Entry #13

Entry #13

Tuesday, October 4

The kids went on their first field trip today to the Bayou. I’m told they’ll be going on an air boat, which sounds incredibly fun. I remember going on one as a kid while visiting my parents in Florida.

 Instructions for this field trip included packing lunches that were completely disposable. Aidan commented that this is the exact opposite of what the kids were told to do at their former school, where “waste-free” lunches were the primary goal. So, for the first time ever, I packed sandwiches in plastic bags and put those into a larger plastic zip-lock bag. They couldn’t even take their water bottles, and I don’t buy disposable water bottles. Guess they’ll have to scoop up some mucky water from the swamp if they get thirsty.

I wonder if they’ll see any crocodiles.

2:00 p.m. Just returned home to find a bright orange notice attached to our freestanding basketball goal. It included a warning that we have 15 days to remove it from the cul-de-sac (despite the fact that it doesn’t block cars and we have virtually no traffic here ever). David put it where he did with hopes of bringing the neighborhood kids together, but we’ve obviously received a complaint from some mysterious neighbor and now have to put it somewhere out of sight (at least 20 feet away from the driveway).

Noah and Aidan seem to be the only kids who actually play outside. Where are all the kids in this 'hood? I know they live here...We haven’t even seen, let alone met, the two teenage boys who live next door. 

4:00 p.m. The kids are zonked from driving an hour-and-a-half each way to the Bayou. Noah said the air boat ride was rather anticlimactic, since it went about “five miles per hour,” but they did see one crocodile resting on a log and a wayward armadillo that they thought must’ve been blind or deaf because it wouldn’t get out of the way.

 Aidan didn’t ride in a boat, but rather had a walking tour, which he seemed to enjoy. Both kids were parched because I hadn't packed disposable drinks for them. Seems I’ll have to hunker down and buy some plastic bottles of water or juice next time. If I have to choose between my kids getting dehydrated or contributing to our ever-growing landfill, I’ll get the darn drinks, though it does pain me to do so. I just don't understand why reusable containers are not permitted. It's a throwaway culture here.

 5:00 p.m. Since my parents are coming soon, I thought I would do some research to find out what special events might be happening. The weekend prior to their arrival is the East Texas Poultry Festival in Center, Texas Reds Steak & Grape Festival, the International Accordian Festival and the Nineteenth Johnson City Pig Roast, Old Sorehead Trade Days and the Scarecrow Festival, among other Texan festivities. They will, however, be in town for the Conroe Cajun Catfish Festival, the Delta County Chiggerfest, and the Fayetteville Lickskillet Days. So much to do, so little time...

Wednesday, October 5

While taking Izzie for a walk this morning, I let her “fly and be free” on the empty soccer field near the kids’ school. A group of men, apparently park rangers, warned me that Izzie needed to be on a leash. Where in the world would she go? The place is EMPTY all the time. I said I’d just gotten here from California and pleaded ignorance. Good thing I didn’t get cited—it does happen. Now Izzie will be bummed that she can’t run wild at that field anymore.

Everything is so constrained here—leash laws, basketball goal laws...what will we find next? An ordinance for manditory Halloween displays? I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough.

2:00 p.m. While walking Izzie around the neighborhood, I thought I’d go down a different street for a change of scenery. Many front lawns are studded with sports-related signs, but the one I saw today made me stop and stare. It read, “Please pray for the end of abortion.”

I’m not surprised that people around here are against abortion; I was just surprised to see this viewpoint so blatantly advertised. So it’s against the law here to have a basketball goal in front of our house, but it’s perfectly okay to post a billboard shouting out extremist viewpoints. Got it. 

2:30 p.m. David asked if I’d get him some Peet’s Coffee, which happens to be sold at the local Kroger grocery store. (Thank you, Kroger, on behalf of my French Roast-addicted spouse.) I was happy to find a new blend, one named after the very Peet’s store I frequented in Berkeley. It’s called Peet’s Café Solano, “named after our beloved café established in 1990 on Solano Avenue in Berkeley, California.” I was so excited to find a taste of Berkeley at the local grocery store! I didn’t buy it, though, because it was only available pre-ground and David’s a purist—he likes grinding the beans himself. Still...

Thursday, October 6

Today is a bittersweet one. It’s Izzie’s first birthday, which is certainly worth celebrating. She’s now crashed out on the floor looking like a “Shake n’ Bake” dog (i.e., got drenched swimming in the lake then coated herself by rolling in sand).  I think we might celebrate by getting her officially groomed (her neck is looking kinda gray from getting her black collar wet so often).

Turned on the computer (my Apple computer, that is), to find out that Steve Jobs had passed away. While I’ve read that he’s been suffering from pancreatic cancer and that he had a liver transplant, he somehow seemed invincible.

"The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented." —President Obama

“Rembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything—all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure—these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart...Stay hungry. Stay foolish." —Steve Jobs, Stanford University commencement address, June 2005

I didn’t know him personally, but I do know that he made an extraordinary impact on the world. In our household alone, we have an iMac laptop, an Apple desktop computer, two iPads, two iPods, two iPhones. We are a direct product of Steve Jobs’ artistic vision. And to think I call myself a luddite...

A performance artist named Mike Daisey put on an impressive one-man show called The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs at the Berkeley Rep last spring, and I was lucky enough to see it. Daisey portrayed Steve Jobs as both an artistic genius and not-so-admirable fellow, especially after describing the city in China where Apple products are now assembled (they were originally manufactured in the U.S.). Regardless, it was interesting to learn more about the man behind the products, and he showed that one person can, in fact, change the world.

Here are some other notable quotes:

Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains." —BusinessWeek interview, May 1998

Picasso had a saying: 'Good artists copy, great artists steal.' We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas...I think part of what made the Macintosh great was that the people working on it were musicians, poets, artists, zoologists and historians who also happened to be the best computer scientists in the world." —Steve Jobs, 1994

You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." —Standford University commencement address, June 2005

Sunday, October 9

It’s John Lennon’s birthday today. I’ve always liked the fact that his birthday was the day before mine. His famous quote, “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans” is pretty much the story of my life.

Yesterday was Yom Kippur, so I didn’t write on my blog (was too spaced out from fasting, to be honest). It was also my Papa Al’s birthday and the day my dear friend, Michele Mason’s memorial service was held.

Michele died of cancer two months ago. She was one of those rare souls who really devoted her life to making the world a better place, especially for babies and children, and was a great friend.

When she found out I was moving to the Houston area, she immediately sent me a link to the YouTube video, “Pole Dancing for Jesus,” an actual place in Old Spring, about a half hour away from here. (I have yet to check it out, alluring as it may sound). She had a great sense of humor.

Here’s a poem she sent me just this past April by Jean Vanier:

In the path of our existence there are times of obstacles, rocks barring the road.

If these obstacles appear too great or if we through fatigue or other reasons, are deflated,

then we sit and weep unable to advance, unable to return, some failure has damaged our élan: an unfaithful friend, failure in exams, in work. We no longer feel that blossoming dynamism. We carry our bodies like lumps of lead, like lumps of lead. We slumber into a world of disillusionment, apathetic, listless.

But then comes change. Winter changes to spring. We meet a friend. We rest.

Forces awaken in our bodies. Life seems to surge once more, as the morning sun:

calm, unswerving, certain, never faltering.

I thought about her during Yom Kippur services and mentioned her family's names when it came time to pray for healing. While we were saying this prayer, it began to pour. The weather was sunny only minutes before, and it rained for a good ten minutes, then stopped as abruptly as it started. 

At services, the man sitting in front of me was wearing a yarmulke with a longhorn logo on it (for University of Texas’s football team). Classic.

We went to a very nice family’s home for break fast (not breakfast, but rather "breaking the fast"). The parents are the aunt and uncle of one of Aidan's Berkeley preschool classmates. They just returned from spending three years in Jakarta, and their house is filled with amazing mementos of their time spent there. The father is a geologist, so there are amazing rocks there, in addition to sculptures and batik textiles. He referred to this area as “The Fascist Republic of The Woodlands.” 

The mom was making an Indonesian dish with beef, so I offered to make something vegetarian. I ended up making Pad Thai, which calls for tofu, but since we’re in carnivore country, I though the rubbery white cubes might look like unsavory foreign objects. I ended up putting it in anyway, and because I happened to have some in my fridge. To my surprise, two kids at the table said, “Is this tofu? I LOVE tofu!” It was a big hit, oddly enough. Go figure.

 Under the dinner table, the family’s two dachshunds came around to visit. One in particular enjoyed Noah, or more specificially, his left foot, which she proceeded to hump indefinitely. Noah was pretty amused by it, though. Noah’s size 12 foot is basically the same length as the dachsund.

Monday, October 10

Before falling asleep last night (or rather this morning at 2:00 a.m.), I realized that I am exactly the same age my mom was when I graduated from college. I met David shortly after graduating, and in some ways still feel like I’m that age, only I’m not. It’s been 25 years since I graduated. How’d that happen?

In The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion talked about the fact that she always perceived her husband as the age he was when she met him, and vice versa. I had just turned 22 when I met David and he was 25. Obviously, my perception is warped, which is why last night’s realization was such a startling wake-up call.

Noon: My parents came to visit today and it’s interesting to see The Woodlands from their perspective. We went to Chuy’s for dinner because the kids have really wanted to go back there. When we arrived, David walked in and announced that Noah had no shoes, which means he couldn’t come into the restaurant. (“No shirt, no shoes, no service.”) Noah realized, too late, that we drove off with his flip-flops on the top of David’s car.

So David sat down, passed his shoes to my dad, who walked back to the car and had Noah walk in with them, while David’s naked feet remained hidden beneath the table.

While my parents aren’t huge fans of Mexican food, Chuy’s is a fun Tex-Mex experience. My dad ordered “The Elvis,” which came with a “side of Priscilla,” which was a taco of some sort with queso sauce.

 At the very end, David told the waiter that it was my birthday, and he brought out a scoop of rock-hard vanilla ice cream with a “Mexican candle” in it—a thin tortilla strip. I guess it ignites because of its oil content. Pretty clever. I made a wish. Sure hope it comes true.

Tuesday, October 11

Upon arriving home last night, Noah went looking for his flip flops. He came back with one that had apparently gone for a joy ride atop David’s car, only to flop off (flip?) a few streets away. This morning Noah spotted the other shoe in the middle of Woodlands Parkway, a very busy, three-lane each way street with no parking on either side. How in the world was I going to retrieve this lone flip flop without getting us killed?

I spun a u-turn, drove around, slowed down to where the shoe was, and just before the light turned green behind me, opened the door and got that darned flip-flop. Actually, the cars were already swerving around me by the time I picked it up. So glad I didn’t see that until afterwards, though, or I would’ve been fearing for our lives. I’m amazed we didn’t get smushed like an accordian, all because of a worn-out flip flip with is now somewhat flatter than it originally was, having been run over by at least a thousand cars since last night.