October 15, 2005

Nathan's Monthly Post: The sun came out today


above: Sadie making "rain soup"

We decided that I (husband, daddy, raconteur) should contribute more often to the blog here, so I will be posting once a month (or so). If any readers disapprove, please address all complaints to Sara (wife, mama, super-woman).

After many days of steady rain, wind, clouds and general autumn gloom, today the clouds were blown away and the sun shone bright...just in time for the annual Galloping Hill Road block party. It was 70 degrees or so, and we spent a couple hours mingling with some neighbors and lots of kids. We met two Emmas (one 2 1/2, the other 4), but no other Sadies, Nates or Saras. We engaged in much predictable small talk about San Diego weather versus New Jersey weather, and the scariest tale we heard was of a 26-inch snow storm that occurred in 2000. We actually had met some of the people already, due to Sara and the girls' frequent walks around the neighborhood. On my doubled-up paper plates I had the following: hot dog (and bun), chicken tortilla casserole, multi-layered bean dip, scoop-shaped chips, two ranch-dipped carrots, two ranch-dipped celery sticks, one slice of cucumber (un-dipped), one frosted leaf cookie. And in my hands were: one Ginger Ale and one ghost sugar cookie. This is the stuff that make block parties worth the wait!

Sadie painted one (actual) pumpkin, and wacked another (pinata) pumpkin with a whiffle ball bat. All the kids lined up to do their best Babe Ruth imitation on the poor paper party pinata pumpkin ("one swing per person only," said the 13-year old girls who were supervising the event), until everyone realized we'd be there until Christmas if we expected 32-lb kids with a 1-ounce weapon to inflict any damage whatsoever, so a parent busted the thing open, unleashing the frenzied candy grab. Sadie ignored all the toys and came away with a pretty good haul of pure chocolate.

Unfortunately, our still camera had dead batteries, so no photos of the party for this post, but I did get some good video of Sadie's T-ball prowess and her steady hand as she meticulously lined up orange cones (in place for a bike race) in a perfect row.

Around bedtime (for humans under age 4) I realized that the newly cleared sky also allowed a great view of the moon, which was very bright tonight at our house (how about yours?). I put barefoot Sadie on my shoulders so we could go outside and take a look. She loves the moon and the sun and Earth, and is always talking about them. (For instance, we have to hurry and get up in the morning before the moon comes up and we have to go to bed again.) So after we walked to the end of the driveway to see the moon up close, we walked back up and sat on the bench, where Sadie thoughtfully provided the quote of the day...

"Daddy...we need to get a ladder, so we can go up and get the moon and take it inside and show it to my Mama."

[Note: Don't be afraid to post your "comments," because we know you have them. We know you are reading because we have one of those new one-way blog mirrors that Bill Gates has been working on.]

Comments:
Well, golly, that sure was a thorough description of your dinner. Thank you.

We have the same moon here tonight. Jared especially likes it when "Mr. Moon" is out during the day because "Mr. Sunshine" likes to play with "Mr. Moon."

Thanks for calling Sara "Super-woman." I'm sure it earned you at least a few points.
 
Cool quotes and chronicals!
 
Post a Comment



<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?