SeedSlumber of Flourish
Sep. 10th, 2022 09:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ismoThe Sparrowhawk had a lovely pre-birthday celebration with Tron and the Lumberjack. They arrived Thursday evening, looking much more perky and well-rested than they used to be, after a 2-hour drive instead of 10 hours. When we asked if they wanted to traditional pizza to be waiting on arrival, they first thought it wouldn't be necessary. They were going to a work-related event where food was going to be provided. However, the food turned out to be suboptimal and the pizza was needed after all.
Tron got up bright and early Friday morning and brought the Sparrowhawk a latte and sweet rolls from the bakery. I was also a beneficiary. Then we went to a local nature center and took a walk along the trails, through the woods and across a little creek. We signed up to be members again. We used to be, when we first arrived, but had fallen out of the habit in recent years. Tron was really enjoying the cool weather and the play of leaves in the breeze. Apparently it's really different from the weather in the DC area, and much more congenial. The blacksmith's shop on the property was in operation, and we watched the blacksmith giving a new student a lesson. She also explained to us what they were doing, and why. It was very interesting. I could see Tron feeling that she could do it better than the beginning student--and she could, too. She could be a great smith trainee. And, of course, if the Lumberjack wanted to be a blacksmith, he would be formidable. If they ever get tired of academia, they can move up here and become blacksmiths.
We wanted to take them to a place that turned out to be closed, along with many other breweries in the same area. We ended up at a taco place that also had pretty good food. Tron and I were twinnies as we both ordered a brisket taco and a frozen margarita. Once we got home, three out of four took a nap, and the fourth--me--made a chocolate cake. It came out very nicely. The Sparrowhawk and Tron got out the wooden chess pieces I gave him on another birthday some time ago, and played a game. For dinner, we got take-out barbecue from a place downtown. It was a very modest order--burnt ends, ribs, coleslaw, pit-smoked beans, and mac and cheese. Tron had salad because she felt she'd been eating too much meat and had to go easy on her stomach. It was Raptor's REAL birthday #11, so we had a group Facetime and sang him the birthday song, and he showed us the mini-accordion that we sent him for his birthday.
"Jurassic World: Dominion" had just become free on one of our services, so we watched that and had birthday cake and ice cream. The cake was excellent. The movie was pretty bad, honestly, but we had a good time anyway. It was a big, sprawling, stupid spectacle that allowed us to shriek and laugh a lot. And it's always fun to see dinosaurs, as long as they're not actually in your back yard. As a writer, I do wonder how they put together these plots. I have a lot of trouble with plots, and I wish it could be so easy as asking my friends, "What's really scary that we haven't done yet? Oh, I know--swarms of bugs! And they're GIANT bugs! Oh, oh, I know--and they're ON FIRE!!" That's the real pulp mentality, and I'm afraid I'm not quite there yet. I'm still far too attached to having things make sense. I have to remember that line from "Moonfall," another spectacularly bad movie we watched with the kids: "Don't you understand? All your rules don't apply any more!"
Tron was worried that she would have nightmares and scream in her sleep. As it happened, she was fine. I was the one who screamed in my sleep, but it was not about dinosaurs. The kids had a leisurely breakfast and then went home. I felt pretty groggy for the rest of the day, because of not sleeping, and eventually had to take a nap. My stomach was also messed up from too many treats, so I had a very plain supper after the nap--rice and vegetables. I think I'll be back to normal tomorrow, and in any case it was worth it. It was very endearing and heartwarming to hear Tron say that we might as well just leave the sheets on the guest beds for the next time, and to hear them say that it's so easy to get here--just a "short, easy drive" of two hours! I know they won't come as often as they might think, because they'll get busy and have lives where they live, but it's still pretty sweet. Much happiness!
Tron got up bright and early Friday morning and brought the Sparrowhawk a latte and sweet rolls from the bakery. I was also a beneficiary. Then we went to a local nature center and took a walk along the trails, through the woods and across a little creek. We signed up to be members again. We used to be, when we first arrived, but had fallen out of the habit in recent years. Tron was really enjoying the cool weather and the play of leaves in the breeze. Apparently it's really different from the weather in the DC area, and much more congenial. The blacksmith's shop on the property was in operation, and we watched the blacksmith giving a new student a lesson. She also explained to us what they were doing, and why. It was very interesting. I could see Tron feeling that she could do it better than the beginning student--and she could, too. She could be a great smith trainee. And, of course, if the Lumberjack wanted to be a blacksmith, he would be formidable. If they ever get tired of academia, they can move up here and become blacksmiths.
We wanted to take them to a place that turned out to be closed, along with many other breweries in the same area. We ended up at a taco place that also had pretty good food. Tron and I were twinnies as we both ordered a brisket taco and a frozen margarita. Once we got home, three out of four took a nap, and the fourth--me--made a chocolate cake. It came out very nicely. The Sparrowhawk and Tron got out the wooden chess pieces I gave him on another birthday some time ago, and played a game. For dinner, we got take-out barbecue from a place downtown. It was a very modest order--burnt ends, ribs, coleslaw, pit-smoked beans, and mac and cheese. Tron had salad because she felt she'd been eating too much meat and had to go easy on her stomach. It was Raptor's REAL birthday #11, so we had a group Facetime and sang him the birthday song, and he showed us the mini-accordion that we sent him for his birthday.
"Jurassic World: Dominion" had just become free on one of our services, so we watched that and had birthday cake and ice cream. The cake was excellent. The movie was pretty bad, honestly, but we had a good time anyway. It was a big, sprawling, stupid spectacle that allowed us to shriek and laugh a lot. And it's always fun to see dinosaurs, as long as they're not actually in your back yard. As a writer, I do wonder how they put together these plots. I have a lot of trouble with plots, and I wish it could be so easy as asking my friends, "What's really scary that we haven't done yet? Oh, I know--swarms of bugs! And they're GIANT bugs! Oh, oh, I know--and they're ON FIRE!!" That's the real pulp mentality, and I'm afraid I'm not quite there yet. I'm still far too attached to having things make sense. I have to remember that line from "Moonfall," another spectacularly bad movie we watched with the kids: "Don't you understand? All your rules don't apply any more!"
Tron was worried that she would have nightmares and scream in her sleep. As it happened, she was fine. I was the one who screamed in my sleep, but it was not about dinosaurs. The kids had a leisurely breakfast and then went home. I felt pretty groggy for the rest of the day, because of not sleeping, and eventually had to take a nap. My stomach was also messed up from too many treats, so I had a very plain supper after the nap--rice and vegetables. I think I'll be back to normal tomorrow, and in any case it was worth it. It was very endearing and heartwarming to hear Tron say that we might as well just leave the sheets on the guest beds for the next time, and to hear them say that it's so easy to get here--just a "short, easy drive" of two hours! I know they won't come as often as they might think, because they'll get busy and have lives where they live, but it's still pretty sweet. Much happiness!
