At the end of the school day today, Huck begins what he calls a Ten Day Weekend.  Now that he goes to a “continuous learning calendar” school, he and his classmates have “intercession weeks” throughout the year since they start in early August and end in early June.  I’m taking a vacation week to be with him, and favorite friends from New York and Austin are coming to join in on the fun, too.  I can’t help but notice that life is a series of special occasions (Our beloved NYC Chad just came to town!  Troy just did a First Thursday concert!), and Huck has inherited my habit of savoring the moments leading up to them.  This morning after my 6:00 alarm I climbed into bed with him as usual to gently wake him up.  With his morning breath filling the space around us, he excitedly began describing everything he wants to do beginning the second he arrives home today until he goes to bed tonight.  This child will appreciate every second of his time off from school, even the boring ones, and I will try to keep up with him. 

The other night you may have noticed a large moon that slowly disappeared and then became red.  Our family set up the chiminea in the front yard and mingled with neighbors as we marveled over the sight above us. I told Huck that the last time this happened Dad and I were 12 years old.  The next time this happens we will be 63 and Huck will be 28.  If I’m not careful, that night is going to sneak up on me and before I know it I’ll be doing some basic math in my head, amazed at how young the three of us are right now.  If I know me, I won’t be able to stop talking about it all day.  There will be lots of, “Can you imagine being 45 again?” and “Huck was TEN? We used to have a TEN YEAR OLD?”  So I’ve decided to savor these slow days and fast years and stop calling myself old.

As Huck waited for his carpool to pick him up this morning, he decided to mark the end of the first quarter of 5th grade by cleaning out his messy binder.  He left a pile of papers to save and kissed me goodbye with anticipation for this next special occasion of ours. After he left I found this “Starry Night” inspired poem he wrote among the papers, and I decided to start the day with it.