![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.ancientrails.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/ruth-at-6-with-bangs.jpg\" "\\"ruth")
<\/a>table set for six. \u00a0Cartoons on the tv. \u00a0Visitors coming to visit the visitors. \u00a0A storm of energy. \u00a0Talk about extravagance.<\/p>\nRigel, our most wolfhound-like dog, likes to go into the entry passage between the garage and the kitchen to lie down. \u00a0It’s her safe place when thunderstorms approach. \u00a0She was back there last night and Gabe, 5 years old, looked at her and said to me, “Your dog is lonely.”<\/p>\n
Gabe is all frenetic energy. \u00a0Running, opening, closing, activating electronic devices of all kinds, carrying this from here to there. \u00a0Banging on the piano. \u00a0(right now in fact) Switching his interests like mercury contacting an electrical lead. \u00a0He has mosquito bites, all swollen a Ruth has her energetic side, too. \u00a0She’s 7 after all. \u00a0But she said to me, “I read all the time.” She also recognizes onomatopoeia, alliteration, negative numbers and has a shy eagerness about learning. \u00a0We also watched her bowl a 195 on the Wii, then proceed to win a tennis match. \u00a0Her small body flows with grace. \u00a0In addition, and perhaps most tellingly for her future, she designs. \u00a0Dresses. \u00a0Which grandma then makes. \u00a0Her flare for color and shape surprises me.<\/p>\n Her parents are friends of mine. \u00a0We talk, often like college students, late into the night. \u00a0Jon and I dissected the American political economy last night. \u00a0Jen and I discussed the strange relational behavior of her psychiatrist uncle. \u00a0They’re teachers, Jen elementary and Jon art for elementary kids. \u00a0This is serious work, formative for our future, and yet also frustrating with high stakes tests and the reality of working with Latino and African-American kids coming from poor homes.<\/p>\n Mark, too, is still here. \u00a0He passed his driver’s license test yesterday and now will sport a As often happens when family gathers, I find myself wishing we were closer together. \u00a0When I grew up, my whole extended family on my mother’s side lived within a radius of 40 miles. \u00a0This allowed constant interaction that kept family life rich, but, also mundane, ordinary. \u00a0Now, it happens in these episodic bursts, the Stock Show in Denver, the occasional visit here, other times in Denver. \u00a0Mark and Mary come from time to time.<\/p>\n These infrequent family visits, supplemented in a powerful way by Skype and Facetime, represent the new reality for many. \u00a0I don’t know whether it’s better or worse, but it is different from the way I grew up, though I suppose I should add that my Dad’s family was spread around: Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana and Georgia.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summer \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Solstice Moon Little feet pounding up and down the hallway. \u00a0Non-residents in the steam bath. \u00a0A dining … Continue reading Family. Gathering.<\/span> <\/a>bit more than I would find normal, probably due to his hemophilia. \u00a0When he came, three sacks filled with factor came with him and went into the downstairs refrigerator. \u00a0The factor adds back the clotting factors he’s missing in his clotting cascade.<\/p>\n<\/a>Minnesota driver’s license as he travels the world. \u00a0His money is here as well. \u00a0So, in some defining ways, Mark has become a Minnesotan though he describes himself a warm weather guy, having spent most of the last 20 + years in either Thailand or Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n