Return to the Tallulah Gorge
the boy
Elderberries
We dedicated today to our elderberries. I clipped the clusters from the bush in the late morning, and K spent a lot of time pulling the small black pearls from their clusters as I worked and after I finished when I joined her.
And when I say we dedicated today to the elderberries, I mean the whole day. As I type (and work on my safety videos for school), K is finishing up, filling jars with fresh elderberry preserves.
We ended up with something like who-knows-how-many kilos of berries (was it four? five? I can't recall) which will make who-knows-how-many pints of preserves.
The other task for the evening was helping the Boy get his room straightened up, a Sisyphean task if ever there be one. We ended up throwing out quite a bit of stuff, an act that initially stressed and frustrated the Boy a great deal.
Surrendering even the smallest trinket is difficult for someone as sentimental as E. I can understand that, though I hope eventually to grow out of it myself.
More Lost Pictures
Semi-Lost and Found
It was like finding cash in a coat pocket, but better: old pictures I'd never posted here. These are from 2014 when we spent the week at Deep Creek.
E is now twice the age L was during this vacation.
Tuesday
Our Children
Where did these kids go? How could the relationships between us grow so relatively complicated?
It's my common theme, though I don't always express here why I'm thinking about it...
Return
The Boy is back from camp.
"What do you want to eat?" we ask.
"Anything -- it's all better than camp food."
Especially K's homemade blueberry preserves.
Camp Visit
Camp Departure 2024
The Boy left for camp today. He'll be gone until next Saturday. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Typical parental concerns: on the one hand, I love seeing him grow up, seeing him not only willing but excited about a week away from us. Not that he's excited about being away from us, per se, but rather that he's excited to be going to camp and the prospect of being away from us for a week doesn't worry him or dampen that excitement.
On the other hand, I know how situations like that can stress him out. Or could stress him out. Perhaps he's growing out of it, but I'm not: I'm still stressed about him being gone. Not about him being gone, but not being in the near vicinity to keep an eye on things.
"You can't be there for them all the time. You have to let go." That's the common wisdom. The common parental expectation.
But that doesn't always allay the worries...
Rainy Prep Day
Today we spent most of the day getting E ready for Scout Camp this week. Clothes, rain gear, miscellaneous supplies all packed into a big trunk. He went last year with a different troop because his uncle's family was coming from Poland during the week his troop was scheduled to go. But this year, this year will be great, he assured us. Last year was great, too, but this year...
Once we were done and could do something fun, the rain started...