Here’s my oldest grandson, Sawyer, just turned seventeen, with his new car. Pretty fancy wheels for a kid, but not at all what he wanted at first. A chance encounter led to a great bargain on the car. The previous owner wanted to trade for Sawyer’s dad’s Jeep. Dad was not interested—they were standing in a take-out line at a restaurant—but the guy really wanted to sell or trade this Mercedes. So, they investigated, found it a real bargain compared to what they thought they’d spend on a car for Sawyer, and now he has a Mercedes. I haven’t had a chance to ask him, but I suspect he thought of it at first as a stodgy old-man’s car. Now, he apparently likes it, and his mom, my Megan, says she loves having him driving because he’ll willingly go on errands for her.
I’m
really proud of Sawyer this summer anyway. He’s our music kid—studies with
Austin School of Rock (guitar and vocals) and plays in a garage band that does
well. When this kid found guitar, he really found himself. Now he’s taking an
online course in music production and hopes to intern with an Austin producer
for part of the summer. I love it when kids find their focus.
And here’s a grinning Jacob, in the car after being picked up from a ten-day camping experience. Jordan and Jacob picked him up in Van in East Texas, but he actually camped in Colorado—a long bus ride away. (Jacob is the one who described it as long and other, less happy terms). He thoroughly enjoyed it, he says, met new friends, played poker (this is what he went to a church camp for?), etc. But no golf, and Jacob is the golfer in the family. He got home last night and spent most of today on a golf course so he could get the “feel” of it—he plays in a tournament in Dallas tomorrow. Another kid whose found his focus.
I wouldn’t
want my other two grandsons to feel slighted—Ford, in Austin, and Kegan, in
Tomball, are both sports minded and exceedingly good at their chosen sports,
but more about them another time. The Tomball Alters are in New York City right
now, and the Austin folks will go to Belize to scuba dive next week. Love my
family’s travel adventures, as long as I can enjoy them vicariously.
Meanwhile
I’m sitting at home nursing allergies—at least that’s what I think it is. I
never was allergic to anything until I was in my fifties. One day I felt so
awful I dragged myself to the doctor, who cheerfully announced I was suffering
from allergies. I was indignant and demanded, “What am I allergic to?” His
reply? “Texas.”
Well I
guess there’s something in our Texas air the last couple of days because it
sure has gotten me in the late afternoon and early evening. My nose runs like
the proverbial faucet, my throat is dry, I cough a lot, and I am so sleepy I
can’t stand it—and a bit sick to my stomach. Yuck. But by 9:30 or 10:00 I’m
back to normal and all is well. I hope this is something fleeting.
I
attended a Zoom neighborhood meeting tonight and learned a lesson: when you cough,
the camera focuses on you because it apparently doesn’t distinguish between a
cough and speech. I quickly muted the audio, but I’m sure my neighbors loved
the picture of me with my ever-present Kleenex.
I’m at
loose ends, never a good place for me to be. Waiting on a couple of editors to
respond to a proposal; waiting on someone else to come back from vacation so I
can get access to a file; waiting on a new book to come out in September;
waiting to figure out how to edit my new Wikipedia page (more about that
another time). I need a new project and am weighing several ideas—a collection
of significant blogs, with some gourmet blogs thrown in--do I flatter myself that any are significant?; a new cookbook, though
I need a theme—maybe plagiarized recipes (no, I don’t really mean that);
reviewing a couple of false starts on mysteries. I recently, inadvertently did
some editing and realized how much I like that—shades of my former life. But I
have no clients.
Tomorrow
I plan to do one of those pro and con list of my options—and to do some serious
meal planning for the family, somehow fitting family meals into increasingly
busy schedules—Christian’s work is busy, Jordan’s business is rapidly picking
up as people begin to travel again, and Jacob has all those golf commitments. I
was spoiled during quarantine—they were here every night for supper.
I
think I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop—it will, and it will be the right
thing. I just don’t know when or what.
Sweet
dream, everyone!
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