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| Peony time! |
My son just left this morning to return home. It was a very good visit, we seemed to be on exactly the same page as far as activity level and need for alone-time. I was pleasantly surprised at how good-looking he is becoming as he ages, I almost didn't recognize him when I went to pick him up at the airport.
Mind you, that wasn't completely due to handsomeness. With his knitted cap, sunglasses and mask he looked like an alien. Towards the end of the week he talked about how much he was enjoying this and how sorry he was he hadn't booked a longer visit. After so many years he was afraid that a week was about as long as he could stand.
I bought tickets for us to go to a concert together at a local community hall. I thought it was a great concert, he was more critical. He thought the band's sound system and/or how the sound was being managed was lousy. Lousy enough that he didn't want to venture an opinion about how good the band actually was.
I bought tickets for us to go to a concert together at a local community hall. I thought it was a great concert, he was more critical. He thought the band's sound system and/or how the sound was being managed was lousy. Lousy enough that he didn't want to venture an opinion about how good the band actually was.
Before we went into the hall we met some friends of mine and there was a lot of joking about how many friends/neighbours had Covid, how many last minute cancellations there were due to Covid. My son forgot his mask but I had two. We went in and shared a table with some more friends of mine, and they too joked about how many people they knew with Covid. Initially my son took has mask off to imbibe the drink he ordered, but quickly put it on afterwards. I asked him later about the fact he wore his mask for the entire concert when hardly anyone else (including me!) did.
He said, Are you kidding me? This place is a cesspool!
I had to admit he was right. The longer since the mask mandate was removed, the laxer we all got. The rate of infection and number of deaths have come down since April, but they are still much higher than previous waves. They say it is so bad here because we never got any herd immunity. We were so strict about the rules that we all stayed safe, but once the mandates were removed we all went a little crazy and ended up with one of the worst rates of infection in the whole country.
While here my son reconnected with an old friend. They hadn't seen each other in over a decade and a lot has happened in both their lives in the interim, so I think they were a little reluctant to meet since they didn't know if they still had a relationship. Turns out they very much did. They had several very long conversations while hanging out together and one of the things that came up was that neither could remember a time when they didn't know each other. They became friends before their memories kicked in.
He said, Are you kidding me? This place is a cesspool!
I had to admit he was right. The longer since the mask mandate was removed, the laxer we all got. The rate of infection and number of deaths have come down since April, but they are still much higher than previous waves. They say it is so bad here because we never got any herd immunity. We were so strict about the rules that we all stayed safe, but once the mandates were removed we all went a little crazy and ended up with one of the worst rates of infection in the whole country.
While here my son reconnected with an old friend. They hadn't seen each other in over a decade and a lot has happened in both their lives in the interim, so I think they were a little reluctant to meet since they didn't know if they still had a relationship. Turns out they very much did. They had several very long conversations while hanging out together and one of the things that came up was that neither could remember a time when they didn't know each other. They became friends before their memories kicked in.
It's true, they were very young when they first met, and they only met because their parents were friends since before either of them were born. In spite of long periods living in different parts of the country, they had some remarkably similar life experiences. On his last night here the friend took him on a quick tour of the area, they hit several beaches and some other places, after dark. I thought that was pretty cool of the friend to do that.
My son was a little apologetic to me about how much time he was spending with his friend. I said, Don't worry, I'm not jealous. Spending an intense amout of time with anyone—even a beloved offspring—still takes its toll on me and I am happy for a bit of a break. I would have been very happy if he had booked a longer visit, but at the same time I don't know whether I would have had the stamina for it.
One morning he was up before me and he wanted to make coffee for me. But he took one look at my fancy espresso machine and decided otherwise. He referred to it as my Junior Chemistry Set that I call a Coffeemaker.
We had to be at the airport two hours before departure time, and it takes over an hour to drive to the airport. We had to be up at 6.00am and leave without breakfast. I was giving him directions (he drove), but normally he relies on Google for directions. I got distracted and we overshot the highway exit for the airport and had to drive an extra 25km to get back. I said something about there being highway signs but then realized that he probably never looks at the signs because he relies on Google to tell him. I am old school, I even keep a paper map of the province in the car.
So today I am so exhausted that I am just killing time till I can go to bed. Not so good at napping.
My son was a little apologetic to me about how much time he was spending with his friend. I said, Don't worry, I'm not jealous. Spending an intense amout of time with anyone—even a beloved offspring—still takes its toll on me and I am happy for a bit of a break. I would have been very happy if he had booked a longer visit, but at the same time I don't know whether I would have had the stamina for it.
One morning he was up before me and he wanted to make coffee for me. But he took one look at my fancy espresso machine and decided otherwise. He referred to it as my Junior Chemistry Set that I call a Coffeemaker.
We had to be at the airport two hours before departure time, and it takes over an hour to drive to the airport. We had to be up at 6.00am and leave without breakfast. I was giving him directions (he drove), but normally he relies on Google for directions. I got distracted and we overshot the highway exit for the airport and had to drive an extra 25km to get back. I said something about there being highway signs but then realized that he probably never looks at the signs because he relies on Google to tell him. I am old school, I even keep a paper map of the province in the car.
So today I am so exhausted that I am just killing time till I can go to bed. Not so good at napping.
4 comments:
How great that your son spent some time and enjoyed himself to the extent he wished it were longer.
I hear you on the exhaustion. It doesn't take much.
And the maskless wonders prevail too here. And younger people dying of Covid.
Summer forecasts are dismal.
XO
WWW
Glad you and your son could enjoy the visit. My only son was here for a week a few months ago to help me "right size" -- we filled a small trash bin. So much more to do here that I can't do on my own. He's started a new tech job, mostly works at home but periodically travels to Seattle or elsewhere. He's going to take a side trip down here for a few days the end of July so am looking forward to seeing him again. Usually takes me some time to recoup after his visits though it doesn't seem like we do that much. We will do our best to avoid Covid as the numbers going up here. My mask is worn when I'm out, even to drive-thrus.
WWW, I would have loved to have had my son stay longer but I don’t think I would have had the stamina for it. Like many men, he needed to be told to help out around the house, I think he had the expectation that going home to Mom meant being taken care of. I didn’t want to get into a confrontation about it, and I did tell him to do some chores, but it would have been nice if he had offered to do stuff as well. As for masks, it is difficult to wear a mask for several hours in a stuffy room. I usher for certain events and wearing a mask is mandatory for the ushers, but by the intermission we ushers head outdoors to take our masks off. It’s hot and my nose runs and I end up more focussed on the discomfort than actually paying attention to the event.
Joared, you have a good son who comes to help you out! But as you say, even a helpful visit from a good son can be exhausting. The local government only publishes numbers on a weekly basis, testing is fairly well restricted and therefore statistically unreliable. So one gets the sense that the Covid situation is not as bad as before, when in fact it is far worse.
I seem to have developed a hand tremor that makes typing a little difficult, I spend too much time correcting typos due to tremor.
Yes, I'm sure the Covid numbers keep getting higher here, too. Hand tremor would make typing a challenge. Reminds me my son had told me he was going to experiment with using the system that converts dictated speech to typed messages. I'll have to ask him how well that worked as have toyed with trying it myself though typing isn't an issue for me. Wonder if it's accurate enough to work for you? I've not read of any bloggers using it. Maybe I'll pose that question on one of my blog posts.
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