man, if I was an eight-year-old boy!

 This would be really cool!  Great big machines! Flashing lights!

Dump trucks!  Stuff twice as big as cars!  Big holes in the ground!

Yeah, except that its the street in front of our house that's undergoing replacement of the storm sewer line.  So far, only one blown transformer for about an hour.  So far...

Being fall, the yard was aerated and reseeded last week.  Fine, except that the construction guys have their stuff all over it.  They were taking a break on Paula's nice grass at about 4 PM yesterday afternoon when the automatic sprinklers kicked in to keep the new seeds wet.  

They quickly decamped to the yard across the street, probably convinced that the cranky old people had turned on the sprinklers to chase them off.  No, it was just programed irrigation karma.

The sewer project is supposed to only take three weeks.  Yup, for sure.  Uh huh.  I'm figuring I'll be able to string Christmas lights on the backhoe parked in front of the house.  

Meanwhile, the new house next door gets turned over to its owners next week after eight months of construction, just in time for the next empty lot across the street to swing into full building mode.  

We need an eight-year-old boy to enjoy this!  For a couple of 60+ year-olds, it's not that cool.

We hope that your neighborhood is more boring for pre-adolescents.

Dave & Paula

Growing older doesn't necessarily mean growing up!

And that's the great thing about Old Guys' Kite Camp!  This year's Fall Edition was no exception.  

Cape Hatteras in the Fall can be gorgeous or hurricane-ravaged or rainy or cold or calm or all of them in the morning and something different after lunch and a nap.

We lucked out and it was beautiful weather all week.  The water of the Pamlico Sound was still warm, so at most it was shorty wetsuits.

The wind was too light to kite for several of the days during the week.  So if you put together three MD's, the Co-Presidents of the largest demolition company in the Northwest U.S. and an international entrepreneur and not enough wind, what do you get?

Putt-putt golf!  Known as THE premier course on the Outer Banks, Jurassic Putt in Kitty Hawk was the site of this year's tournament.

    And at some point, the duct tape comes out.

A new GoPro station for whenever/if ever the wind started blowing again!  This one was nicknamed GoPro Bot, and was anchored in the sand to get some awesome footage.

Several people had to get some work done, but with all the COVID changes, this can often be accomplished remotely.

The traffic on Hway 12 seems to get a little heavier each year, but a morning bike ride on a calm day is still a good option.

Of course, there were days when the wind was good.  My brother and two of the other folks in the gang have become very skilled at kite foiling.  That means using a board with a hydrofoil underneath.

In very little wind, a foil board can elevate above the water and glide like magic.  The rest of us were impressed, as it looks very cool and is described as "like flying."  This is my brother on his board.

Kite Camp always includes caloric sins, as everyone takes turns cooking.  I think the final count was something like five gallons of ice cream.

And of course, some classic cinema.  Anyone up for James Bond as a West Virginia convict in "Logan Lucky?" 

Everyone had a great time, and except for a little bit of necessary remote work, there were not very many serious (or otherwise) thoughts the whole week.  There was redneck kiting by the Seattle guys,

and foiling complete with a kite halo,

and I began hitting some little jumps (as opposed to the big jumps by the rest of the group),

and everyone just had a good time,

until the sun went down and "Mom," (the wives) made us come in, get cleaned up and eat dinner.

Another great week of playing with family and friends.

And about that "growing up" thing....we'll do that another time.  Maybe.

Dave