With anticipation and dread I walked into the field this morning.  Six cows greeted me.  Lily, the seventh, was not among them.  

Upon cresting the hill, I saw Lily coming toward me.  A decided spring in her step was the first indication of her postpartum state.  She also looked quite a bit less beamy.  These were really good signs.

We've relocated our online coverage of UNH football and hockey to the Monitor's general sports blog at www.concordmonitor.com/sports. Please follow the link to visit us there, and thank you for reading.

Driving my son to work this morning meant I wasn't able to go out fishing with my S.O. this morning.  There may have been a time in my life where this parental responsibility intruding on my time would have kicked up feelings of irritation and even resentment, but I've come to know that life is just too short for such things.  My experiences over the years has taught me to enjoy every moment of my life, including those that may seem mundane and intrusive.  I chose to have children, thus I made the choice to give up much of my "me" time for several years to come.  It is a choice I do not regret.  Instead of sitting in a boat near the ocean feeling the bite in the air and tug on a fishing line, I spent a few more minutes with my son, and even though we exchanged very little conversation, it's time spent with as much importance as the couple of hours in that boat with my S.O.

If yuo're overf 60 and a baseball fan, there's probably nothing I can tell you about Bobby Thompson and "The Shot Heard Round the World" that you haven't heard before, except maybe that Thompson died Tuesday, August 17, 2010.  Younger people might not understand how a single home run -- even one that decided a pennant -- could be heard around the world, and never be forgotten, or change two lives forever, and make them immortal.

Signs that I'm ready to become an American:
 

I get this question all the time.  Don't these "hackers" have anything better to do than to create viruses?  The answer here is pretty simple; they really don't.  The world revolves around money it seems.  These creators of computer viruses are doing just that; making money.  I have had people think that it's a conspiracy propagated by the anti-virus companies to help boost sales.  This in my opinion, is just absurd.

If you haven’t yet visited the historic Strawbery Banke living museum in Portsmouth, then today, July 10, is the day to go. New Hampshire Freemasons are hosting one big party there and everyone is invited.

When Americans woke up to the news of a burgeoning crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, they had every right to believe that regardless of their political affiliation the president would handle this matter in a swift and professional manner. The man who made his political name, for his supposed coolness under fire would undoubtedly, successfully, resolve this problem. After the tragedy of Katrina, this president knows how to get things done and would not let the bureaucracy or politics get in the way of solving the problem....

     There is an sense of nakedness when the dogs are not with me.  My thoughts drift to my car, parked in the shade,  I wonder if they are comfortable, is the heat too much, or perhaps chilled.  I check.  The car, their kennel on wheels,  still in shade and the dogs sleeping comfortably. Nash raises his head, he is curled on the driver side floor.  A big dog in such a small space.  He performs the canine version of the limbo to wiggle under the steering wheel and churns his 80 pound body into a ball on the floor.  Once in place his legs stretch to extend under the seat.

You've all probably noticed the new Monitor website this week.

BlogsNH has been affected by the new site. Monitor staff writers and photographers, whose work you may have noticed here before, now have spaces of their own.

The latest edition of Race Day Preview at concordmonitor.com, with Dave D'Onofrio and Gavin Faretra looking ahead to the Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway on April 26, 2010.

An audio-only version is posted below the video, with the option to download as a podcast available here.