Cabos and Owls and Paw Patrols

Simon's on his way.  With his mother and father.  I better write a letter, since before I know it, a whole week will have passed.  A week full of laughter and racing around the kitchen and playing in the yard and walks to the lake and excursions to playgrounds and Panera and don't forget the naps.  Or the Cocomelon.

The above paragraph is how I started the weekly letter yesterday.  As I was writing Simon pulled in the driveway, and here we are 24 hours later, and all, or almost all those things happened.  We also added a bike ride along the rail trail (for Andrew and Simon) and a dip in the lake.  Let's see how far I get this time.  (Interruption.  Simon just handed me a wheel that had fallen off his truck.  Thank you.)

But all you parents of young children know how that goes.  And we grandparents only vaguely remember the interruptions.

I wonder how many interruptions Bill and Jen had on their way to Los Cabos, Mexico with the whole family.  Loved their slide show that they posted on Facebook, and I've stolen two of the photo highlights. Looks like paradise. I would also note the very thick book that Miles was reading.  Could it have been Moby Dick?

They must have just got back in time for the start of school.  Summer's over.  Sigh.  But not so far gone that we aren't inundated with tomatoes, big and small.  Tonight it's gazpacho, courtesy of Andrew, and cherry tomato and corn salad.  We might become tomatoes.

We see that Jeff and Melodie also hit the road, or the skies, that is.  They headed up to Minnesota for a family week.  That meant Simon got to take care of Hopper.  Or was it the other way around?  Either way, Hopper must be a very patient dog.

And also on the travel list.  Don't spread this too loud, but Annie and Sankar are at Burning Man, right now.  Call me old-fashioned, but that is not on my bucket list.  It would have definitely have been tempting when I was their age though.

We had visitors both weekends in August.  Our Foreign Service mates who we walked the Camino with were here.  We got shut out of the John Williams 90^th birthday party at Tanglewood, since they were sold out.  Check out the Yo Yo Ma and James Taylor tribute on Youtube.  We did see Itzhak Perlman though in the morning for a rehearsal, and I have to say that I didn't detect any mistakes that needed rehearsing.  Marj and Lew were also here, and after going on an owl prowl in state forest, where we heard no owls, we saw a bald eagle at the restaurant on the lake where we ate the next night.  So much for nature.

The big news from the Boyle world is that Colleen retired.  Either she's too young.  Or I'm too old.

Other than that, when I look back at my calendar for the past two weeks, it is taken up with OLLI meetings.  That's a sign that I've taken on too much.  Mary's calendar is full of tutoring English to now four different recent immigrants.  One, though, is not so recent.  She's been living in this area for at least five years and doesn't speak a word of English. 

Made it to the end of the letter.  Mary's been watching Simon, following him outside, then back inside, then back outside, and coming back inside one more time.  Gripping.  But cute.

Hope you all are healthy and happy and feeling as fortunate as we do, every day.

Love from up here.