Good to be home from home

This trip to NY was all about family. My brother should open a bed and breakfast—the kind where you feed yourself or go out and sleep as late as you want. I have to buy him a Mr.Coffee to tuck in the pantry for my next visit, but the little delis in the area are superb. 

The Bitches took their road trip to eat seafood seaside. Georges of Galilee did not disappoint. The weather was perfect, the beach was still crowded with people. Salt air and sunshine. 


We took in a frosty soccer game to watch my nephew play.

My turn to wander

 

Away awhile 

Ah, Friday.

 

This has been a hectic week that had a very sweet finish.

Before any of that, I'll be out of town next week. If you want threads or cloth and let me know ASAP, Monday will be my last crack at the post office until I get back.

It's been so long since I've traveled by plane that I've forgotten how to pack. New York in October can be boots or sandals and damned if I can decide. 

That sweetness? I picked Charlie up from school midday on Thursday and we had all day Friday together. I took him to math tutoring right after school and later that evening we spent an hour reading side by side, each of us lost in our own books. Reading aloud may have

slipped away with babyhood.

Friday morning, I introduced him to acrylic paints. Just playing with the medium and noticing how it's different than Crayola watercolors. What gesso and underpainting are about. How gel medium can change everything. Green and red still make mud. Talk about building your own canvases. Art school stuff.

He wanted to paint what jazz makes him feel. All morning. Then outside for the rest of the day because the weather is so perfect that the

mosquitos moved to Alabama.

A while back, I gave him my old Ipod, still loaded with "my" music. Everything from Little Anthony & the Imperials  the Eagles.  He found the missing charger and earbuds that worked I set the volume limiter. Such a clever little thing.

  All this while I struggled to get used to hearing aids. Finally.

Exuberance

 

   Each day starts with breathwork and meditation. Then I light up my phone to see if anyone has hurked on the carpet between my bed and the bathroom. No? Boo-yah! 

Stretching before walking. Resisting the temptation to burrow back into my bed. Someone tramples over my face in the dark. Get up. Eatzees. Now!

The miracle of coffee. Maybe a leftover slice of pizza. Food. 

While Florida comes under the hammer, and North Carolina is still reeling, we are having a spell of magical weather. I even ran all the dye tools through the dishwasher.  

A hangover from childhood. Being inside on a day like today was a sin. But since Camilla can't go out yet, we take what we can get. Soon. 

Instead of rebuilding the old railing on this deck. I'm researching Catios. With a cat-safe jungle and seating for me. That fake grass will have to go!

Charlie Monday

 

"Charlie Monday" used to be a regular feature on my FB feed but I've decided to keep it here, among family and friends. 

This was the day after the storm passed. I wish that perfect days like this had names. 

You could still smell the ocean in the air. 

Charlie was picking up windfall sticks in the backyard when I noticed they had a sweetgum tree with its miserable spikey seedpod balls everywhere. 

I showed him how the leaves smelled like candy when you mashed them up with your hands. I did not recommend eating them though. He's learning wood ways from his Dad. Camping, hiking, fishing, and such.

I'm bribing him to learn cursive. There was much moaning and groaning when we started with a lovely worksheet that the school sent home last summer. Just his first and last name. By the eighth repetition, he was getting into the groove of it. I ordered a workbook and offered to pay a dollar a page for well-completed work. When I go up on Thursday--they have early release for a short Fall Break--I'm bringing a fist full of singles.