There is a
knack to playing with little kids that requires big people to leave
their safe and secure adult world, filled with all its pragmatism and
logic, and journey to a place where the nonsensical is allowed to
flourish, and the only thing that really matters is fun. Having never
quite grown up, the journey for me is never a long one, though, it's a
journey I don't often get a chance to take.
Business
took me to Virginia recently and I found the time to spend with Jennifer
and her son, Nathan, and I was able to take that far too infrequent
trip.
Nathan and his mom picked me up bright and early on a
warm and sun-filled morning. We didn't make any specific plans, and
seeing that Jenny was driving, I left it up to her to find our first
destination. I grabbed my dark glasses, threw some baseball caps in my
camera bag, and we were off.
She was in a "peach-mood" which made our
first destination a quick and easy choice - the farmers' market. The
peach-man had sold out by the time we arrived, but we did buy some herbs
and talked to the honey-man.
The writer's curiosity got the best of me and Nathan's
reporter Mom, and we had fun learning about the various flowers bees
choose, and the type of honey that comes from each. The honey-man
enjoyed educating us in the ways of the bees and the fruit of their
labors, and he let us sample the many types of honey he had.
Nathan's only question was, "we get zum distuf?"
"Yes, Nathan", Mom replied, "we'll get some of this
stuff." Nathan got his honey in a Winnie-the-Pooh squeeze jar
that would be the delight of any going-on-four-year-old. His frustration
turned to anger when we didn't have anything to cut the top open with.
Nathan wanted to sample his honey right now! I did too.
The newspaper office that Mom worked at was just a
short walk away, and so, we were off on a quest to find scissors. We
found our scissors and lots more at the news room. Nathan played Lou
Grant to my Clark Kent, and wrote his name and other stuff on the
computer that all made sense to him and me in our make-believe world.
Mom wasn't so sure, but encouraged him just the same.
We wandered through the Saturday emptiness of the
usually busy office, and had soda and snacks while we wore our caps and
talked baseball. The day still had many hours left in it so we were off
once again.
Fredericksburg, Virginia is a wonderful town for
wandering up and down the streets, meandering through the many stores
and shops, and just sitting and watching the people pass. We did all
that and more as Nathan and Jennifer helped me rediscover my adopted
home, and show me the things and places that are important to them.
Nathan took us into the early childhood learning
center. He and I sat on the floor and played while Jenny went off and
did the mom-type things mothers do when they go to such places. I helped
Nathan figure out some of the games and puzzles knowing all the while I
was learning more than he was that day.
The day was hot and we all agreed it was time for ice
cream. The little Hanzel and Gretelish shop by the river was perfect.
None of us could decide what flavor we wanted, and we mulled over the
flavor list for a long time. There are some decisions that you don't
make in haste. The flavor of your ice cream cone is one of them. Mom
remembered the napkins.
"Tumenie!", Nathan insisted,
"Nathan, it's not too many", his mother replied, "You
and John-Boy are both sloppy."
We sat on the dock by the river with our ice cream
cones playing Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, watching the river and
the day flow by. Mom played a left-out Becky Thatcher while Huck and I
tried to catch fish with bits of cookies, and twigs and leaves that had
fallen into the river.
When mom locked the keys in the car, Nathan helped me
hunt for the sticks we would need to break-in and rescue them. Nathan
found just the right stick and Jenny worried about the new social
skill I was teaching her son. Though, when she thought about what a
long walk home it would be to get the spare set of keys, she was
thankful for the street education I could pass on to her
son.
Jenny noticed the gas gauge sitting on empty and
stopped to fill up. She got out to
pump while Nathan and I stayed in the car and talked guy-stuff, both
agreeing that he has a pretty awesome mom!
On the way home Nathan put on his mother's neon
sunglasses and pretended to be John-Boy. For one who has not yet found
time for marriage and a family it was pretend time for me too. I was
celebrating my own private Father's Day. It was only
make-believe, but, I liked it.
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