Birthday paintings stream, holding hands, through Mars
“ … isn’t exactly an overnighter, Dan.” Nazy observed. “You and Arrow will be at Melika and Tom’s while Tiger and I will be here, at our house.”
“And that will be overnight.”
“But not in the same place.”
“But on the same night.”
We did it that way because Arrow won’t sleep the entire night in his “pack and play” (playpen). And, he also won’t sleep all night sharing our bed. Accordingly, I took him to Mel’s where he could sleep in his own bed. (I slept in Tiger’s nearby big-boy bed.) Nazy slept with Tiger, who is not a restful sleeper, at our home.
During the weekend, we noticed that the boys are beginning to enjoy playing with each other. They are becoming friends… as long as Tiger gets to choose what they’ll play and what they’ll play with. Some of his cars, for example, are simply not sharable. On the other hand, they like to hold hands — in my car.
In, addition to Melika’s birthday, March hosts several other special events. This week, for example, Darius is presenting a paper in Albuquerque. Christiane and the Lovely Leandra will return to the USA a short time later and then Darius will celebrate his birthday. (Nazy will just barely miss the March celebrations because, ironically, her birthday is on April Fool’s Day&hellip
“Well, I did marry you, Dan.” Nazy interrupts, thinking of fools.
While Arrow and Tiger were visiting, we noticed that the boys continue to grow and develop. Several weeks ago, I showed Tiger an acrylic cube that contains a (very) small piece of Mars. (For Real.) I explained what it was. Then, weeks later when Nazy saw the cube, Tiger told her that it was a..
“… piece of Mars.”
“Really?” Nazy replied. “How did it get here?”
“A big rock smashed into Mars and broke off a piece that flew all the way to here.”
“When did that happen?”
“A very long time ago.” Tiger replied.
It is amazing to me to see how much this little boy remembers.
Arrow also has an astronomical bent. He has discovered the Moon — and he really likes to look at it. (And ‘Moon’ is one of the words that he can say easily. He also likes ‘EXIT’ signs and, in fact, any sign with letters or numbers. He points out the ‘ivy’ on the stone wall while we’re on our walks.
It’s wonderful watching our grandsons grow up. Nazy and I are also looking forward to seeing Christiane and the Lovely Leandra (the grandest daughter) very soon.
I’ve been encouraging Nazy to get back into regular painting. And, after seeing Tiger’s ‘Rainbow Throw-up’, Nazy was energized. She’s back! This week’s work was commissioned for a children’s room — especially for children that like Giraffes, Zebras, Lions and other large animals. I’m sure that there are more masterpieces in the works.
This week, I’ve been trying to assemble adequate technical skill to replace the (very) overpriced Cox cable TV service. After all..
“Streaming, Nazy, is the new world.” I explained. “Just like cable replaced antennas, streaming is replacing cable.”
“The streaming guru was here while you were exercising, Dan. He said we’ll need an antenna to watch the local news.”
“Sometimes, my dear, the classics persist.” I replied. Hopefully.
It turns out that cable TV and streaming services have a lot in common — both have an infinite number of channels, most of which are showing things I don’t want to see. But I forged ahead. I got the Apple TV working and was able to send my photos and music to the ‘smart’ TV. I got a Roku device connected and brought a subscription for the popular channels including..
“… ABC so that we can watch the Oscars.” I explained. Prematurely.
It turns out that we did have ABC, but not ABC live.. no Oscars and (gasp) no Jeopardy. I reconnected the old cable box, but that didn’t work either. It’s a giant mess. And, by the time I get the stuff that we really want back, I’m not completely certain that we’ll actually save money. I’m..
“… reminded of every time we walked into Swisscom, Nazy.” I explained.
“It cost more.”
“That’s right! A new plan to purportedly optimize our rate always cost more. I think this Roku/DirectTV/streaming/slingshot is more of the same.”
“So it will do less and cost more?”
“Well…”
“And it was your idea?”
“Well..”
“Well done, Dan.”
For last week's letter, please click here
Tiger and Arrow