Catching Up

Spring is in full swing, though it’s a cool one (today’s temps, for example, were 48°-58°). The fragrance of honeysuckle is in the air. My mockingbird friend is back and serenading me all through the night. And the spring storms are starting to roll through. A few nights ago the kids and I watched from the back door as one inch diameter hail pelted the back porch.

BOSTON
I have gotten terribly behind so it is time to play catch up. I think one of the biggest things I need to report on is Ben’s trip to Boston. This was a school sponsored trip open to all freshmen and sophomores. There were 41 students who signed up to go, and this was Ben’s first trip on a large airplane. The group left early Thursday morning, April 21, and returned that Saturday.

This trip had a historical focus. Upon arriving at Boston they went to see the Salem Witch Museum and the House of Seven Gables Historic Site before eating supper and having some shopping time. Friday morning they visited the Old North Church and took a Duck tour of the city and the harbor. (The “Duck” I am referring to is the old DUKW World War II amphibious vehicle.) After lunch they were off to college at Harvard and then enjoyed a dinner cruise on the Spirit of Boston. The next day they drove over to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where they visited the site of the original colony, Plymouth Rock, and the Plymouth Plantation living museum. From there they drove to Providence, Rhode Island, where they caught their flight home.

Ben really enjoyed his trip but we got very little from him while he was away. He only sent a few sentence fragments and two pictures. When Vicki and Jenna visited New York City and Washington, D. C. We got pictures and text messages throughout. That’s the difference between boys and girls, I guess.

Ben had much more to say in person. His favorite stops were the House of Seven Gables, the Old North Church, and the living museum at Plymouth Plantation. He also enjoyed the dinner cruise and dance. Ben had a lot to say about the architecture. It was interesting for me to get this insight into what he appreciates because he’s normally so reserved.

Ben also commented on how much fun he had getting to know some of the kids from school that he doesn’t share classes with. I think he made several new friends.

FUN WITH FRIENDS
Speaking of having fun with friends, Ben was among a handful invited to go pick strawberries and eat pizza at the park yesterday after school. We could tell beforehand he was so pleased to be invited and we knew when we picked him up he’d had a great time. Just one of those things that does a parent’s heart good.

STRUGGLES
While I’m writing about Ben one thing I have come to appreciate about him is how much he deeply considers opportunities and will jump out and try things. Some of the boys at school were encouraging him to try out for football so after talking to the coach he attended a few practices. He knew pretty quickly this was not a sport he is passionate about so after a lot of thought and talking with us he went back to the coach and thanked him for the opportunity. I think Ben is considering the Cross Country team now.

Ben thinks he’d like to be an engineer. With that in mind, I told him he would do well to get all the math he could in high school. He’s decided to double up on math classes next year with Geometry and Algebra 2 so as to get everything in that DA has to offer. That’s a big decision because it will make for a busy sophomore year.

COMING UP ON THE BIG DAY
Last Sunday, was Mother’s Day and we celebrated with a large meal at Mom’s house that evening. It also happened that Jenna’s Baccalaureate was that afternoon. There’s 81 in her class and many of them have been together since kindergarten.

Jenna has completed all her school work now. Yesterday was her last day of classes. I had taken the day off and so was here to watch her drive off for her last day of school. I looked back in our home movies and found that it was August 20, 2003, when we took her to the elementary school for her first day of school. Seems like it was just last fall. Now all she has left is graduation rehearsal and the commencement itself.

QUICK TRIP
After we got the news of Uncle Bob’s passing and then the funeral arrangements were confirmed I wanted to attend but with all the end of the school year activities we felt it would be easier for Vicki to break away. She flew in Tuesday evening and returned home Thursday evening.

The funeral was held Wednesday at one of the chapels at First Baptist Orlando where Uncle Bob and Aunt Linda are members. Dr. Jim Henry, the former pastor there, conducted the service. (Incidentally, Jim Henry is from this area and still has many relatives here.) Thursday Uncle Bob was interred at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery with full military honors.

I won’t give a lot of other details because this trip was about spending time with family which they did a lot of at Aunt Linda’s house. Vicki came back saying they all had a great time together laughing, cutting up, and enjoying each other. I am glad we could share Vicki with Aunt Linda and her family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Mom celebrated her 88th birthday on Thursday. She went out to get her hair done that morning and that afternoon she went with us to the airport to pick Vicki up. She even got to ride in my bus because I needed to return it to school since I took yesterday off. Once we got Vicki from the airport we stopped at Cracker Barrel for supper and, more importantly, dessert.

ZINGERS
When the kids were little they said so many cute things as they tried to master language and make observations about the world that it was hard to keep up with them to put into the family record here. This has dropped off as they’ve grown up, of course, but just when you think it’s gone for good you get a zinger.

It’s usually pretty quiet on my bus in the mornings, but the other day some of the lower school kids started asking Ben and Nate about their classes in the upper school. There were lots of questions about the math when Ben mentioned he has algebra and then he mentioned Spanish. This started a lively discussion about whether it is important to learn Spanish. One of my kindergarten passengers said it is important and started rattling off all the Spanish words she knows (it was cute and she has an impressive vocabulary). Then, just I came upon some traffic that had come to a halt Nate said, “Well, the only word in Spanish I know is ‘Aloha’.” I almost rear ended the car in front of me.

This next one actually came from Wil Swann when we were bringing him and Ben home from football practice. Knowing they were hungry we offered to stop in Springfield for some supper. Wil declined saying that Granny (Mrs. Connie) probably had supper for him. Mrs. Connie loves to cook for her family and will happily feed whoever is at her house.

Wil decided to pick up his phone and call Mrs. Connie. As soon as she answered the first words out of his mouth were, “What’s for supper?” We all got a laugh when 30 seconds into the conversation we heard him say, “Uh, this is Wil.”

Then there was Monday or Tuesday morning of this week. It’s time to leave for school and I’m in my bedroom putting my keys and stuff in my pockets when Ben walks in and asks a question. Keep in mind he is dead serious about this question and not intending for it to be funny.

“Dad, I just saw a possum [waddling by the kitchen window] with a bunch of leaves sticking out its butt. How does this happen?”

Vicki groggily mumbled from the bed, “Why are those the first words I have to hear for the day?”

I don’t know, Ben. I guess the possum ran out of toilet paper. Thanks for the belly laugh to start my day.

Joe