2005-08-26 - 1:24 p.m.

What a thunderstorm this morning. Waking up in the middle of the night (or early morning? I'm unsure) to the sounds of booming thunder, the kind that sends dogs whimpering under a table and children cartwheeling into their mother's arms. It was lovely. I've always been a sucker for a good thunderstorm.

I fell off the wagon last night and had a handful of beers with the boys. Work was shitty, the day was long, and I'm sure I could foster a few more pointless excuses, none of which justify giving up my no-alcohol campaign. Ah well. In the scope of things I've gone from borderline alcoholic to drinking less than 92% of the people I know. And judging by the company I keep, that may or may not be an impressive statisitc.

The web is spreading and friends are getting further and further away from one another. People you used to see on a daily basis, make actual physical high-five contact with, are now resigned to once, maybe twice a month phone calls (after minutes are free, of course) and the occasional false promise to go get some food or drinks sometime "in the future."

"Since we're all aging, our lattitudes changing and some of us whispering vows, there's children arriving despite our drunk driving and pills to replinish our souls."

Something that was rolling around in my head. It's a throw-a-way lyric that I came up with a while ago around the time a buddy was getting married.

Speaking of marriage, my older brother is embarking on his second journey into marital statis this upcoming weekend (labor day? memorial day? I always get those two confused). I couldn't be happier/more excited to attend. And that's a first. Anyone close enough, knows that I'm not a big fan of weddings. In fact, someitmes I feel more comfortable at funerals. And you don't have to buy a gift.

But I digress. My brother is marrying this sweet, wonderful, plain-Jane, responsible girl named Erin. It is (in my humble opinion) a fantatic decision on his part. She loves him, and more importantly, she love little Dylan (who has been known on occasion to call Erin "mommy," a slip up that brings tears of joy to her eyes and yes, causes a lil flutter of joy in my heart) so things seem to be right as rain. The day before the wedding, there's a special Dale men golf outing planned. Derrick, Daniel, my father and I will be teeing up as a foursome, and I've given alot of thought to this upcoming event.

It feels like it will definitely be a landmark in the passage of time in my life. Somehow I know already that this golf game will leave a lasting impression on me, I can't quite put my finger on it...

What I mean to say is I feel like it will be one of the last times the four of us are together, before the web spreads wider and we undergo personal growth and change that leaves us close, but not as close. Derrick is getting married to the right girl and giving up his sense of adventure and chaos in return for stability, family, and home cooked meals. Daniel is starting his first year at Kennesaw and embarking on either a baseball career that could see him on a major league team in the just a few years, or as a successful (see also: rich) physical therapist. My father is on the verge of retirement, probably cranking out a couple more years just to see to it that Daniel's stay in college is comfortable and paid for.

And me. I'm heading back to school, buying a house, a car, yadda yadda yadda.

So in my mind (and perhaps I'm building this up too franticly) I'm preparing myself to treasure this time and commit every joke, every missed swing, every "this one's goin in the hole", every potential golf cart mishap, every single second, all of it...

And I know I'll still forget something.

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