Salvaging a day

There was this plan, see, for a weekday day off that I had been looking forward to. I get up at 5:30 a.m. as usual so I can get Adam on the school bus by 6:10. As soon as the bus leaves the stop, I get in the car and head for a spot along the Ohio River where for a long time I've wanted to be at sunrise. But at 5:45, Adam hands me a paper in a by-the-way-you-might-want-too-see-this way. It says there's an awards ceremony at 8:30.

So I ditch the river plan and go see my youngest child get his medal for being an honor student.

Later in the day, I head down to the mouth of the Big Sandy River, as I've just crossed a bridge and seen the AEP Legacy in the distance easing itself downriver. I get to Catlettsburg, Ky., but before the AEP Legacy passes my spot, I see the Kyova ....

and the Garry Lacey ...

pass my spot. But the AEP Legacy gets there eventually.

Maybe tomorrow morning I can go to the spot where I wanted to be today. My older son, the one who doesn't like the river and who has enlisted in the Marines, has a pool function, and he has to be at the recruiting office at 6:15 or so. There's a chance I can get it done tomorrow morning. We'll see.

Oh, about Adam. His gym grade would have been better if he had been credited for steering a sternwheeler for three hours miles. His geography grade would have been better if they had asked for the names of locations of Ohio River dams and bridges. And his math grade would have been better if they had asked how long it takes the AEP Legacy to travel from Catlettsburg, Ky., to Point Pleasant, W.Va., while pushing 15 loads of coal, including an hour for locking through Robert C. Byrd.