Today was the day of my enlightenment. The boys discovered yoyo’s. Seems oldest (seven) got one at school last year. He wanted to upgrade but mom said too much money. Little brother (4) has to do whatever big brother does. It turns out my husband had a stash of yoyo’s in the office. He had some cheap ones, and a MILLENIUM ADDITION Y-2K special. So it began. Oldest practiced on the cheap one while his little brother spent his whole time rolling his up. Then my husband demonstrated: walk the dog, rock the cradle, around the world, etc.. With eyes wide the oldest took the special edition in his hand and spent the next two hours walking around the house practicing. He can now walk the dog and do some minor tricks. My husband wouldn’t concede ownership of his special edition, which meant a trip to the mall.

Never in my life did I realize there were so many different kinds of yo yo’s. They came in different shapes, colors, with or without ball bearings, with or without noises, lights flashing, designer labels. They cost $8 – $45 . They were sleepers, they were automatic returners, they were tricksters. I had no idea what to buy, but the guy in the store loved my kind of customer. He spun, danced, walked, threw those yo yo’s all over the store. They whistled and flashed and we all stood wide eyed in awe and admiration. We went home with three, one for me, and one for each boy. I feel enlightened. My finger is now permanently indented with a string mark. The boys have already learned to use band aids.

In the course of all this I had to Google yoyo, and learned that the ancient Greeks had them in 2500 BC and that the kind we use now probably came from the Philippines. You can check it out yourself, but things haven’t really changed that much. A yo yo is a yo yo, right? Wrong! It is an eternal phenomenon that keeps kids quiet for HOURS! Go yo yo!

Sunshine

Survival of the fittest!"
We had a bee problem this summer. They decided to do their drinking at the horses waterer and at my patio fountain. We have a nice little pond below the house but they didn't like its temperature as much. The kids couldn't play on the patio, and the horse was hesitant to drink. We moved the fountain outside by the parking lot and covered the horses water for three weeks, watering him multiple times a day with a bucket. Eventually, they moved down to the pond. Two days ago I went out to water my tree and noticed a lot of dark stuff in the defunct fountain. It was thousands of baby tadpoles. Seems the bees abandoned the no longer running water but the local toads found it perfect!

I have a friend visiting from the town I lived in in Australia. It is a small outback town in South Australia on the Eyre Peninsula. He told me that because of the heat, the bees saturate their bodies with water and return to the hive where they fan their wings furiously creating an evaporative cooler for the queen's eggs. I find this all amazing. This same friend was stung over 80 times two years ago when we were hiking at Catalina State Park. We stopped to rest by the stream under a tree, and suddenly were swarmed by bees. I started running up a nearby hill with the dogs, but he just sank under the water, thinking they would move on. They didn't, and since he had to breath, they stung him all over his head, having previously stung his legs and arms. What a mess. In the end I ran back down and dragged him out and he sprinted away with me. They didn't follow us.

I do respect bees and realize how essential they are to our environment, but I am more wary than I used to be. Even the dogs pay more attention when they hear them around.

Sunshine

The last message on this blog was from Dylan, age 7, Tucson, Arizona

igota ballofwacks icanmake cool ships and space ships. i can make a ball iuse it toroll on thegrownd and iusethe ball to boll.

I love the sound of children playing. I'm in the bedroom of our summer cottage checking my email, and the neighbor's trampoline and gym set is inundated with neighborhood children. I come here in the summer because it is in the White Mountains and it is quiet, rainy, and beautiful in July. I thought I might take a nap, but the children came out to play and filled the air with laughter and chatter, screaming and chaos. It was so refreshing. There is no adult anywhere near. The house with the play equipment belongs to a retired couple with ten children and many grandchildren who are currently down in the valley for the birth of a grandchild. But they don't mind, and the kids love to go over. They traipse through our yard and play frantically until someone's mom yells and they have to leave, or until someone gets hurt and they all escort him or her back home to get mom's ministrations. There is something wonderful in the voices of children playing, unfettered, on their own, in the forest air of mid summer.

Sunshine