You can’t take your eyes off those boys for a minute. Not to worry, they say. As they get older they can fend for themselves. They can do their own thing. They are so much more independent. All of that is true but it didn’t help much yesterday. Nancy and I were so focused on paying attention to them, and it does get to the true meaning of what it means when you say paying “attention”, that we somehow end up neglecting ourselves in the process. That is to say, we could have gotten in a walk or a bike ride, but we didn’t. We brought the bikes and I, for one, am going to see that we use them. Today I will do just that.

I think that Evan and Noah did just what they wanted to do yesterday. They had fun in doing the things they seem to enjoy doing. There was a time before Noah started coming on vacation with us when we worried that Evan would not be kind enough to a friend and that would make it difficult for everyone since home was a long way away. And to be truthful, there were some difficult moments on those early trips. We warned Evan not to be nasty because it wasn’t fair to Noah since Noah had nowhere to go. We both overestimated Evan’s tendencies to be short and unkind and, at the same time, underestimated Noah’s even temperament. In a word, he tolerates Evan more than Evan deserves to be tolerated. For us, Noah is a blessing in disguise.

On a day when it seemed to be raining and sunny at the same time all throughout the day, we had fun darting showers and being ourselves. We hooked up with Rollie and got the boat from his spot in Assembly point. It was good to see uncle Wally (Rollie’s blog alias) again. He arrived in Terri’s 360 Z and he put me behind the wheel on the drive over to Assembly Point. It was a treasure to drive. I proved my prowess by never hitting 2nd or 4th gear on the way to 6th. Any doubts he had about my ability to treat the car with the respect it deserved quickly evaporated as we wound through the gears and up and down the hills of Pilot Knob road. The boys requested permission to jump off the deck at the dock and Rollie gave them the nod and off they went. Wrap it up, fells, I implored. Time to head out. Who wants to get towed back to the camp on the tube? They both did so off we went. The faster I towed them, the better they liked it. Going outside the wake was the goal and “getting air” was the icing on the cake. The word of the day was “dom” as they took turns dominating each other in various events ranging from wrestling on the neighbors big-ass tube to other less than head-to-head events like casting their poles off the dock. Did I tell you that the boathouse here on the property just doesn’t cut it? It just doesn’t.

They showed off their abrasions, bumps and bruises, as testimony to their time on the tube. I’m not sure who got the worst of it. I was even handed in turning over the wheel of the boat to both of the boys when we went boating. If I showed any preference at all, it was when I let Evan take the wheel first. I think I surprised myself when I let him navigate to one of the buoys in Sandy Bay. He did a pretty nice job. In fact, I’m not sure I could have done any better. The risk was low since there were not a lot of boats in the bay by the time we arrived in the late afternoon. With the threat of showers overhead even though sun was abundant between the breaks in the clouds, we had quite a nice in the bay. If there was anything interesting at all, it was that Nancy and I spent more time in the water than did the boys. I was happy to be treading water since it was my exercise for the day. Nancy was having a nice time herself until she bopped herself with the noodle and got water in her ear. Did I tell you it was her bad ear. You know, the one she is constantly putting drops in. Not the $160 dollar prescription but rather the $1.60 dollar one. You know, that one.

We talked about renting Lina’s restaurant for the season for $16,000 and just hanging out in Sandy Bay for the summer. I would come up for weekends and maybe even take more than a few Fridays off. It would be splendid. The boys would have a great time. There was only one problem. Where the hell are we going to get $16,000? Details, details. Dreamers never get down and dirty with the details. That’s no fun. We even talked about parking the boat at one of the buoys in the bay and letting the boys swim out to the boat to do their diving. We could keep an eye on them from the shore without getting wet. What a hoot. We just laughed at the idea. Keep laughing, fellas. That’s why they call them dreams. And dreams do come true. Just ask the Red Sox. Did tell you that Manny isn’t just Manny any more? He’s now Manny the Dodger. The Red Sox will never be the same. They just don’t realize it yet.