Burning Man fixes fountain foibles while kindergarten surfs
Nazy and I watched the local grandchildren (Tiger, Arrow and Azelle) while Tom and Melika were away. Before that, however, we needed to fix The Fountain.
When we moved into this house, Nazy immediately saw the need for a fountain on the patio. A year after our move, we got one. It came with a (cost-extra) delivery fee which got the (rather) heavy device into our driveway. We paid the gardener (and a helper) to carry the fountain to the patio.
Nazy and I negotiated on placement…
“But, Nazy, my dear,” I ‘negotiated’, “If we put it here, where I suggest, there is an electric outlet.”
“Yes, but if we put here, where I want it, then it will be in the right place.”
“Yes dear,” I replied. “But it won’t gurgle because there is no electricity over there,” I thought.
“And I’ll call the electrician, Dan.” Nazy concluded. “I like gurgling water.”
We got it running rather quickly after we paid the electrician. And then, the next day, the gurgling fountain began to leak drool. We called the fountain store and, after some wrangling, we got someone to come and look at the problem. He located a missing piece, fixed the fountain and, eh, we paid for his visit. And, following his recommendation, we bought a Bluetooth enabled switch and a fungicide. The fountain worked. For a whole day. And then it started dribbling. We called the fountain store and engaged the handyman to no avail. Then we asked the gardener to help us rebalance the device.
“It needs more water,” he replied.
We topped off the water basin and everything began to work again.
It was a very special week for the local grandchildren. Tiger, who had been a bit wary of the ocean, began surfing lessons. As you can see, he conquered his fear of the ocean and seems to be doing well on the board. In fact, he even got a surfing trophy and…
“I think we should put it on the table by Mommy’s bed, Dan,” he said. “That will be a big surprise for her.”
“That’s true. We could..”
“But maybe we should put it by Daddy’s side. He’s more into trophies.”
“Yep.. or we could take a picture of you and then txt it to both of them.
“Let’s do that, Dan.” Tiger concluded.
Tiger on the Surfboard
As a graduate of pre-school, we took Tiger to see his new Kindergarten classroom and teacher. He was brave but cautious .. until they started asking him questions about letters, numbers, shapes and words. He did great.. and reminded me of a similar interview/situation …
Vancouver, Canada
1984
“I’m terribly sorry, but we’ve found that children from America — especially those from the southern states — are simply too far behind for St. Georges School,” the headmaster explained in a (more than) haughty, but still fake, British accent.
“Surely you have some kind of test,” I replied while Nazy seethed.
“It would be harmful for the child’s ego,” Mrs. (Dick)headmaster replied.
“I think that Mitra is pretty resilient.”
Mitra, predictably, breezed through the exam and was accepted to the school. As we left, I asked her about the test.
“It was easy, Daddy. But, you know: they can’t spell color.”
We didn’t go to St. George’s because Mitra refused to wear a uniform and bloomers.
End Flashback
And, while Tiger was preparing for kindergarten, Arrow was going to pre-school — for the first time without Tiger. But, he was promoted from Starfish to Shark and was making the transition from half-day to full-day. His teachers report that he is doing very well. He’s the youngest in his class and he’s the only one who really wants to learn how to tell time from a clock — one with (big and little) hands not digits. He also really enjoys his swimming lessons.
And, young Azelle, now a certified walker, wants to do everything the boys do. If they jump on the trampoline, she wants to jump on the trampoline. If they push big cars around the living room, she pushes big cars around the living room.
Darius, Christiane, (the lovely) Leandra and (the astounding) Auriane continue to enjoy their stay in Lebanon where the girls continue to grow meaning that…
“… the flight back to the USA will not be particularly easy,” I thought.
Luckily, Darius has paternity leave for the entire fall semester.
“It’s lucky,” I thought, “because that’s how long it would take me to recover from a flight like that.”
For last week's letter, please click here
The Grandchildren (Leandra and Auriane) in Lebanon
Darius and Leandra