Time for Dave’s “Summertime Grill Tip of the Night.” When your corn comes off the grill a lovely shade of gray, something went horribly wrong.

“Kids, don’t worry. After we blindfold you, dinner is going to taste just fine.”

Proofreading at work, I began to take notes on the “Holes” in the report.

Well, it appears as if the “need” and the “want” is the word “is.”

Edit like a caveman, that’s how I roll.

Oh, the pain.

Oh, the anguish.

My wallet cries out.

A teen driver added to my auto insurance.

SAM’S ZUCCHINI CHOCOLATE CAKE

“Nothing like the overabundance of zucchinis in the summer and there is nothing like having your boy bake a cake for your arrival home. Plus, it goes mighty fine with ice cream.”

1/2 cup Butter, softened

1 1/2 cups Sugar

3 Eggs

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract

1 3/4 cups Flour

1/4 cup Baking Cocoa

2 teaspoons Baking Soda

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

2 cups Shredded Zucchini

1 cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar.

Mix in eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract.

Mix in flour, baking cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon.

Mix in the zucchini and chocolate chips.

Pour the mixture into a 13″ x 9″ pan. Sprinkle a few extra chocolate chips on top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a tooth comes out.

Makes about 15 servings.

Revised Source: “Zucchini Chocolate Cake” recipe from Taste of Home’s 2002 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes.

We had hiked all day in the mountains. Our feet were covered in blisters and our muscles were beyond tired.

We had about a mile remaining until we reached our car. I saw only one option, dig deep, gut it out, and pick up the pace.

At that moment, my dear friend Adam, who has in so many ways been my brother throughout the years, noted my endurance. Even though we were exhausted, I kept going. I had even sped up.

I smiled at the observation. I savored the compliment.

I had always seen my ability to keep going as a positive, but I had not considered it as an extraordinary quality in itself. In a way, endurance had a standing much qualities that I lack, but admire in others, like speed, flexibility, or coordination. It took someone who truly knows me to point out a quality in myself that I had never fully appreciated. I smiled.

We all have things about ourselves that make us truly special. Unique abilities or traits hardwired into us that we rarely acknowledge. That hike was more than a feat of endurance, it was a reminder. A reminder to listen to others and embrace the compliments in life.

The other evening, after work, the family had settled down for some TV. I took a place on the couch with my beer in hand. Before long, I felt myself jolt awake. I had fallen asleep. I was tired, but I was happy. This summertime scene often repeats itself, with me in my home with my family, watching TV with a post-work beer. The children snicker. Everything is as it should be.

My father would do the same thing. Post-work beer in front of the evening news. He would drift off to sleep, while Tom Brokaw related tales of the Cold War. As I attempted to change the channel, Dad would suddenly wake. I would grumble. Everything was as it should have been.

So as I open that beer with the evening ballgame in the background, I smile. I am drifting off to sleep with fond memories in mind. The kids still snicker and everything is as it was and still should be.

If there was one singular sensation that says “Summer” to me, this is it…

Spending the day in and out of the Lake, eventually wandering up to the corner store for beer, entering the walk-in cooler having forgotten to change out of your damp swim trunks, and then experiencing the exhilaration of instantly frozen pants.

That my friend will wake you up, fast.

That my friend feels like Summer.

My 15-year-old son Jacob’s review of my summertime baseball look, “Dad, you look better, when you wear a hat.”

Me, unsure of what he meant, figured that I would silently accept it as a compliment.

My wife jumping to my defense, “Are you saying that Dad looks better, when you can’t see his face?”

Jacob attempting to improve the situation, “No, but the hat covers his forehead.”

Me, thinking, “Well, I’m glad we cleared that up,” but unsure if I should be thinking that.

Today, I saw a quote in a doctor’s office. It was from the Book of Esther (4:14) and it read, “Who knows? Perhaps you have come for such a time as this.”

Who knows? Maybe I am here for this very time.

To be a good dad.

To be a caring husband.

To be a steadfast friend.

To work hard.

To help people.

To spread joy.

To create smiles.

To build people up.

To show that God’s love is alive in me.

To see God working through others.

Yes, perhaps I was made for this time. What a feeling of peace. What a feeling of purpose.

Dear Lawn,

You’re lucky that the sun went down. I had more to give. I really did. A few more hours of sunlight and I would have finished you off. I really would have.

So, you got lucky. Remember that. Oh by the way, I’ll be back again tomorrow night. I promise you that.

Sincerely,

Sleepy (the setting sun saved me from myself) Dave