Today my Aunt & Uncle who live in Stephens City, VA (near Winchester, the home of Patsy Cline) are having a horseshoe/BBQ in honor of my Mother. I guess it’s a Father’s Day thing, too. I’m going to ride out there with my cousin and it takes a few hours to get out there so it’s going to be a long day.

Last night I went to bed early, taking a sleeping pill to assure a long night’s rest. Well, I woke up around 1:00 after a couple hours of sleep. Laying awake until about 5:00, the 8:30 alarm resulted in waking from a groggy sleep to Courtney wanting to be the girl with the most cake and Peter’s heart going boom-boom-boom.

A bit of explaining: Years ago, I guess in the early 90s or thereabouts my Mom would always organize a horseshoe tournament over Thanksgiving or the holidays when all the family was around. I was away at school for some of these but they were always fun and a good way to work off some of the huge meal we had just eaten. There was a plaque with a list of winners and I think some trophies were handed out too. These games ended when my Grandfather had a stroke; my Mom’s efforts were centered elsewhere than horseshoes. My Uncle (my Mom’s brother) is trying to start this tradition back up again, which is nice.)

Back to today. On the way way out west we drive through the vehicular mess that is present day Tyson’s Corner and I’m amazed at all of the closed car dealerships that line Route 7. I once test drove a Mustang at that one. I test drove a Fiero at that one. I sat in a DeLorean at that one. Hello, new economy.

Several hours later we’re in at my Uncle’s house and three grills of burgers & dogs are cooking, with a whole spread of food inside (my Aunt Waima makes the best potato salad). I’m paired up with my cousin Rick for horseshoes which is good because I pretty much suck and I’m hoping Rick will carry our team. We won our first game but then lost our 2nd. That’s fine, it was all fun to play. It’s like billiards or bowling: you don’t have to be good at it to throw some metal and have fun.

The winners: my brother Chuck and cousin Don (Rick’s brother). It did turn out to be a long day (getting home around 9) but it was great to see everybody and get out of the city for the day.