Ten-Finger Exercises

Done and undone

It looks like I left last night's blog half finished. Can't remember now what interrupted me, but I evidently never made it back.

My son Hap looked so good to me. It's been months since I've seen him. I don't think I even took my camera inside though! Lucy, at six, is a leggy little colt, skitterish and shy, all movement. I bet she'll be good at track, especially hurdles. She has a brown plastic horse she loves to jump over. Although they say she is a chatterbox, I never get very much sense of it. She was friendlier than usual, and I worked to make her feel special, which seemed to draw her out more. Her three year old sister is much more verbal, at least from what I saw. Katie was delighted at the box of used clothes I brought from their aunt Lenore. True, more things fit Katie, but Lucy didn't take any interest from the start. Katie, on the other hand, was ooh-ing and ah-ing about each piece. "Oh I like this one. Could I have it? Look at it. It's blue. I'll try it on," etc. She had several layers on at once, and was happy as a clam.

I wonder what's happy about clams? I can understand where the expression "to clam up" comes from, but does that make them happy? Or are they truly happy when they're extending their foot way out, hunting for food? And how can you tell? Do they smile with their mouths open or closed?

Liz was so thoughtful about our low carb diet. She made a wonderful chicken dish of her own concoction, coating the pieces with sesame seeds and almond flour, and then baking. Yummy. She also made a pumpkin pie from a pumpkin they'd raised. Told us we could skip the crust. She hadn't added any sugar, used Splenda. It was delicious. I didn't check Bill's plate, but I know I ate the crust too. My mother used to say that she couldn't tell the difference between fresh pumpkin and canned in pies, and she was really into using fresh ingredients. This one sure tasted much better to me, but maybe not having any sweets for so long helped. She is a really fine cook.

Hap and Liz, Lenore and George and the twins were all in New Mexico last weekend for their dad's wedding. I got to see the pictures. I could feel Hap's anxiety as I made it through the Halloween pictures and the ones they took in Taos. He was wanting to protect me, which was really nice but unnecessary. Hank's previous wedding, to the lady he left me for, was a touchier subject, but this one was fine. I was happy to see this bride looks like a good person too, and he looked happy, although old. Of course, I'm old too, but having not seen him for a number of years, it shows on him.

I don't know anybody now that I knew in 1964, that I can think of other than family. I have a feeling that I don't know what people my age look like. I didn't make it to my reunion this summer on the other side of the country. Went to Bill's and saw what people five years younger look like, but not people I knew. So it was nice to see his picture. I hope he'll be happier this time.