Whoa! Didja get the numbers off that truck?!?

September 16, 2001 - 8:39 a.m.

Sleep tight

Flannie spent the night again last night. Flannie can stay anytime he wants to. That kid is full of �please� and �thank you� and �boy these hot dogs taste good.� Anyone that positive (and/or compliments my cooking� even if it�s just hot dogs) is welcome in my house.

If you remember my account from yesterday, Son2 and Flannie were engrossed in bouts of flag waving on the street. They even got some free root beer from the hot dog stand they were near as they madly flapped Old Glory to the honks and cheers of their fellow Americans. Nothing evokes good feelings more than simple volunteer spirit. I surely know that they�re doing it for that: the good feelings.

I forgot to say in my account of yesterday was what one woman said to them. She came out of the hot dog stand and said, �Anyone would be proud to have kids like you.�

I want to find that woman. I�ve been saying that for years.

More expert driving by Son1. He�s been paying attention. He needs a little more moxie, but he can take his time with that. He needs to develop a sense of timing and relative speed. Lane changes right now involve lots of caution and brake application and strong fear on his part. Good boy, 3500 pound guided missiles deserve caution. When I was learning it was left turns, I hated waiting for the traffic to clear. I am very complimentary and calm while he drives unlike my mother, when I was new. She probably pressed a severe dent into the floorboard of the passenger side of her car as she tried to make that imaginary brake work. She always called those training sessions �white knuckle trips.�

Son1 drove us over to pick up Sweetie. Let me just say for the record that Sweetie is not a bad kid either. As I am learning now, she probably has it more together than Son1, most certainly more together than her own mother. But that�s a hard concept to convey in the space of this entry.

Son1 and Flannie had a fire built in the terra-cotta fireplace in the back yard. They were having a good old time and decided they wanted to sleep out in the tent back there. It�s been getting down to about 45 degrees here lately at night. But they have sleeping bags and air mattresses, and besides it�s an adventure. What the heck. At one point all four of them were out there in the tent, yelling and goofing and having a great time.

These are the stories they will tell when they get older. These are their �good old days.�

the last one -*- the next one