2020 Life Logs, Day 216: The Simple Joys
Date: Tuesday, August 4, 2020
Weather: Mostly Cloudy, Then Stormy; High 85, Low 72 Degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Life is so complicated in these coronavirus days. But today I experienced the simple joys of just watching grandchildren enjoying a lazy summer day. Heather and Jed were up and out of here just after 7:30 am, but the boys were still asleep. As Heather and Jed walked through the living room to the front door to leave, I waved farewell and went back to sleep. Shortly before 9 am, Sam and Jonah emerged from their bedroom and it became obvious it was time to get up. And just about that time, my phone dinged and I suddenly remembered that I had a 9 am chiropractor appointment. Normally, I would just have called and said I couldn’t make it. But I really wanted to talk to the chiropractor to find out how to get in contact with his daughter who is home due to the spread of the cornonavirus from teaching children in Vietnam. I know she was planning to return this fall, but I read late last week that the case numbers in Vietnam are increasing. If she is not returning, I wanted to see if she might be interested in monitoring the Goldpebbles and whatever friends might join together in a pod of home learning. The ding on my phone told me I had 10 minutes to get there. It is 7 minute drive in the best of conditions. So, I threw on my clothes, made myself presentable in about 3 minutes, and headed out the door. Ollie woke up during this time, so I gave all three boys marching orders to have 30 minutes of quiet time until I returned. As I left, they were all making a body pile in Ollie’s bed, Shadow included. I promised that they could watch a Wild Kratts episode if all was well when I returned. When I returned 40 minutes later, all was well, so they watched Wild Kratts while I fixed breakfast. Then Ollie and Jonah spent the rest of the morning assembling the Lego Hogwarts Express kit.
Sam is not as into Harry Potter at this point as Ollie and Jonah, so he chose to spend his time in a tent of pillows on his phone texting with friends. As Jonah keeps reminding me, this is just what teenagers do. By 1 pm, all three boys were still in their sleepwear (underwear) and I decided it was time for them to get dressed and have lunch. That process took almost an hour, but by 2:15 pm everyone had joined me outside for lunch and then gone back inside to get dressed. It was a lazy day, but we all enjoyed the laziness. It gives me great joy to just see them enjoying such a lazy day. 
But I decided they needed a little outside exercise, so I drove to their house to pick up their croquet set and we spent the rest of the afternoon in a rousing croquet game that I won! I think Sam ‘allowed’ that to happen, but we’ll not spread that word.
As we were playing our croquet game, Tropical Storm Isaias arrived. It was so windy that Ollie was sure the wind was going to affect the acceleration of our croquet balls. But we played on. Just as we finished, it started sprinkling rain. And as I drove the boys home the rain increased. But by the time we arrived, both the wind and rain subsided. We were spared the worst of this storm, but a little more rain would have been welcomed. It is cooler tonight, and that coolness is also welcomed.
