Summertime. Family. We gather. Here and there, now and then. Our positions defined in the usual way. Moms and dads. Kids and grandkids. Uncles and Aunts. Siblings. We like and love each other, mostly all at the same time and all of the time, with only the rare flash of irritation or misunderstanding (my sons will claim the latter is mostly on my part…nah…).

This summer’s week of most togetherness came in late July, with me already up north with bro Robert and sister-in-law Marsha, and sons Scott and Steven, and grandson Steven, joining us. In spite of Robert and Marsha’s lingering colds and my bronchial attack, we managed many good times. My greatest pleasure was in watching the family dudes hanging out in endless desultory talk talk talk mixed with plentiful teasing, hard labor over the grill, and a once-in-awhile much argued over TV show.

Here’s my brief record of 2026 togetherness.

The dudes of serious thoughts and opinions.

Important picture in the middle. First cinnamon rolls we’ve seen that looked like my mom’s. Missing the sour cream in tha glaze though. What to do… Still good.