Matt & Sarah Walker

We spent the 4th with Tracy and Elvira who moved out of the big city to Royse, a speck on the map. The town is classic. The whole day was such a refreshing break from downtown Dallas. In fact, it’s the most Sarah and I have done for the 4th in years. When I took 911 calls, I always had to work through the holiday. Then for the last 3 years we would just go to the garage roof for the Lakewood fireworks in the evening. And that would be about it.

This year, however, we went to Tracy and Elvira’s, then walked over to the parade, Nathan and Ethan came along too. We found a place in the shade on a back street before the route turns over onto the main street where more crowd was. It was therefore, the most intimate parade I’ve ever seen. We got more candy than a good haul on Halloween. Everybody loved Henry. Towards the beginning, I think it was the mayor’s wife who handed me her little flag for Henry. I gave it to him and he held and waved it the rest of the parade. I was worried the firetruck sirens would shake him up. They didn’t. They were blazing away with the horns and sirens. He was literally a few feet away on that tiny street. He didn’t shake up one bit. He liked it and had fun. It was a perfect first parade experience for Henry.

A woman stopped for Henry to get to know her horse. Henry eyed the horse with reserved apprehension.

We then went to some city/school football field area where we stood in line for hot dogs and soda. We realized to our joy that it was all free. Donations recommended. We left a good donation and ate. Then tried some of that free red, white, and blue Italian ice stuff. And the friendliness of the average person is very refreshing after living in Dallas. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the Big D is one of the most reserved, rude, unfriendly ‘get out of my face’ citines in the whole country. But I swear, you get out to the first small town just outside Dallas, which I think Royse pretty much is, and it’s the opposite extreme. Very friendly strangers everywhere.

By the time we were chilling on the grass waiting for the fireworks show (which we were very close to), I was almost expecting to see Normal Rockwell busy at his canvass somewhere. Henry discovered the joys of putting their novelty hat on everybody.

I’ll never get used to being allowed to drink at work. But starting at about 2, the party started. Good ribs and burgers. And beer. Strange being at work and drinking alcohol. Even weirder is when many of us aren’t necessarily finished with our work. Going back to finish some projects with a beer in hand. So foreign to me. Even after almost 4 years there. I guess you can take the boy out of Utah, but you cant… anyway.. I wish every day was like this at work. Randy brought Rock Band and we all rotated out turns playing. Very fun. Tried the drum kit for the first time. I don’t think I did too bad. Oh, and Donald’s friend sent a bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey as a thanks for editing his wedding video. It’s a sweet blessing too when you sincerely enjoy the chit-chat and camaraderie of people you work around. I can honestly say that. We went up on the roof for another great view of the KaboomTown Firework show. My only complaint of the day is I made the mistake of going home right after. Then I got stuck in traffic. Miles and miles of gridlock. Cops and every intersection because the stoplights were out or turned off. Here’s some crappy cellphone images…
I found it wacky that people right on the freeway were pulled over to watch the firework show. Seems kind of unsafe and idiotic to me. But welcome to the big D…

It’s been put off for awhile, but thought I’d log about our trip to Utah (June 14-22. I retro-dated this entry). It was great for all of us to catch up! Luckily Henry slept on the plane ride out. Whew. We were worried because he doesn’t like to hold still.
After getting in, we got Henry dedicated at Dave’s home. He was pretty squirmy and tired by then. But we got it done. And it’s good that Dave’s heart surgery went well!
Hanky got to meet his cousins at a barbecue at Elliot’s. My nephew and niece got to come play too.
We went on a hike with Sarah’s fam. Other Sarah’s family has a cabin up in Sundance. A scenic waterfall is just a short hike from there. Henry was a trooper.

Sarah and I got to catch up with quite a few old friends and family members.

It was busy and exhausting. But it was good to be around people who actually care again. Actually care if we were to be abducted by aliens or something. And it took 8 years of Dallas, TX to make me realize either how pretty SLC is, or how butt-ugly… well… almost everywhere else is.

I said I’d do it. So I am. It took me forever to get around to reading my set of graphic novels, “Justice” illustrated by Alex Ross. But thanks to my buddy Tom’s Christmas present, they were on standby for my reading pleasure. And I must say, once again, my mind was blown. Not just art, but writing. The pacing of the writing and panels, combined with the photo-realistic art makes the brain almost think it’s watching the awesomest movie ever. My advice to anyone is to get all 3.

Sarah had the lovely, brilliant idea of taking our memorial Monday off to see a movie. Rhonda graciously agreed to come watch Hanky for a bit and we went to see Iron Man. It was awesome.
Here’s what is making me happy about movies these days… after over a decade of new worlds of CG capabilities, Hollywood is JUST NOW beginning to re-discover that any movie will STILL SUCK if it has a weak story and weak characters. For the first time in FOREVER, we’re starting to see some fancy CG movies that actually STILL HAVE a solid, fun story and characters the audience gives a crap about. Yes, the Iron Man story was pretty formulaic, but there’s a reason those formulas exist. They work, they make a good show, even if we’ve seen the formula before.
I also like the fact that, like Batman Begins, the movie wasn’t shy about spending serious time setting up the creation of the super-hero. Building it to be as believable of as possible. (for a super-hero).

Oh yes, and being a guy who loves DC more than I ever did Marvel, it pains me to admit… that Marvel has figured out the whole movie thing for quite awhile. The Spiderman and X-men trilogies were solid. Fantastic 4, not so solid, but still not bad, etc etc. I can’t wait to see a little Thor, the one Marvel guy I care about. Then we look at DC. They have NOTHING outside of some very well-done animated series and Batman begins. I still simmer at the lame pseudo-sequel-Christopher-Reeve-ish-Lex-Luthor-is-a-loveable-goofball approach in Superman Returns. I’m a Superman freak and the movie was an epic failure. Come on, DC/WB.. get with it! Re-think your superheroes. Make them new again. Do what you did with Batman Begins only more… take some notes at a few of the better Marvel movies. Even Read Alex Ross’ ‘Justice’ Series. (maybe another post on that later). The world is ready for a movie on the Green Lantern, The Flash, Even Lobo, etc….

But I digress. Iron Man. Fun flick.

I got a call at work yesterday from Sarah. I knew what she was going to say before she said it for some reason. She said ‘I have some video to show you’. I was like ‘darn’ cause I wasn’t there. But it is pretty great that it was caught on video at least. Rhonda watched him today, and he apparently didn’t do anything until Sarah came home. She noticed he was wobbling on his feet pretty good and just felt it coming, so they busted out our new Kodak. Yes, people.. his literal first steps were actually captured! YESS! So we have 3 clips. Now I’m getting afraid of when he’ll be running around…


Henry’s First Steps from Matt Walker on Vimeo.

Henry’s First Steps (pt 2) from Matt Walker on Vimeo.

Henry’s First Steps (pt 3) from Matt Walker on Vimeo.

It’s pretty wacky that it’s Henry’s second Ren Fest, being barely one year old. But we did it. Last year, the whole place was a total mud pit from all the rain. This year was hot. We kept Hanky in his stroller and the sunscreen was flowing, though. We hooked up with Tracy and Elvira, had some beers, looked at stuff. We watched a guy trebuchet an egg ten yards, and saw the birds of prey show again. I just wish it was a milder time of year. I’m glad I still have my Amish hat from like ten years ago. It’s great for the heat and sun. The gypsies only tried to steal Henry away a couple times. Those ‘bustier’ Renaissance women sure dig him! I also observed how the whole place seems like an adult tree-house village to me. Structures built to keep the rain off, but still ‘open’ and very ‘tree-house’-like. I don’t know why I dig that so much. I could spend a much longer time looking at the craft, costume, and artistry more than anything. It’s great to see the sculptures, glass-blowing, candle-making, leather craft, etc etc. But, alas, we had to drive home and get Hanky to bed, and keep him from baking in the sun any longer. Good times.

I can’t believe it’s been ONE YEAR since Sarah was screaming to ‘get it out’ at the hospital! Wow time flies when you have a kid! He already looks more like a little boy than an infant baby. We celebrated by getting up early and going out to breakfast. Then we turned his car seat around, because we officially can. And he’s been too huge to squeeze in that small space between the back of his seat and the back of the car’s seat for months. So life is easier for us now with his seat facing forward. Then we opened presents and had a cupcake and ice cream. He raked in with new toys and clothes. I never knew a birthday could mean as much to me as my own. Now I know.

Sarah took a step out the front door last night when she jumped. I stuck my head out, and there is an owl. Sitting on the rail. The rail of the stairs going up to our door. We both crept outside. It remained not even 6 feet from us. It wasn’t going anywhere. Just staring at us. Then we noticed it was leisurely eating a bug or something it had in its right talon. That’s something you just don’t see every day. I’ve always thought owls were one of the coolest things wildlife offers. After about ten minutes of just watching it, I decided to see how close it would let me approach. It was about three feet before it casually swooped up to our neighbors rail, where it stayed long after we went back inside.

I have no idea what kind of owl it was. It was a small one. Either a baby barn owl or something, or a fully grown Elf-Owl. Pretty far north for an Elf-Owl. Yes, I graduated from the University of Google. It looked like the picture though. Anyway. It was awesome to have a staring contest face to face with an owl. And, as Sarah said, ‘with no glass between us or some guy with a leather glove’.  We lost the staring contest.