After our return from Maine, David had some company, which gave us the excuse to take the boys into the city. And, of course, this got us doing things we would not have otherwise – like taking in the view at the Top of the Rock or riding the NY Waterways tour boat around Manhattan at sunset! I also took David and a local friend up to the Cape for a few days to bike ride, walk the beaches and even fit in a whale watch. And what a show that was – the humpbacks danced around us the whole time, breeching and slapping their sides down on the waves, which were rather rough. The boat rocked steeply in a rather active sea – choppy waves of 4 to 6 feet, I guess – which unfortunately left a few passengers green and holding onto their plastic seasickness bags below decks. But we didn’t get sick – I took some Dramamine as a preventative; the boys just declared their love of roller coasters and, as they predicted, showed no signs of wear.
Vicki returned from Ireland - having developed a taste for Heineken (of all things!) – and is alternately prepping for college and racing off to the shore to hang with her friends before they all set off in their own directions. Move in day at Barnard is the 28th and she has informed us of the first commandment of freshmen year: Parents Shalt Not Visit! We are to drop her off, discreetly, and scurry back to New Jersey to await further instructions.
But not to rush you so quickly into fall - there are several good weeks of summer left!! Plenty of time to sit outside with a good book, at the beach or in the shade of your favorite tree as the weather has been very nice. I decided to bone up on some poetry reading this month, just to break up the usual subjects and enjoy the focus on the power of the written word found there. Good poetry is about quality, not quantity after all. Here’s a little item from Charles Simic that I like….oh, and BTW the image above is from a picture I took at Great Salt Pond on Cape Cod (I’m still enjoying that photoshop!)
Bird comforting the afflicted
With your song,
The one or two lying awake
In the vast slumber
Of small town and countryside,
Who know nothing of each other
As they listen intently
To every little tweet
Afraid they’ll do something
To make it hush.
