There was so much more — so much more — today that, at 11:59, I don’t care to cover. But this was the most insignificant event of the day.
Wypasiona Dolina Plus
the girl
Trzy Korony
Climbing mountains is something my mind loves but my body questions. Ever since I seriously injured my knee about 25 years ago hiking in the Tatra Mountains, I’ve been wary of mountains. The way up is not the issue. In fact, it’s a great relief sometimes to be heading up. No, it’s the way down – that crash! crash! crash! against the knees. Almost 190 pounds dropping on knees time and time again.
So when we started our trek up to Trzy Korony today, I was a little concerned about the effect it might have on my knee. I was more concerned when I saw just how steep it was. Fortunately, we all made it fine.
And I’m so exhausted that I can’t say much more than that about the whole day.
First Saturday
Originally, the plan was to meet with K’s brother’s family and head out for an adventure on the Dunajec River this afternoon after a morning hike around the Three Crowns Mountains. But in fairly typical Podhale fashion, the weather turned suddenly overcast, threatening rain. We decided it wasn’t worth it: what’s the point of hiking up a mountain if you can’t see any views? And we always have tomorrow.
So since we were all up (meaning, the adults and the Boy) early, we went ahead and had an early breakfast. And as we had nothing else to do in the morning, I went out for a walk in the hilly fields just west of the village.
I saw a gentleman sweeping hay from the floor of his barn with an old-fashioned twig broom. I thought to ask him if he would mind me taking a picture of him, but I didn’t. Why? I really don’t know. What’s the worst that could have happened? He would have laughed, said “No,” and I would have gone on about my walk. Instead, I am writing about it hours later with just a little regret. Next time.
After lunch, the plan was to head to Wypasiona Dolina for a little line-park action, but just as the weather put a quick end to our river plans, the rain put an unforeseen end to our afternoon adventures: though the park is only a few kilometers from Jablonka, and though it didn’t rain all day today, it poured there apparently, and the owner, seeing that all the wood was wet and thus slippery, sent all the workers home.
Instead, we went to the outdoor museum that we almost always seem to visit while here. It seems to grow each time we go.
On the way back to Babcia’s to pick her up for church, we stopped at a new place that had — strangely enough for a small village — a small bowling alley. It was not quite a normal bowling alley: the pins were suspended by strings and seemed to be lighter plastic. The Boy managed to win the first game but didn’t do so well with the second game.
After bowling, we rushed to pick up Babcia to head to church so that we can have tomorrow completely free. Afterward, we dropped by the cemetery to tidy up around Dziadek’s grave and pay our respects. As always happens at the cemetery, we met an old friend of Babcia’s, a former teacher of K’s.
And finally, back home, Babcia began teaching the Boy how to make a fire for hot water — a basic skill in old-school rural Poland
Arrival 2022
The trip here seems endless — completely
Coming to Poland is always worse than returning as far as the travel itself goes. Returning to America, due to the time change, only feels like a really long day. The sun just never seems to set. Going, however, is deceptive because you have that night in the middle, but in reality, it’s not much more than a short nap at best. So you feel cheated, tricked — and your body does not appreciate it. It was not expecting one long day with the illusion of sleep in the middle.
Having a six-hour layover after an eight-hour flight doesn’t help much either. It seems like that will be long enough to catch up on sleep just a bit, but just like the night itself, it only teases.
So we board the plane from Munich to Krakow some twenty hours after we began the whole adventure with eyes barely open. K and L try to nap on the flight, but it’s of little use. E and I, each having a window seat, spend the flight looking out the windows at the shapes below.
Anyone flying into Poland with a window seat as we have knows exactly when we’re over the border. The shapes change immediately and drastically. The irregular, large shapes of fields and forest interspersed with houses and towns disappear, and in their place stretch long, narrow fields, one beside another. This is Poland from the air.
Packing
Tonight is our last night in the States for a little while. Four suitcases and four carry-ons are ready to go. The Boy is going around the house constantly saying, “We’re leaving for Poland tomorrow!” K is going around the house saying, “I can’t believe we’re leaving for Poland tomorrow.” I’m going around the house saying, “Does anyone know where the bladder for our backpack is?” And L — she’s been at work, so she hasn’t been saying anything this evening.
Driver
The Girl got her restricted license today. This means that, once we have her covered on our insurance, she can drive alone during daylight hours.
It’s not that big of a change, I guess. She’s been driving for six months now. Ah, but it is a big change: she’ll soon be doing it alone.
The Boy learned about the joys of putting together furniture.
The Girl
When I got my current job teaching eighth graders, Nana said to me, “I don’t know how I survived your eighth-grade year. I wanted to strangle you every other day.” I can’t say that I’ve been as upset and frustrated with teaching eighth graders as Nana might have suggested. Indeed, I’ve come to love it, and I don’t really have any desire to teach any other grade.
My own child, though, was a different story. I began to understand Nana’s hyperbole. I haven’t written much about the Girl here because it’s been a typical period of growth, which means frustration for parents. What are we doing wrong? Why is she pushing us away? What can we do differently? We knew the answers to those questions (Nothing; Because she’s thirteen/fourteen; Nothing — just be there unconditionally), but that didn’t make it any easier.
In the last few weeks (or even months), though, since she’s started driving, since she went back to work, since she’s made it through her first year of high school, it’s like she’s taken a deep breath and made peace with us and herself.
I knew it was coming: the transformation eighth graders go through is amazing, and I know it continues through ninth grade (until they’re sophomores and temporarily revert because they’re sophomores and know everything — or is that just a cliche?), but to experience it has been refreshing. To begin seeing what kind of an adult she will be: a valiant defender of anyone facing injustice, a friend who sometimes lets her love for her friend overshadow reason (not always a good thing, not always a bad thing), self-reflective and self-aware — to see this change really start to kick in just makes me smile.
Tonight, we finished watching Schindler’s List. The reason (other than it’s a moving film that everyone should see) is that L and I are planning on visiting Auschwitz while we’re in Poland, and I wanted her to have an idea of what the scale of the Holocaust in real, human terms. Tomorrow, we will watch Conspiracy, a film about the Wannsee conference so she can get an idea of the “logic” that drove the Nazis.
That I am comfortable letting her watch such a film is a testament to her maturity.
Family
Aunt D is a national treasure. She is at least a treasure to everyone who knows her. Selfless and kind, she’s helped the family more than anyone I know. When her own mother-in-law was ill, she took care of her for several years. When Nana was ill, she came and spent alternate weeks taking care of Nana.
For years she hosted the family Thanksgiving gathering, cooking for the whole family. Of course, everyone brought something, but she cooked enough herself to feed everyone.
She’s generous almost to a fault.
She’s always buying things for people: she sees something that she thinks someone would like, she buys it and gives it to them.
Now she’s taking care of her own husband, Uncle M. He’s facing his own health challenges, and he’s stubborn: that would be more than a challenge for most, but Aunt D is sly and caring.
That’s a combination to be reckoned with.
She always refers to the Girl and the Boy as “my babies.”
“How are my babies doing?” she’ll ask when we talk on the phone.
“Where are my babies?” she asks when she arrives at our house for a visit.
She’s the kind of aunt everyone should be fortunate enough to have.
Orlando Return
Driving back from Orlando today, I got to thinking again about the writing project I’ve been considering, and I came up with yet another organizational idea for it. Indeed, not just another organizational idea, but a somewhat altered focus. So two initial drafts get shoved aside for a third. Fortunately, I was only a few thousand words into the other two drafts, so there’s no real loss there. I’m excited about the new approach and began jotting notes on my phone as I took the dog for a walk.
But the whole way, I think the Girl relived the highlights of competing in nationals.
Orlando 4
Our first experience with nationals is now over. The Girl’s team finished 124th place out of 200+ teams. That’s not great, but it’s not terrible.
It represents the end of a strange volleyball season, one of several ups and downs, thrills and disappointments. The Girl improved a lot, both in her sense of court real estate (knowing and moving around the area of the court in a smart, effective manner) and ball handling.
The end of this year brings a bit of sadness with it, as do all endings. In this case, it’s due to the fact that it’s very unlikely these girls will play together again. Everyone will be going their separate ways from here. Since they don’t go to high school together, they’ll probably be opponents if they’re on the volleyball court again.
So the third year of L’s club play is officially behind us, and what lies ahead? The Girl has big hopes, big dreams. She wants to come back to nationals and win it — or at least place in the top ten. She wants to play college ball, using her academic success with her academic skill to work her way through college.
In the end, though, the true friendships, whether among players or their families, will always last.
Orlando 3
Another day, more games, more frustration. It’s tough watching the girls not doing their best, but there’s something admirable in their effort, no doubt.
Orlando 2
Day 2 in Orlando didn’t go quite as well as day 1. We have two more days, but the girls have a bit of a hole to dig about out of tomorrow. The girls are capable of it. It’s really just more of a question of will, perhaps. Or maybe there’s more going on.
Orlando 1
Today was a mixed bag for the girls in their first days at nationals. They lost two and won one, but they should really be able to compete with a lot of the teams here. They didn’t get their butts kicked: instead, they got outplayed a little and kicked their own butts with silly errors that gave their opponents too many free gifts.
The Girl got some really big hits, and she got at least one monster hit that shot like a bullet to the back corner, the sound of the contact still echoing when the ball hit the court. It was a great hit.
The Boy discovered the joys of riding up an escalator and back down and back up and back down and back up and back down.
The Boys in the Creek
E’s best friend came over for the afternoon today. At first, they did what boys these days do: play video games. However, we have no gaming console in our house at all. No Xbox, no Play Station, no Nintendo Switch. In fact, I only know those things exist because I hear students and teachers talking about them at school. And of course, E brings them up occasionally.
And it’s a little surprising, to be honest, how many adults with no children or with grown children still invest time and money into gaming systems. To each his own, I suppose, but I always thought there was a time when people outgrew video games.
Not having a gaming system has several advantages, not the least of which is the simple fact that since we don’t buy games for our PC either, E’s gaming options are severely curtailed. Which means he and his friend grow tired of them eventually and head outside to find other things to do.
Like catching minnows in the creek behind our house.
As for the Girl today, she was out of the house for most of the day: physical therapy, volleyball strength training, and driving instruction took almost all her day.
Messing and Swimming
Oh, and this
End of the 2021/22 School Year — Countdown Begins
Today was the final day of school for me. The kids didn’t have school, but teachers have to go in for at least one more day to get things squared away for the summer: materials returned, documents completed, papers signed, report cards mailed. During my first year at Hughes, I was overwhelmed with the amount of stuff we had to do. Since then, teachers’ “To Do” list has been drastically simplified. One whole task, which often took hours, has been assigned to others. I use the passive voice there because, quite honestly, I don’t know who made that change, but I am grateful nonetheless.
Getting this last day out of the way is such a relief because I reach a point where I can finally stop thinking about school for a while — I’m not even planning on doing any prep work this summer. For one thing, I have too much to do this summer:
- Trim the Leyland cypresses (a two-day job in and of itself)
- Clean the outside of the house
- Pressure-wash the deck
- Apply ample coats of water-proofing to the deck
- Pressure-wash the concrete portion of the drive
- Complete the furniture assembly for the remodeled basement
Then there’s all the travel:
- L’s final tournament in Orlando
- L’s job
- L’s physical therapy
- L’s volleyball conditioning
- L’s individual volleyball lessons
- E’s play dates
Still, this is a fairly short list for the summer, but this is all in the next three weeks, for in just 23 days, we’ll be heading to Poland as a family of four for the first time since 2017. Five years. Five years. It’s the longest period of time I’ve not visited Poland since I first went in 1996. K and E went last summer; L went on her own in the summer of 2019. (Or was it 2018?) But it’s been five long years since we all went.
That means L was E’s age the last time we were there. And L has gone from being a pre-teen to an almost-licensed (driver-permitted?) employed teen with all that entails.
The Boy has one from a little five-year-old thrilled with everything new to an increasingly cynical (but still fascinated by many things) ten-year-old.
We’ll probably take the same walk we always do on the day we arrive, and we’ll definitely enjoy Babcia’s rosół the day we arrive, but everything will be just a little different. And that’s probably good.
Memorial Day Walk
We decided today to visit Greenville’s newest park: Unity Park. According to the website,
Greenville’s newest park features four state-of-the-art playgrounds, including a 4,100-square-foot splash pad, two expansive green spaces, covered picnic tables and a 10,000-square-foot welcome center with restrooms, a first-aid station and flexible event space. The 60-acre park also features basketball courts and a historic baseball field located on the site of the former Mayberry Park, which was built in 1925.
Unity Park Site
E and I rode our bikes by it on our last trip on the Swamp Rabbit trail, but it was still under construction at that point.
After exploring the new park for a while, we walked downtown to the tried and true Reedy River Park.
An overall lovely day.
Working Girl
The Girl has her second job: this time, she’s working at Dairy Queen. I guess there’s a certain continuity with last summer’s job at Culver’s, but only vaguely.
When she was applying for the job, I suggested that she shouldn’t leave the reference section empty.
“They’re so desperate for workers,” she explained, “that it doesn’t matter.” I recommended that she reconsidered; she didn’t. She got the job.
It helped that she did have experience, though, that she could go straight to work, that she knew how to work a register. The first day on the job, they put her behind a register and got her working with almost no immediate training.
The other afternoon, our family friends went through the drive-thru to get a little snack. L didn’t realize it was them until they pulled up.
This is now one of my favorite pictures of her.
Spartanburg Tournament Day 2
Yesterday was tough; today was a little better. At least they won a set. “Look at this way,” said a friend, “it can only get better.”
Losing builds character, but I think we’ve built enough character this week.
10
The Boy — 10 years old today. A decade of the Boy. Double digits.
In the morning, we had his breakfast of choice: bacon, eggs, and cinnamon rolls. Healthy choices. In the evening, dinner too was his choice: crab legs and shrimp.
After cheese cake and ice cream, he and I went to the local guitar store to spend all his present money in one shot:
A third guitar — a bass.
The Girl and I spent the afternoon at a tournament only half an hour away — quite a change.
She’d probably rather not talk about that, though. Let’s just say it didn’t go as well as the team was hoping.
Previous Years
Happy Mess Day
Second Time Around
Third Party
Celebration Day
Birthday
Fifth Birthday Party
Sports and Ice Cream
Seventh Birthday
Day 60: Eighth Birthday
Nine