 |
| Dinner Master |
I returned to the back yard after work
yesterday subterraneaning the last two trees of our future screen. The soil,
good New England dirt that it is, provided the usual overabundance of rocks to
make the exercise fun. What I would give to put spade to earth and have the
damned thing actually descend its full length without clanging off rock in
wrist tingling fashion. I really don’t know how the colonial era farmers made a
go of it, respect; it does explain all the rock fences that lace the area from that
era.
 |
| Trees Finally in the Ground |
My wife was similarly employed all day
long in the rototilled areas out front. She’s about halfway through preparing
them to receive her incoming plants. We were a creaky pair last night as age
was having its usual diabolical influence over middle aged bodies. I’m not sure
what the world did before Motrin. We took delivery of two specialized rugs for
the kitchen yesterday. I was a little mystified as to why we needed the extra cushioned
carpets but my wife ardently campaigned for them. She shrewdly told me they
would help her during the long time she spends annually making Christmas cookies.
She knows I will underwrite anything aimed at that effort. After making
breakfast this morning I am now a huge fan as well. Hard to credit what a difference
the extra cushion means for knees and back, talk about timely.
 |
| New Carpets |
Since it was date night I took her out
to see the Fate of the Furious which I saw last Saturday. She loved it and it
was a great mindless escape from physical discomfort. I love seeing movies I
like repeatedly which is a good thing considering how many I own. I’ve been
like this since my earliest memories. Movie theaters used to have 7pm and 9pm
showings of the same movie and I always tried to stay for both showings if the
first one hit the mark. I didn’t realize this was strange until well into
adulthood. I thought everyone loved seeing the same movie over and over again.
I’m not sure what it says about me but once a movie impresses me I will willingly
watch it repeatedly. This surprises no one who truly knows me.
 |
| C'Mon Dad! |
Before the movie we were blessed with
another FaceTime call with the First Blog Reader. It was the second day in a
row that we caught her at dinner and it offered some interesting insights into
the dynamics of a precocious 17 month old. She spends the whole day with her
dad and its obvious he was the one enforcing rules at dinner when she tries to
push the envelope. She likes ketchup on everything (including watermelon!) and repeatedly
tried to eat nothing but ketchup, forgoing actual food. She’s developed a sly,
sidelong look at him when she’s displeased. He picks up on it and tells her to
knock it off. She noticeably plays to her mother, who’s desperate for time with
her after a day at the office. All this was hilarious to us watching from afar.
Our laughter probably wasn’t helpful in their parental efforts to establish
boundaries but, hey, that’s our job as grandparents.
It’s been a really “fun” couple of
weeks at work as I’ve been delivering the annual personal evaluations to the eight
directors that work for me. They’re all great people but I’ve always felt
honesty and constructive criticism are more important than sitting around and
singing “kumbaya” together. Some people would like to stay in their comfort zones
and believe nothing bears improvement. I’m getting the distinct impression this
was a new experience for some of them. They’ll be better for the experience but
it’s kind of draining to have to point out shortcomings to people I honestly
respect. It could be the tears from some of them when I’m trying to be
especially constructive. They’re all at least still talking to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment