(08/11/12) Family Celebration

 

A lazy morning today after my requested "Sutter Sleepover" night. Our routine is to let him settle and then I unhook his collar and brush out his entire chest and neck with a brush. He sleeps like a baby. Having his furry orange back pressed against the full length of my spine while I dream feels like a hot water bottle. When he decides he's done for the day, he is placid as can be but he does kick his legs and whimper in his sleep, so dear. Of course, as soon as he "detects" someone is awake, he is whining and squealing and digging us out from under the duvet. He does not wake up slowly.

We drank coffee, ate a very late breakfast, read in bed, played hall-ball (tennis ball fetch in the house pitched down the hallway from our bed) and generally lazed around until it was time to get ready to leave. Left Frederick around 2 PM in parents' car with Dad driving and the dog snuggled between George and I in the backseat. Emily had asked that he come along for the visit, so crammed in the backseat we rode.

Mom had made/ prepped our dinner this morning. When we got down there, I had to wait with the dog on the stoop so Emily could finish wrapping presents. Finally let inside, Sutter made a big impression on my sister's two cats, Pearl and Juno! Mom cooked while Emily and I wandered her house chatting and looking at what's changed. Emily decorates and re-decorates frequently, switching pieces to other rooms and retiring others to her basement, a fluid process. I have found myself the lucky recipient of a few things that she tired of that are now proudly displayed in our house. My philosophy differs from hers in that I build an ultimate vision and add pieces slowly, content to let a wall be empty until I find the things that are meant to ultimately be there. After 7-8 years of living here, most of the walls are full and I have begun to make changes and shifts of pieces. Emily has one wall in her house that I love, in the living room. The pieces have changed over time, but the space is huge and she has it filled and balanced nicely. I covet the cat in the middle, a silkscreen designed by Marushka. 

After our dinner of corn on the cob, field greens salad, grilled steak kabobs and potato salad, my parents cleaned up and Emily, Jeff, George and I took a walk with Sutter over to Patterson Park. Back when Emily first moved in, we actually found a cache high in a hole in a tree up near the Pagoda. We didn't walk that far today, only going to the Duck Pond.

What a neat, unexpected urban space! Water lilies, cattails and a boardwalk made this quite the oasis. The natural depression of the land and the growth of the plants made it possible to disregard the fact that you are completely surrounded by the city. We enjoyed our walk and watched the water, murky from recent rains, for little fish. We did see two 12+ inch carp, one orange, one white, swimming at the water's edge. On a past walk, Jeff saw a Blue Heron, walking atop some benches, but none today. Unexpectedly, it started to rain. Jeff has checked his weather app on his phone before we left and there was no rain forecast. So, we hid out under a tree, waiting to see if this was just a momentary shower. Along came an ice cream truck down a park path and wouldn't you know it, but my sister knows the driver! The truck stopped and a free ice cream cone came out the window! We passed the cone around, but by this point we were soaked. We called Dad to come and get us and dashed for the edge of the park. We made it back to Emily's house, but needed dry clothes for a surprise... so Emily's boyfriend hooked us up with some dry duds while ours tumbled downstairs on the "High Heavy" setting. Well friends, I can now saw that I have worn my sister's boyfriend's boxer shorts. Sigh. 

Changed into dry clothes, we trooped downstairs for presents and cake. My mom is amazing and made us a gluten-free birthday cake, chocolate with peanut butter icing. All four young people are gluten-free at the moment, so it was perfect. Dad is allergic to chocolate and does not like peanut butter, but he was gracious and skipped dessert. I can honestly say that you truly could not tell it was gluten-free. I do not know why there were 7 candles. I am 32 and Emily is 28. I cannot figure out that math...

Emily gave me a few pieces of Native American pottery for my collection, nifty big earrings, a multi-strand necklace and a Maurice Sendak print for my office that she found at a thrift store. From me, she got two pairs for earrings I found in thrift stores on our trip, two pairs of earrings from a Navajo craftswoman I met at Crazy Horse and a pair of Yogo Sapphire earrings. Originally, I had wanted to get a pair for myself, but when we got to the store, I decided to buy them for Emily instead. Emily gave George a Best Buy gift card and we all had a laugh remembering the Christmas a few years ago when Emily went to buy George's Best Buy gift card and the only ones they had left were "Happy Birthday" gift cards. Clever Em took a black sharpie and added to the front design so that the card read "Happy Birthday Baby Jesus". My parents gave George a Redskins t-shirt which he opened proudly and announced "we are currently undefeated". Sigh. They also got him an electric leaf blower. Ah yes, the "grown-up present" giving has truly begun. Do you remember that first gift that made you happy but was not "fun" at all? What was it?

The last gift was actually for my mom and it was a surprise that everyone was "in on" except for (obviously) her. We were originally going to have dinner on a weeknight, but Emily found out that a bluegrass band that my mom loves was going to be playing on the 11th. Emily got my mom to change the date and when Mom called to tell me, I was a poop about it. Em bought the tickets and mom opened them and was like "Oh, how nice - I love these guys". And she asked when we were going and we said tonight in ten minutes. Mom was so excited! The venue - The Patterson - was right up the street from my sister's house so we walked! It was pretty small, about 120 seats, so it was an intimate concert. The Honey Dewdrops played with local, Caleb Stine, and other people came up from the audience to join them for various songs with other instruments. The second half of the show was a neat twist - they played the entire Beatles' album "Please Please Me" from 1963. It was a hoot to hear bluegrass crooners hitting high falsettos and playing guitar notes on a mandolin and harmonica. My mom was thrilled that (1) she got a surprise (2) she got to see one of her favorite groups perform and (3) her family was together. I also bought her two new CDs to take home. 

We got home very, very late, but I was glad that George decided to come with us. I tucked him in and set out his bathroom stuff and coffee for the morning. The little note I left by his mug to find in the wee dark hours when he awakens for work read "I had such a good time tonight. Thank you for being there." Thank you for always being there.