When a person L-O-V-E-S their job, vacation can be interminable and excruciating.
The very first thought that popped into my head — after buying the plane tickets — was North Dakota’s May sports calendar (which features the glidepaths of track & field, baseball, softball and all the rest for prep student/athletes trying to finish strong) combined with a genuine need for a vacation, along with seeing Mom for Mother’s Day. But THE WORK is important because while my existence in North Dakota only is 15-months-old, those young people have been working hard for years and I owe it to them.
So, The Dickinson Press has allowed me to write from the road and it took a bit of weight offa my shoulders. Having a conscience also can be an encouragement and I know how important y’all’s kids are to you … that matters.
So, since May 5, Florida-Man has returned home and dwelt in his old-stomping-grounds and my southern neighbors, friends and family have been oh-so accommodating (see: photo-gallery contained within) to meet me for cocktails, invite me onto the boat and just relax to shoot-the-breeze. Yes, I’m only a week-in, but the plans are to maximize the next few days before returning to Dickinson.
It still am happy to do the job while I’m on vacation because I love doing it with all my heart … and one of the reasons I’m grateful to Forum for allowing me to write from home is because the stories still need to be told, and the job simply HAS to get done because the games always will go on for the young people we cover in community journalism. I always was sold from the start on community journalism because there is only one place you can read about a game between Richardton-Taylor and Beach (or: Insert area high school teams here _________) so I know how important it is to you.
Nonetheless, my birthday always coincides with Mother’s Day and so I decided to go home for the first time in a few years. The first thing I noticed was that while we in ND have I-94, the East Coast of Florida has I-95, and that’s a striking difference. I brag on my adopted hometown in Dickinson for having very-little traffic, and I’d forgotten just how bad it is down here. It’s misery-inducing.
Don’t get me wrong, the weather is great … but it’s still incredibly hot. And yet, there’s a pool outside to take the edge off and if you’re fishing out on the boat in the Atlantic the water is just over the side (likewise at the beach). Hanging out at the bar for a couple of cocktails with the locals also means one shall sweat a little, but there are awnings, water-mister-fans and air conditioning inside if the humidity starts to create problems. You get used to it.
Connecting the dots of seeing friends also can be complicated, because while I’m on “vacation” they still have jobs to do from Monday through Friday and I don’t like making demands on my buddies. But it’s been relatively easy to catch up with people because I know their habits. Truth-be-told, it’s still quite obvious that life hasn’t changed here much, and there’s less of it to miss each day.
In the meantime, my life has altered dramatically. Frankly, I’m grateful for those changes, because — while it’s awesome to get back down to Jensen — every day in my new home is different. Not one is precisely the same, and while there are similarities each 24 hours is unduplicatable and not one week is anything like the other. I’ve known for quite awhile that I live a charmed-life, and it takes a few days’-worth of time to step away and remind me just how charming it is.
Yeah … I’ve been asked how I could move away from “paradise” to Dickinson — countless times — and I always say roughly the same thing: It was time for a change and I love being a sportswriter. Because I’m somewhat selfish, I managed to work it out and be able to do all that while seeing my Mom and get a few stories in for y’all during the trip.
I’m about halfway in and it’s been fun, and I’ve sent some of y’all snapshots of what I’m been doing … but here are some more just so you know what’s happening down here:
1/41: The traffic on Interstate 95 is waaaaaay different from that on I-94.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
2/41: The traffic on Interstate 95 is waaaaaay different from that on I-94.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
3/41: My Mom’s incredibly nosy dog, Dolly.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
4/41: The house I grew up in since 1979 or so.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
5/41: Yeah, the water’s fine …
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
6/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
7/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
8/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
9/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
10/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
11/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
12/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
13/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
14/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
15/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
16/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
17/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
18/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
19/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
20/41: A bad day out on the water is better than a good day working, especially with my buddy, Devin Teal, with his girlfriend, Trish Stone. An invitation onto the “Goombay,” always has been a delight.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
21/41: Riverside homes in Florida are delightful.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
22/41: Riverside homes in Florida are delightful.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
23/41: Riverside homes in Florida are delightful.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
24/41: Riverside homes in Florida are delightful.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
25/41: Riverside homes in Florida are delightful.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
26/41: Just for the record: It’s 5 o’clock everywhere in Florida.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
27/41: Just for the record: It’s 5 o’clock everywhere in Florida.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
28/41: Just for the record: It’s 5 o’clock everywhere in Florida.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
29/41:
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
30/41: Heading in with Devin after catching a dolphin.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
31/41: Visiting my buddy, Zane, and high-school chums in Fort Pierce at Mr. Hurley’s beautiful home.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
32/41: Visiting my buddy, Zane, and high-school chums in Fort Pierce at Mr. Hurley’s beautiful home.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
33/41: Visiting my buddy, Zane, and high-school chums in Fort Pierce at Mr. Hurley’s beautiful home.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
34/41: Visiting my buddy, Zane, and high-school chums in Fort Pierce at Mr. Hurley’s beautiful home.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
35/41: Visiting my buddy, Zane, and high-school chums in Fort Pierce at Mr. Hurley’s beautiful home.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
36/41: Visiting my buddy, Zane, and high-school chums in Fort Pierce at Mr. Hurley’s beautiful home.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
37/41: Visiting my buddy, Zane, and high-school chums in Fort Pierce at Mr. Hurley’s beautiful home.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
38/41: Visiting my buddy, Zane, and high-school chums in Fort Pierce at Mr. Hurley’s beautiful home.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
39/41: Visiting my buddy, Zane, and high-school chums in Fort Pierce at Mr. Hurley’s beautiful home.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
40/41: Visiting my buddy, Zane, and high-school chums in Fort Pierce at Mr. Hurley’s beautiful home.
Gaylon Wm. Parker / The Dickinson Press
Yes, Florida-Man is back in his element; but I sort of miss the elements up-home and definitely will be happy to get back to the 701 area code (side-note: When somebody asks me for my phone number at a restaurant or to get back in touch with me for something, they say, “Where’s that?” When I tell them “North Dakota” they invariably start doing that ridiculous imitation of the lady in “FARGO” … do they do that to y’all when you’re traveling?!? because it’s annoying).
In any event, I will see y’all in a couple of weeks and be home just-in-time for all the postseason North Dakota prep sports you can handle. See-you-soon.
Gaylon is a sportswriter who originally is from Jensen Beach, Fla. (and, currently writing from there) and his column generally appears on Mondays. He can be reached at
gparker@thedickinsonpress.com
and/or 701-456-1213.
