We – Mom, Dad, and I – got to start the day out by going out
to the river for our morning Tai Chi workout!
Rowen stayed inside with Ethan and Ehlana, and though it was definitely
on the cool side; we were all happy to get another chance to exercise outside –
we haven’t been able to do that enough yet this spring.
The rest of the morning was fun too. It wasn’t really fair for Dad today, but he
let ‘the girls’ cook breakfast, and he took care of the clean-up with some
supervisory support from Ethan while Mom, Rowen, Ehlana, and I played dress-up
and got ready for church. We didn’t
really take too long doing that, even though Aunt Leanne teased us as if we had. That was mild compared to the comments and
jokes she had for me at lunchtime that were mostly about the party last night;
with a dash of teasing me because of Michael’s reaction to seeing me again this
morning and because I included him in my round of hugs for the Stone family
when we met up with them on the way to church.
Aunt Deborah’s maternity leave and the impending arrival of
the new baby kept her and Uncle Nick busy before and after church; and was
probably the top local story of the day.
There were quite a few people talking about the events in Boston and
other world news; but I’ll get to my thoughts on that after I’m finished the
rest of today’s recap. Pastor Lewis was
on a roll today, and gave his congregation an hour and a half of education and
entertainment before setting us free to enjoy the rest of what was turning out
to be a very nice spring day.
Dad had a lot of work to get done this afternoon after his
week in the city, but he and Mom offered to host a lunch that all of our family
was invited to join us for; along with the Emersons, Seagers, Ayres, and Drapers. The good news is that it was a lot of fun
having lunch with everyone, and the bad, for me, was not only having a big
audience for some of Aunt Leanne’s jokes and teasing; but willing contributors
like Hannah and Patricia. I think that
Mom may have decided to take pity on me when Rowen and I were set free to go
canoeing instead of being drafted for the clean-up crew, but I wasn’t
complaining; and Rowen and I were out on the water by shortly after one
o’clock.
The water is still very cold in the river, and there was a
fairly strong breeze to deal with once we were out of town, so we only paddled
East for a bit over a half hour before heading home again; and we were back on
dry land by a bit after two. Dad was the
only person still at home by then, so I got him a fresh cup of coffee, and then
Rowen and I grabbed our bikes and rode over to the park to catch the tail end
of the playground action with Ethan, Ehlana, Naomi, and Aiden. We hadn’t been there very long with Michael
and Tim rode over; making Ethan and Aiden’s day by playing with them for the
last fifteen minutes or so before the Moms and Aunts were ready to take the
four toddlers home. Aunt Leanne was very
happy with the bonus joke material and matchmaking opportunity; though I’m sure
that Rowen and I would have been going biking with the boys even if she hadn’t
been there to nudge us along.
I’m pretty sure that everyone else in our group thought that
Aunt Leanne was a lot funnier than I did, but that’s okay; and I did have fun
with that anyway – and we had a blast biking the trails and jumps in the woods
until Michael needed to get back to the Inn to help with the set-up for the
first buffet. After splitting up, Rowen
and I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in the lounge with Ethan and
Ehlana. We played some music and video
games; and all three of them had fun teasing me about Michael again. Rowen needed to be home in time to help her
mother with making dinner, so I helped her with carrying her things over to her
house and then got drafted to help Mom with cooking our little meal for
five. Dad only stopped working long
enough to sit down and eat with us, but he was also nearly finished his work by
the time Mom and I had finished the clean-up.
Mom and Dad both did our Magi lessons tonight, and we had a
little play time too, but I was ready to come up to my room when Ethan and
Ehlana were tucked in for the night at a bit after nine. Some Jacuzzi time was first on my list,
though I multi-tasked that with the archive assignment that went along with my
lesson tonight. I’ve done an hour of
language study too, but kept that a bit short so that I could make sure I’m
sleeping before midnight. I want to get
a little extra rest when I can to be ready in case Mom and Dad need help once
Aunt Deborah has her baby – either here at home; or helping Aunt Deborah and
Uncle Nick.
There’s really only one more thing I want to write about
tonight. I haven’t mentioned it at all
this weekend, but the news out of Boston
is still one of the big stories today.
My thoughts on what’s been happening there might not be very popular,
but I don’t like a lot of what I’ve seen in the news this weekend. The bombings were terrible, and so was what
happened on Thursday and Friday; but I don’t understand why thousands of people
were so enthusiastically cheering in the streets on Friday night. The suspect the police captured is only
nineteen – just seven years older than me – and was seriously injured with multiple
gunshot wounds. Even if he and his
brother are actually guilty of the bombings and shootings – and we supposedly
live in a country where you’re presumed innocent – that’s no reason to be
cheering for what’s happening to him now.
It should be just as easy for all of us to have compassion for an enemy
– something I point out again is only suspected here; not proven – as it is to
feel the same way for the bombing victims; the police officers that were killed
and wounded; and their families. For all
I know, you’ll think that those ideas are as naive in the future as I’m sure
most people would think they are now; but I do know that there is evil in the
world; I’ve had some of it chasing me for most of my life; and there is no
doubt in my mind that compassion and love is what will make a difference.
Then there’s also the fact that I do know a few things about
what our collective future is supposed to be like.
Finally, while I probably don’t write about world events
enough, this was a particularly somber week, and though the Boston Marathon
bombing has been the biggest domestic story, the major earthquakes in Iran,
Japan, and China; and the fertilizer plant explosion in Texas were all very
serious too; combining for hundreds of fatalities and tens of thousands
injured. I wanted to mention that in
part to put a little perspective on my attention for the bombing in Boston; but also to
illustrate why I don’t write about everything that happens around the world
every day. In a way, it’s for the same
reason you have to be very careful if you have the Sight – there’s always so
much bad going on in the world that it would be overwhelming to focus on that
all of the time when there is basically nothing you can do to change it or
prevent those bad things from happening.
I guess that sounds a bit defeatist, but it isn’t. We do what we can, and there will be a lot
more that we can and will do in the future.
It is possible to be optimistic and realistic at the same time.
Anyway, that’s probably too much of my two cents worth for
tonight, so...
...until next time, this is Magi Master Cassie Proctor;
logging out!
