Early Tuesday morning, I skipped going to the office and drove to the swim school where Anne's and my 7 and 4 year old grandsons Brody and Gannon are learning to swim. Anne joined me and we enjoyed their mother Melody's company while under the warm summer sun, we watched the little boys and other little children joyously splash around in the swimming pools with their instructors.
Afterward, Anne left for a nearby knit shop, while with her money, I bought the little boys bags of munchies which they quickly and heartily devoured. Just then Melody proposed we get Anne and her mother Mary and come to her home to see the beautiful new bunk beds our son Kevin just built for the little boys. I said yes and within minutes, we were all at Kevin's and Melody's home.
The little guys were thrilled to show us their new bed, climbing up and down the bunk bed stairs to show it off, as they told us how much fun it is to have this new bed. The ladies then went into the other room to talk but I stayed with the boys who were soon involved in a pillow and stuffed toys playful battle. Pretty soon, I was involved in that battle as pillows, stuffed toys and a blanket flew in every direction, and the little guys and I laughing loudly.
Gannon grabbed my Oakland A's baseball cap and used it to swat pillows and stuffed toys, while also putting the cap on his head. At 4 years of age, he is so little, that the bill of the cap covered his forehead and partially covered his eyes, so it appeared there was a big green and gold cap with a tiny nose and a laughing mouth moving under it. Soon he switched it so that the bill of the cap covered the back of his head and he could see better.
Gannon being the little joke-ster he is loves to make up nicknames for people and at various points, among the names he had for Brody were "Snippy, " "Screaming Pants" and "Pillow Chalk." At one point, he called me "Poky."
Later, when it came time for me to leave, the little guys jumped into my small red convertible, the two of them being so little, that they both fit easily in one front bucket seat. There they took turns putting the top up and down, dazzled by the sight of the moving top, and by the sound it made, which is that of an electric motor.
By now it was mid-day, and rather than go to the office, I drove to a nearby beach and walked along the seashore, watching the waves roll on to the sand with a crash. The salt air scent was magnificent and to watch the people having a good time was grand.
That afternoon I received a last second call from my Anne's and my son Kyle, inviting me to a Dodger baseball game for that night. I joined him and his wife Diane and their 12 year old son Keoni. Kyle has some of the stadium's best seats but to me the game is mildly interesting.
What I enjoy immensely is their company, but I should add, I also ate several helpings of chocolate yogurt, yogurt and other milk products being something I rarely eat. But on this night, the yogurt was wonderful.
Keoni has always been adorable but at 12 he will soon begin the transition into manhood and I want to enjoy him as much as I can while he is still this age. Going to the game was a lot of fun and it was irrelevant to me that the Dodgers lost to the Giants 4-1.
Later, as I went to bed I thought of how wonderful this day had been, and I was thankful for all the blessings that comprised it. In the end it was a bit like the movie comedy classic, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986) in which 17 year old Ferris, played by Matthew Broderick and his friends skip school to have an exciting and memorable day. At 67, 50 years older than Bueller and his friends, I did the same thing and had every bit as much fun as they did.
Dick
"Ferris Bueller's Day Off," http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091042/
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