Thursday in the Octave of Easter, April 13, 2023
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
Little big man
What is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man that you should care for him?
We found tortillas that are 12 inches wide, and we got out our biggest frying pan, and Jasper and I had lunches as big as our heads. Sausage and avocado and refried beans and cheese filled those tortillas up, with Margaret’s deviled eggs beside them going down as smooth as silk. After lunch we each had a root beer float. We were living the life of grandparents (73) and kiddo (3), and none of us seemed to mind.
Before lunch we took a ride to the dump at the far end of our apartment complex. We forgot some stuff and had to come back. In the last couple of weeks Jasper has learned to use his small, strong hands in just the right way to open the car door and close it, roll down his front passenger window, push the red hazard blinker light, and put his head out the window in the breeze. We don’t drive fast in our quiet apartment complex.
Sometimes, not too often, Jasper will howl when his head’s out the window. He looks for dogs out there, other howlers, but he’s a little nervous actually meeting one. Last week after a big rain Miles and Jasper together wore their big boots and splashed through every puddle. This week it’s dry, the sky is blue, and the air is cool, especially in the mornings. Dogs and their humans are often out walking alongside us in our car; the humans wave and the dogs pay no attention.
Jasper has decided we should take sugary food with us in the car when we take our trips. Lately that has meant peeps. We watched all about how they are made. We ate our purple ones in a day, and the yellow ones we finished yesterday. No more peeps. But we did bake a peach pie during naptime, and well, we did have a few bites of pie later in the afternoon. Jasper was full after just a bite or two, but Miles had two bowls of peach pie and whipped cream, and a big glass of milk.
Miles came here with Andi after kindergarten, very hungry as usual. “Would you like a glass of milk with your pie, Miles?”
“Of course, Grandpa! What growing boy would not want a glass of milk with peach pie?” He burst out smiling. I was planning to eat Jasper’s unfinished pie, but when my back was turned Miles just ate it all. Didn’t say a word.
How important is food to Margaret and me? Jasper is three, and we’re seventy years older than he is. I have to say food is more fun these days than it’s ever been.
In a couple of weeks we are going to visit the Bullock Texas State History Museum and watch an IMAX movie. Yesterday we watched trailers for Dinosaurs in Antarctica and Serengeti. He gets to pick, but the dinosaurs were a little scary.
Miles (6) and Jasper (3) watch very little video, have very little screen time, not much more than an hour a week. They had a sleepover on Good Friday at our apartment and we splurged watching Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. They made us stop half an hour before it ended; the pirates’ spies were just too scary. The song, on the other hand, is suddenly Alexa’s favorite at both our houses.
This is fun, being grandparents while we still have mostly enough energy to watch the boys, if not keep up with them. When they’re together they get pretty rambunctious. Gradually they are learning to put away one toy or project before they get to start another. We love them, and they love us, and everybody’s learning something.
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
(Acts 3, Psalm 8, Psalm 118, Luke 24)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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