• Tag Archives Jen

  • Puppy Dog Tales and Grand Kids

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    Summer                                  Waxing Summer Moon

    Geez.  63 this morning.  I like it, but moving from peak BTU’s per square inch of flesh to late September makes the neck whiplash a bit.

    The grandkids arrive today.  Sometime this afternoon or evening.  We’ve done the usual things:  wash the bed linen in the guest bedroom, clean out the detritus that gathers in an empty room, moved furniture, worked on stains in the carpet.  We’ve also made a modest start toward kid-proofing the house.  Gabe’s a little too young to need much and Ruth seems wise enough to not make us very concerned.

    I’m glad to see them come, like the new puppies having Gabe and Ruth in the house will crank up the energy level and remind us of our embeddedness in the next generation.  Jon and Jen are good parents and fine friends so it’s a delight to see them come, too.

    There is an inevitable upset with the arrival of guests.  Routines change.  More people need consideration when deciding on something.  This can, usually does, create some tension and anxiety on all parties.  It is, simply, part of living in community and as part of a family.  My introverted personality makes me especially prone and my anticipation about guests gets tamped down as a result.  An unfair and unnecessary experience, but I don’t seem able to shake it.

    The next few days provide a learning opportunity for me.  I’ll report back here.


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  • In Crip’s Territory

    Posted on by Charles Comment

    At Jon and Jen’s.  Held Gabe for an hour.  We had guy to guy chats, his little blue eyes looking up and his mouth forming that curve babies use to indicate they know where communication comes from.  He’s swaddled now and in his downstairs bed.

    A crack of thunder, a lightning flash and rain.  Nice cool down. A fan is on so the room has a nice cross breeze.  Denver is high and the altitude thinner so sunburn and heat pound on bare human flesh.  Likewise, though, in the evening, once the sun goes down, a pleasant coolness settles over the city.  With few bugs summer evenings have a high human pleasure index.

    Jen’s mom, Barb cut her foot on a hotel door.  She went to Urgent Care where they couldn’t stop the bleeding.  Ironic, eh, with little hemophiliac Gabe about to have his bris tomorrow?  So, Jen has left to take Barb to the University ER.  

    We had plans to go to a Brazilian steak house, but we’ve decided on take-out sushi instead.  Jon’s taken off to get the sushi.  He’ll take Jen’s order over to the ER.  So, I’m here with Gabe and Ruth, both asleep.  I’ve got a bit of hummus and some goat cheese as an appetizer.

    The redevelopment of Stapleton Airport, just blocks from Jon and Jen’s house, is a major urban infill project.  Lots of new housing and lots of new upscale shops.  This, too, is ironic since Jon’s neighborhood has the reputation in Denver as the ghetto. It is a mixed income area with the poor and the middle class sharing property lines.  On the whole it seems a pretty calm place, though Jon says it is Crips territory.  He also says the occasional crackhead will break into houses looking for loot.

    Barb’s injury on the eve of Gabe’s bris is family.   The connected web makes her injury now a part of family lore.  Had an odd thought while holding Gabe yesterday.  I am now in the generation that will be remembered, no longer am I part of the generation that remembers.  This underlines the long and ancient trail of generational succession, reaching back to those brave folks who walked out of Africa and stretching forward to where we do not know.   


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