May All Your Columbus Days Be White

Ah, Columbus Day. The childhood memories it conjures up - The decorations, the lights, the cheer and goodwill that fill the streets. The parades, the speeches, the traditional midnight release of thousands of pigeons out the window of the servants' quarters at the Governor's Mansion, to carry messages of goodwill to all the leaders of the world. Kind of a weird tradition, that one, but one we used to stay up to watch on TV. Always a little hard to follow- I mean, it's at midnight. You can't see too much at first. But then come the bright flashes of the blasts from the shotguns of the assembled crowd, each person hoping for one of the candies that are attached to each pigeon's leg. It's a great holiday. Not well known outside Wisconsin, but some day it'll get its due.

But here, since we're not religious, we don't really celebrate the day any more, apart from taking it off from work. The kids got up and watched "Leminy Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events", which Q has seen enough times now to be immune to the bone-level fear he used to feel at the mere mention of its title. Rainy day, which always makes me drowsy - and the Packers' loss had me tossing and turning all night (literally - no joke, there), so today I was pretty droopy. Janneke took the morning and early afternoon to work, hoping to relieve me around 3:00 so I could go squirrel hunting with a guy from North Adams whose truck I saw sporting a squirrel hunting sticker, and on whose windshield I'd once left a note asking to be asked to tag along. (No joke there, either. That was truly the plan.) Once she'd left, we threw in "Planet Earth", the BBC series, and watched "Jungles". Great stuff - the New Guinean Birds of Paradise look like they should be on Mars.

The kids entertained each other most of the morning, and after lunch we went out to Stop & Shop as an excuse to get T to fall asleep in the car. Bought luncheon meat and eggs. Once home, Q and I watched the rest of the jungles episode (chimps go on a murderous raid against a rival band - pretty strong stuff). Then around 3:00, since the squirrel hunt was canceled due to the rain (Really! That happened!), Janneke stayed in to accompany the sleeping T and I took Q up to his riding lesson.

He's doing very well at that. Needs a lot of reminders, but who doesn't when learning something new. "Shorten your reins", "straight back", "don't let the horse stop unless you want him to", "swing the saber down and away from the horse's head", etc. He looks forward to it every week and spends the whole time with a big grin on his face.

Which you can't really see in this video:



Post-riding, I tried my hand (foot) at juggling a soccer ball, mostly to try to get a handle (footle) on just how it's done so I can give Q some pointers. I'd like to find more soccer-oriented things to do together. It seems like for all the enthusiasm he has for it, it's tough to get him to see any value in practicing the skills involved. And over the course of ten or twenty minutes, I really got a great workout. And developed a much more deft touch on the ball than I had at the beginning. Q was indeed intrigued, and came out and tried it for a while on his own brand-new ball, which matches my full-sized one in color - about five minutes' worth. But then he wanted to ride his bike, for about five minutes. And then he took out the lacrosse stick and practiced, for five minutes. And then the field hockey stick. And then the baseball bat...He is definitely not completely sold on any sport, but rather on playinig around in general. That, it seems, is just the way it's going to be, at least for now. And there's naught wrong with that - though it's frustrating to watch when his skills in soccer don't match his physical gifts, and he's left in the dust a bit by kids who are no more athletic than he. It's not about winning, I know. But I hope this doesn't end up meaning he feels frustrated and stops wanting to compete because he feels that for some mysterious reason, he can't. That would be a shame. Because there is no mystery to it.

T tagged along on each and every one of Q's activities, switching interests about twenty seconds behind Q each time. Which meant she got testy when there was only one lacrosse stick, only one field hockey stick, etc. But eventually Janneke came out with her full-sized stick, and then the two of them played out in the sodden yard on their own. Nice when their entertainment needs cancel each other out, and the parents can dash off to do some dishes.



"Twister" after supper, at T' request. (I just heard T go out to the bathroom for her third drink of water since being put to bed, by the way. It's all she can think of as an excuse to get up and move around, and she milks it dry. That diaper better be Huggies' answer to the Hoover Dam. And now she stands in her doorway and fake-coughs, then calls for medicine. No dice, we tell her. "Si vomito, voy a venir a decirte, OK?" Plays it to the hilt, does this one. "Muy bien, Tie. Buenas noches." Calling the bluff. I tell you - this used to be so easy...) Got a picture or two of Twister - T' reading of the rules is pretty liberal.



And now here we are, grumbling about going back to work tomorrow. Well, I'm grumbling about it. Janneke went back to work today already.

I'll be thinking of you at midnight, Wisconsin. Save a butterscotch for me.