Day 33. 10 small moments
1. We slip away from the kids, and enjoy a cup together on the dock before the morning begins. We hear the slam of the screen door and place bets on who it is and what it's about.
2. Spiders freak me out (Ron Weasley has nothing on me), but I can't help but kowtow and be in awe to their artistic genius.
3. He's full of barely contained energy, and he is READY to get to work and trim the fallen trees. He waits for me patiently outside while I drag my feet looking for my sunglasses and sunblock. I take a few more sips of coffee. Then water. Then I have to use the bathroom. Then I need to check and recheck where my other sunglasses are... Not for the first time I wonder how I was blessed with a kid so very different than me.
4. We quickly make different piles of branches. After showing him some of the longer branches, I convince him to make a lean-to club house like the one at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. He reminds me that I'm scared of spiders, and there would be lots of spiders around the lean-to. This makes me rethink that my greatest weakness is not my social awkwardness, but my inability to move forward in any type of earth goddess celebration because I am deathly afraid of anything with more than four legs. Landscape Artist, Outdoor Adventurer, Boat Enthusiast or Community Gardener? Those would be strong negative NOs for me.
5. Think of Minerva. Think of Minerva. Think of Minerva. This is my mantra as I saw through a thick branch near a web.
6. While she naps, I make a fire while the boys hang out on the water. They bicker constantly but they can't afford to separate three feet for even one minute. This is a soundtrack that I am so done with right now... but I know that in the future I would pay boatloads to hear it because it would be retro and nostalgic.
7. We play all-terrain croquet. We have to patiently explain the concept of "taking turns" a few times to him, even though he's brilliant and knows that I know that he knows. He's chosen the black mallet and ball. His brother has chosen the blue set, and I've chosen the green. I'm waiting for one of the Heathers to show up and take up the red set, and I'm tempted to text my sister in law just for the meta humor.
8. She has her first popsicle (black cherry), and we take a ton of photos to commemorate the event.
9. The drive home is long. I while away the hours fretting over the two kiddos in the middle row, checking out the happenings on Instagram, eating trail mix with cashews, and contemplating my marriage.
10. His piano lesson is the perfect reintroduction into village life. I enthusiastically count the beats along with them out loud while internally making lists of things to accomplish during this short week.
