#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream
Charles River View
Working backwards: Tonight, after dinner, Frank and I both work to get Wave to take his plate to the kitchen when he’s done. His mother isn’t at the table, and we’re in charge. Well, what does in charge mean when it comes to encouraging an almost four-year-old to practice a new skill he doesn’t seem eager to master? We try various forms of encouragement, mainly, a walk to the river together at sunset. Nope. He’ll just stay home, he says. Is he sure? ‘Cause we cannot leave him alone. He skips around the house cheerfully avoiding his chore. By now I have the kitchen cleaned up. Frank and I decide to wait him out, sit on the porch. He is playing with his toys in the den. Still not interested. He has it in his mind that he will trick us. “Don’t be surprised if you see a deer running in the field near the river!” he says. Hmmmm. I go upstairs and put laundry in the dryer. And come down to a breakthrough: he is carrying his plate to the kitchen while Frank is sitting on the porch. Ready? Yes, he is ready! And now we will have a race, him and me, across the field to the river. Frank counts us down, and we’re off! But he’s so fast! And I have a sore back! And he’s running naked head to toe! So, of course he beats me! We hang at the river for a bit, the three of us. It’s warm and there are no bugs. The sky is pink stripes above the tall pines. A band of deer run from the other side of the river, white tails flashing. Now, it’s time to race back. And, you know how it ends. He wins again!
Fudgey, Frank said, was scared off by his tractor this afternoon as Frank mowed front, back, all around. But, by dinner he had returned to the front of the house. Wave scattered his feed and he ate. Then, as we sat at the dining room tables for our casual, but candlelit dinner, my daughter Franci called my attention to the peeper at the window: Fudgey sat outside our dining room on the porch rail watching our meal.
Brittany slowly recovers. Slowly. She did eat a little bit, drank a little bit, walked a little bit. Our sense is that she will continue to recover. Perri takes the best care of her. All the TLC she can give will keep Brittany going.
