Dolly lures sliding carousel socks in sleepless birthday ritual
“… all day pre-school,” Melika explained.
“All day?” I asked.
“It just means that he stays for lunch and then for a nap.”
“A nap?” I replied. “You actually think he’ll take a nap at school?”
“Rosa said that they all take naps.”
“They all take naps?” I snorted. “Fat chance,” I thought. “Tiger plays me like a drum when I attempt to get him to nap.”
“Can you pick Tiger up at 2:30, Dad?” Melika asked.
“Sure,” I replied. “Rosa, at the school, will be a basket case,” I thought.
“He was great!” Rosa enthused. “They don’t usually sleep the first day, but …”
“Eh?” I (in)articulated.
“Peer pressure works really well. They go to sleep, so he goes to sleep.”
I stared. “He doesn’t go to sleep when I fall asleep,” I thought.
“And ritual.” Rosa continued. “Ritual always works.”
“Hmm,” I replied, thinking of how well ‘ritual’ had worked with Darius.
Flashback: Memphis, Tennessee
For several weeks, Darius had only allowed me to put him to bed. Every night we read the same book (“Fox in Socks&rdquo
, sang the same song (“Hoo He Hoo HaHa Ting Tang Walla Walla Bing Bang&rdquo. Then, one evening in September, I was walking up the stairs with Darius who said:
“I don’t like that book. I don’t like that song. And I don’t like you.”
“And?” I asked.
“I want Mommy to put me to bed.”
End Flashback
“Your ‘ritual’ works all the time?” i replied.
“Of course.” Rosa concluded.
For understandable reasons, this week was focused on me: the birthday boy. Melika and Tom took us to the Santa Barbara Bowl to see Dolly Parton, a 4 foot 11 inch (1.5 meter) dynamo, who has written about 3000 songs (including “I will always love you” and “9 to 5&rdquo. She was great!
We followed this with trips to the Carousel (I let Tiger join us).
and the park where…
“You went down the spiral slide?” Nazy asked.
“Tiger insisted,” I replied.
“He insisted?”
“Yes, he wanted me to have fun during my birthday week so he took me to the park.”
“He took you to the park?”
“Yes.” I replied. “And, unlike you, he did not insist that I visit a wisdom-tooth extracting dentist,” I thought.
On my actual birthday, Nazy surprised me with …
“A pair of socks?” I responded, smiling. “A pair of socks?!” I thought.
“You told me to be frugal because the taxes are due. Those are colorful socks.”
“They’re beautiful.” I replied. “A pair of socks?!” I thought.
“And I’m taking you to dinner at Lure.”
“I like Lure,” I said. “You’re flying to Washington for Shahrzad’s birthday and I get a pair of socks?!” I thought.
“And I’m making you a special birthday cake.”
“Great.” I said. “Will it go with my socks?” I thought.
“Melika may want you to come by her house afterwards to share the cake.”
“Sounds wonderful.” I replied. “And you want me to share my birthday cake?” I thought.
My Facebook friends were active and congratulatory during the day. Darius and Christiane called from Lebanon. Mitra called from Los Angeles. My brother called from Atlanta — and took the opportunity to remind me that I was ‘older than him’. My sisters called.
We left for dinner right after Jeopardy. (Birthday or not, some things are sacrosanct.) When we arrived, the hostess said that they had a table ready.
“That’s unusual,” I thought as we followed her toward the back.
“Surprise!” Nazy shouted as we turned to a private room where Mitra, Stefan, Tom, Melika, Tiger, Arrow, Ali, Nicole and Arya were waiting.
“Were you surprised?” Nazy asked as I sat down in shock.
“Completely,” I replied. “But I shouldn’t have been,” I thought recalling a time in Switzerland….
Flashback: Europe
I called Nazy about a disconcerting email from United Airlines telling me that I could check-in on-line for my flight from LAX to JFK.
“It’s Melika, Nazy.” I complained. “How did she get my frequent flyer number? And why is she going to New York?”
“She’s going to a wedding, Dan. Remember? You said she could use your miles.”
“Wedding?” I thought as I dashed off an email to Melika asking what was going on. She said that Stacy was getting married in New York.
“Stacy the surfer?” I replied. “Didn’t Stacy move to Malibu,” I thought.
“She’s marrying an investment banker and she’s studying for the LSAT.”
“Stacy?” I thought. “Well, have fun,” I replied. “I can’t believe I agreed to this.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Who gets married on a Tuesday?” I thought. Afterwards.
It turns out that the LAX to JFK flight was just Melika’s first leg. She was en route to Zurich where she would join Mitra and Darius for a surprise birthday for me.
End Flashback
Back at Lure, I couldn’t help but notice a very large BOX covered in wrapping paper. I patiently enjoyed my dinner and my dessert (Nazy’s cake), comfortable in the knowledge that it couldn’t be a pair of socks — the box was far too big. The card would have been a tip-off, if anyone had remembered to give it to me before I opened the present.
Nazy, Melika, Marjorie, David, Sandi and Wendy and Darius had all joined forces for a wonderful present - a Celestron 9.25”, computer controlled high quality telescope.
“It rivals the Hubble Space Telescope,” I thought, overwhelmed.
I’ve always wanted a good telescope and this is a great telescope. Nazy and I got it home and assembled. I’ve downloaded the App that controls the instrument. We’ll align it when Nazy gets back and start enjoying. Right now, Mars, Saturn and Venus are very well-placed. Even better, this telescope can find them ‘all by itself’; it’s great!
A couple of days after my birthday, Nazy (tried to) take-off to visit Shahrzad. Predictably, as a United Airlines ‘passenger’, she experienced flight delay, re-routing, exceptionally late arrival, cramped seats, messy airports and a miserable experience. However, she made it to Washington almost the same day she had planned. Finally, channeling a bombastic candidate tweet:
“Extremely reliable sources are telling me that Nazy deserved problems because of her maladroit sock ploy. Sad!”
For last week's letter, click here
A few photos follow:
Arrow getting posture lessons
Nazy and Tiger
