For the last three weeks I've been resting my brain in the forests of Endor. The weather is lovely. The evenings are cool and the nights are cold. It's a big change from living on Tatooine. The smell of clean air and pine trees is almost intoxicating.
First I had a visit from Jedi Master Mina, who wanted to escape big city life for a weekend and experience the wilds of Montana... is think it became more like a trip to Wild Space for her... I'm sure she'll be blogging soon about how she almost barfed huckleberry flapjacks on the Canadian border...
I've experienced wading in clear water at the lakes, huckleberry milkshakes, stargazing, eclipse watching, walking along the country lanes, wild turkeys on the road, wildflowers, trees, sunsets, the dead quiet of night... lightsaber duels in the evenings... I still have a bruise where the 6 year-old took my arm off... ;
Once I even saw two cop cars in one place... the fire department siren sounds like an air raid siren...
Yesterday I visited my grandsons' schools, nice buildings with indoor hallways and clean playgrounds, staffed by friendly people. The elementary school is quaint, with wooden doors on the classrooms and hanging signs that look like chalkboards and pencils.
I'm not sure where the now-popular expression "old school" came from, but it certainly fits the playground there. A curious blend, actually, of old fashioned metal playground equipment like monkey bars and a merry-go-round next to modern tubular steel and plastic structures.
My youngest gave me a ride on the merry-go-round that made me feel six years old again. Leaning back and looking up at the tops of the trees spinning around took me back to trips to the park when I was a youngling myself.
Watching my oldest walked clear around the school yard with a female friend ("She's not my girlfriend!") took me back to the fourth grade when only boys lived on my street, and they had all the cool toys anyway...
Friday morning I have to leave, and I don't know when I'll make it back...("I'm leavin' on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again...")
But it's good to know that my childhood will be here waiting for me when I do.
B-)
