Travels with Oscar

Oscar is going to Gloucester with us.  No, not Oscar the cat.  Oscar the Coleman cooler.

I was giving the cooler its spring cleaning in preparation to go on the trip with us, scrubbing off the dirt and cobwebs like a madwoman.  I realized some of the dirt and gunk coming off there was probably left over from last spring's baseball season.  Some of it might have been dirt carried home from the extra inning, Ryan-chugging-the-bases, upset League Championship win.

This cooler has been part of the family for years and years.  It has gone along to nearly every outdoor event the kids were involved in:  parades, baseball and softball, football and field hockey.  It's held ice, drinks, towels, sunflower seeds, band aids and popsicles.  It was on the sidelines getting a better view than I had of Ryan's winning run and Amy's game saving block in Oneonta one very cold night.  It's been a seat, a footstool, a door stop.  It witnessed the softball team no hitting another team in the sectional championship yet losing.  We took ice out of it for Jim's head when he banged it leaping up in joy when we won the state championship.  We used a wet towel from it to wipe Ryan's bloody nose after a youth football skirmish.  It took the long quiet ride home after the field hockey states.

Now it's retired too.  It's travelling to Gloucester with us for a leisurely few days "on the coast".  It's all cleaned up and spiffy.  Maybe it shouldn't be all cleaned up--but I guess it's ready for new adventures and memories.

Happy birthday shoutout to Nick, Thomas, Lindsay!