Summer has been hot. Very hot. Last year at this time we visited Seattle for a wedding. It was a record breaking 100+ week. No one has air conditioning.
This week, as was the week previous, and promises to be next week, we endure record breaking 100+ degree days. So, I guess we're used to it. But this heat brings some serious challenges when it comes to entertaining a 20 month old...
Walks outside are impossible. Stuck inside, we get creative with all four rooms of our four room house. We visit the dogs in their air-conditioned garage. We go for rides in the truck (with the A/C!) and we rest.
Lu has always been a good sleeper, but now she will take it upon herself to find a spot in the middle of the floor, lay her head down on her blanket (affectionately dubbed, "Nightnight",) and say "rest." Then, five to ten seconds later, she's back up and running. It is good to see she has gained some useful skills for adulthood this early.
On a more somber note, this week Felicity rushed back to Utah after her father, Boyd, was hospitalized for a serious brain hemorrhage. He's not out of the woods yet, but things are looking very good for him. All of us at Five Happiness ask you to keep him in your thoughts throughout his recovery. Boyd is a strong hearted, athletic seventy-two. He's got plenty of things left to do. Teaching Tallulah to paint is only one of them.
In the interim, Daddy is parenting on his own, for the first time. I've cut my work days in half to spend more attention on my sweetie. She only inquires after mommy in the mornings, and sometimes after naps. For the most part she is taking this change in stride. Not much phases her, save low blood sugar, or fatigue. We have started video chats in the afternoon with Felicity and her Mother, Marie, who jumps at every opportunity to see her darling granddaughter. Who can blame her?
In hindsight we see clearly the strengthening effect calamity brings. Bonds are tempered and struggles endured for the better. But while they last it is hard to look beyond obstacles to see the greater picture. We see only the desperation of the moment. I am working very hard to keep Tallulah's environment as unchanged as possible, but even she knows something is off. But I can see her mind grow with every new thing she encounters. Somehow, being farther apart from family will bring us closer.
Yours, as always,
Bradley and Tallulah
Through the blinding light of eternal wonder, we don our collective shades of spiritual guidance, or, as the case may be, personal framework of vague principles, and witness the sweet beauty of what most call, but others do not, A Blog Of Note.
No comments:
Post a Comment