01 JUL 25
Yali and Patience sandwiched next to me early morning... Oxbear at coffee with a buddy... kids wondering about “worm knots” so we do a little research on my phone before Patience presents fresh complaints of the day regarding her recent Minecraft projects... “And Yali tore down all the giant statues I made of me and my friends and replaced them with a giant Jesus!”... one glance at Yali's face reveals his innate conviction that he considers this act to be a general service to mankind...
Half an hour later Yali is racing around various open patches of dirt in the yard in a frantic worm hunt for his snake coiled hungrily (and looking quite peeved) in his food bowl... only temporarily distracted by listening to the big brass of the “Gladiator” soundtrack indoors while reenacting battle scenes with detailed descriptions of accompanying gore...
...while Puck calls up the stairs from his basement work-out asking for kilometer to mile conversions... before hitting sprints followed by the pull-up bar...
While Yali and Patience are at camp...
...Oxbear picks up a pack of red wigglers from the pet store for the famished hazard spaghetti waiting in his tank...
...while I get the first roofing quote on the house...
...and Puck is marching around looking for double cheeseburgers and Gorilla tape and super glue during various portions of the afternoon...
Yali and Patience are later gathered at three o'clock... with a dozen other children representing heritage from at least five different regions of the world watching – entranced – the unsuccessful attack of a tiger shark on a sea turtle somewhere in Australia...
...while the dog is home digging holes in the newly weeded patch of land-scape next to the daisies... looking very proud of herself as she sits stupidly in the shallow trench...
That evening Patience leaves for two hours of studio practice in addition to a previous hour of at-home practice before enjoying a “late night” Andy's Frozen Custard with fellow champ friends with only two more classes to go before a quick summer break... while we drive she shares with me that she has recently been imagining herself being interviewed by a local news station where she's asked for a list of all the things her mom likes... “And I would say that you like chocolate and cheese and Pepsi and looking for fossils and arrowheads!”... kid gets me...