January 23rd, 2025
Before I get up, squishy spiderweb sound effects coming from the bathroom... awhile later Yali jumps out at me in full Spiderman suit with carefully self-cut slices in the torso and arms of the suit, red facepaint brushed at every “cut” and over his face... “The Green Goblin got me...” he explains soberly, and with intensity...
After breakfast studies begin at the blanket chest again (both tables are crammed with Yali's pinewood derby project, shelf models, and art supplies)... math class goes pretty well until – Yali and Patience live for class interruptions from either of the big boys – this time it's Oxbear pausing from a high intensity work schedule these weeks to show me a funny video compilation of naughty farm animals... forty seconds later, turn back to the blanket chest... Sergio Leone's whistle and tumbleweeds...
Mid-morning break, Yali asks me why his elbow feels bruised... “Oh, I don't know. Do you think maybe it was when you jumped off the back of the couch last night and tried to land on your stomach to see what would happen? Do you think maybe that's what bruised your elbow?"... he laughs... from the boy currently balancing one-footed on the back corner of the couch, slurping a grape popsicle in one hand, dropping a yo-yo from the other, smudges of rich red paint still staining his grinning face...
After Puck sees to his cat meowing pitifully from his army cot where Cheese's “hideout” blanket has fallen to the floor... he hangs out at the card table with me during lunch to watch one of his Youtube channels discussing the absurdities of various ideas that seem to be either jokes or narcissistic delusions of conspiracy theories of grandeur... then he works out in the basement before another four-hour work shift (predictable schedule these days, which he appreciates)...
Between afternoon classes and housework... order the Kirsten American Girl boxed book series with Amazon points for Patience (the library somehow doesn't carry all of them anymore...)
By five o'clock, back to the studio for ninety minutes of practice, practice, practice... while Patience is in there, finish reading Judi Dench's autobiography on the parking lot...
Home to grab a taco while the kids get ready for bed...
While I check the mailbox, Patience accidentally takes down one of my favorite remaining dishes... garnet red ceramic shards all over the kitchen floor...
Kids asleep... Oxbear working on his tabletop “gumball machine”, both of us watching “Severance” with Puck, working rhythmically through a box of popsicles...