I scanned the directions and found many, many misspelled words. Perhaps there was something lost in translation: maybe it was where it suggested to exercise "cautoiin", I don't know. However, there was a drawing of a shark wearing sunglasses that had the quote above. We agreed.
Some days this summer, things align just so that the best kind of "camp" comes in full effect. It's a high benefit of working from home, and while I enjoy having the Big Scoop around much more than a list of chores "because [I'm] home", I'm more than willing to accommodate whatever it takes to make it happen.
This camp is her favorite: as I begin to TCB, the Scoop sleeps, usually waking at 11AM. What passes for "breakfast" may or may not be eaten as she starts the day with light video game enjoyment. Later, a location for lunch is decided: nothing too expensive, but nothing too greasy, either. Fortified, I return to work while she calls a friend to do who knows what. Roughly mid-afternoon, we end up outside doing something: eating ice cream and delivering one-liners, a "2-square" game, or what happened last week, which was breaking out a gifted, knock-off slip 'n slide.
We had a manageable one until it was broken by a friend of hers, and if you too are wondering how one could "break" a slip 'n slide, well, it's yet another crime to be best left unsolved. A couple weeks ago, one arrived in the mail. We hadn't ordered anything, but the friend's parents took a break from talking about themselves to send this as an apology. Wow, thanks. You know, one of these days, we should check that out.
And so, we opened this import, and it keeps unfolding, and unfolding, until we realize this will now cover the length of the front yard. Good lord! Once set up, the Scoop tries a few times, which mostly entails running through the sprinklers and then a "slide" toward the end. "We should do this together!" she says, and I grab my gear to join her. As I stare down the straightaway, hearing an enforced countdown from the Scoop, my conscience kicks in and starts chanting "ACL, MCL. ACL, MCL." Huh. Well, how the hell am I going to do this? I end up trying to do some sort of half-assed baseball slide, certainly nothing graceful. It "works" inasmuch that I slide. Her response is enough to suggest more, so I try adding a roll after the slide. I'm noticing that, despite it being the very yard I maintain, the ground is unforgiving. Eventually I stop, and the Scoop goes through a handful of "last time" runs. It isn't until we have turned off the water and are attempting to put everything away that the neighbors all come out. They've all missed it and are stunned that I'd even dare try such a thing. One, a son home from college, is too cool to acknowledge my prowess, of course, but the rest look on in envy. Well yeah, how did you spend your workday?
Days later, my body continues to remind me every second of my age. I felt like I'd ridden in the dryer after Nim Nam Gnam gave it a spin or 20. Well yeah, you threw yourself to the ground over and over while your offspring laughed and cheered you on. What else were you supposed to do?
Today, another tasty lunch followed by a walkthrough of one of the last Sears open. It's closing again, and as we searched for items they didn't have, I lamented what could have been from this location while she reminded me that somewhere in Stranger Things people either go to Sears or come home from there; all of it a memory she never really had, but lives through vicariously either through me or fiction. Either one works.
Later this month, we'll be back at it again: not so much different for me work-wise, but the fun of these weekdays for the Scoop will be replaced by endless complaints of assholes at school, homework, and what "Mom's making me do" now. I hear it. Hell, I lived it myself. But, for now, like the Scoop, I revel in the Summer in a way more tangible than I'd ever expected.