It was a great Fourth - just my speed.
We went to our son’s house in Providence. Although not technically a house.
He and his family live upstairs in the carriage house he renovated behind the three-family he also owns. When he bought the property, it was so rickety, almost a shell, that it was held up with guywires bolted to the ground.
It’s come a long way.
the day on the patio he’s just put in – in back of the house next door, which he also purchased this spring. At the time, the back yard had one scrabbly tree and a rich variety of junk. New sod, new fence, and a boatload of plantings later, you’d barely know you were in the heart of the city. Except, that is, for the neighbors packed in around you.
Highlights:
Renewing our acquaintance with the two little-ies from the
other side of the family and remembering the exhaustion and hyper-awareness of having
to constantly protect the under-3 set from themselves.
Watching our twin 6 year-old granddaughters trying to evade
the annoying presence of their 3 year-old cousin who tried so very hard to join
in whatever they were doing. I kept imagining them all in their twenties,
recalling this.
Welcoming a new companion for a family member who has certainly
earned some joy in his life.
Learning my knees no longer appreciate hopscotch.
And facing the highways with trepidation, which turned out
to be eerily quiet. We must have threaded the needle between everyone else’s
arrival and departure to their destinations, and got to our own front door before darkness hit.
Glad to hear it was so successful!!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds wonderful. You are very brave even attempting hopscotch. I don't know which bits of me would object first - and loudest.
ReplyDeleteMy efforts were very short-lived.
DeleteThe perfect day, three year old included.
ReplyDeleteI learned about carriage house when I visited my daughter in Chicago. Many of the old mansions are still left.
ReplyDeleteHis late-1800s house is far from a mansion, although in its glory days it had been a funeral home and then was converted into a 3-family. Thus the carriage house to, I guess, house the funeral carriages and horses.
DeleteSounds like a great day. my joints would be fine with the hopscotch, but my breathing might not be, I'd probably cough a lot after.
ReplyDelete