For me the big thing that happened this week is getting a real bad dose of poison oak. We have a big side field that we only mow a couple of times a year. Except, of course, I ignored it the past 2 years so it was really overgrown. I was a good boy and wore shoes and long pants but I didn't even think of gloves when I was dragging some branches that had fallen. So I got it on one hand and spread the crap all over. That was last Monday and I'm still crawling with it.
The two younger boys spent 3 days at their other grandparents and came back tonight feeling pretty good. I hope we can continue overnights. Buddy came up from reading to Doc and said he was really upset and asked if I'd go check it out. I took down a bottle of good cheer and some laughs and figured out right away that he's nervous about starting summer school tomorrow. It isn't the first new group he's joined but he's always anxious about the unknown. So we huddled up and got to giggling and I said I'd drop in during the day to make sure he was okay. Then we read a silly story about a couple of wannabee pirates who tried to buy a ship but they were afraid of the water. So the old seadog cap'n sold them a van.
The dogs got long overdue baths. I stood in the shower stall with a grooming table and a soggy dog, soaping them and me up at the same time. Then I carried the sad sack outside to shake what water was left after shaking all over me, only to usher another miserable beast inside. It sure is worth it but what a mess.
Tio met some other blood relatives today. Marcia's sister flew in from Arizona because their father has been hospitalized in critical, near death, circumstances. It appears he's going to recover but has some new disabilities to contend with. Tio doesn't know him or his aunt. They met when he was a baby and not really since. He also met a 2 year old cousin. I can't imagine that. Families are so scattered and nebulous than when I was a kid. Half siblings, step parents, extended adopted families. He seems to take it in stride but so many of his friends have similar conditions in their worlds that it's somewhat normal.
There aren't a lot of contentious issues this week. Now that Kit has outed himself and New York state has too, I had to push the point home to Tio that there will be no disparaging of gays, no using slurs and no more teasing along those lines. I said Kit will have trouble enough in the world dealing with this so the oner place he will be supported and safe is at home. I made the point very clear. I hope it was received.
My book is coming along. One of my main characters is stranded on Alcatraz in a world where no one goes there anymore. I guess I better go resolve that so he can save the world and move the story forward.
If only I could stop scratching.
