Ninth Party
the boy
Nine
Today, the Boy turned nine. It's his last year in single digits, and we're all wondering how we got to this point so quickly. That's the same old story every birthday, though.
This year, most of the gifts from us are soccer-based: a new ball and new nets. He and the Girl tried them out after dinner.
Previous Years
Happy Mess Day
Second Time Around
Third Party
Celebration Day
Birthday
Fifth Birthday Party
Sports and Ice Cream
Seventh Birthday
The Claw
Scouting in a Pandemic
is boring. Well, not necessarily boring, but almost all the trips disappear, pack and den meetings are carefully choreographed disasters of social distancing (always) and mask wearing (when indoors at least), and everyone gets the feeling that scouting is just not what it used to be.
This evening, we had the final pack meeting of the year before the crossing over ceremony later in the month, when E and the other bears move up to Weblos. After that portion of the meeting, we adults talked about what trips we might take next year. Some of the decisions we made:
- Overnight at the Lost Sea, billed as America’s largest underground lake
- Overnight at an aquarium, sleeping in the shark tunnel with sharks swimming all around us
- A hike to the top of Table Rock, a local formation here in the Upstate
- A winter tubing adventure
I told the Boy about these things as we drove home. “I definitely want to sign up next year!”
First Concert
The first concert I ever attended was in Johnson City, Tennessee in about 1985 or 1986. The band was Huey Lewis and the News, and even though I was not the biggest fan, I joined two friends (who were brothers) for the concert. Their dad dropped us off and then met us once it was over.
It wasn’t until a few years later that I went to a concert because I truly loved the band and not simply because I had the chance to see someone live. It was R.E.M. in Knoxville, and it’s a concert I remember to this day.
In college, I got to see a number of bands like the Pixies and U2, but the most exciting for me was Pink Floyd.
But there was always one band missing, always a single concert that I thought, “If I ever get a chance…” My first love. Genesis. Now, there’s no way I’ll ever see the Genesis I’ve always truly loved — the Genesis of the early- to mid-seventies with Peter Gabriel on lead vocals and Steve Hackett on lead guitar. But the genius of the band, musically speaking, has always been the keyboard player, Tony Banks. He’s still with them. Phil Collins can no longer stand for long periods, and Mike Rutherford — who knows? But they’re coming out of retirement for one last tour. And my best friend and I have tickets to see them in Charlotte. And we have an extra ticket, for the Boy’s first concert.
“I’m a little nervous,” he confessed. “It is my first concert. Mama said it will be very loud.”
“It will be,” I confirmed. “But you’ll have ear protection.”
Tournament Weekend
Both the kids had tournaments this weekend. The Girl's tournament was outside Atlanta, and it was her first time in competitive sand volleyball.
"How'd it go?" I asked.
"I got sand in my mouth," was the first impression.
The Boy's tournament was local. They made it to the semifinals then lost.
"We should have won" was the sentiment. How to get him to accept "win some, lose some" and still have the fire in the belly?
Team Picture
Final Practice
The Poster and the Fall
The Poster
I was out Friday so I could run all the errands and such K would normally run so she could try to rest some and get well. The kids at school took to heart the cliche about cats being away, but they did so in such a way as exceptionally clever kids with good senses of humor would do:
While at the book fair, they bought me a poster of a Korean boyband and hung it in my room. When I came back Friday, I asked them who was responsible. They admitted it with giggles immediately. “I’ll keep it up under one condition,” I said. “You all have to sign it.”
I love the fact that
- they thought of doing this as a funny prank;
- they were willing to spend the few dollars to pull it off;
- they knew me well enough and trusted me enough to know how I’d take it;
- they liked me enough to be so silly.
It’s a silly, silly gesture, but a touching one nonetheless.
The Fall
In the evening, when K, E, and I were walking to CVS to pick up a prescription (and L was at sand volleyball practice), it appeared that the Boy had had a bike wreck. He was some distance away, so it wasn’t really clear what was going on. But the bike was clearly down, and there was little to no movement.
I began jogging down the hill toward him. I wasn’t terribly worried because there were no sounds of wailing or pain. But there was no movement.
“I was just waiting for you guys,” he explained with complete nonchalance.
Sunny Sunday
It rained all day yesterday, and that was probably for the best: we all stayed home and took care of K, who has been sick for several days now. Today, though, it was finally clear and sunny, so we went for a little walk while K took a nap.
We were likely trespassing, but since there's no sign posted and no one has lived on the property in ages...
And these days, what I get when I tell the kids, "Come here -- I want to take a picture" produces visual representations of the nature of their relationship.
