Feels like Summer

Although our recent heat wave is over and we're back to the Weather Worth Paying For here in Houses Are Insanely Priced (Still), CA, I'm feeling summer nibbling around our household's edges. Barbecues sound good. Felafel is making a return to the menu. The kids are starting to ask if local watermelons are in yet. At night, enough sunlight comes in around the edges of the little ones' blinds that bedtime is starting to seem arbitrary and for the convenience of the grownups. Of course, that's utterly true. . .

At any rate, we're also fortunate to have as friends a family who love to take their friends kayaking. So last weekend, the younger three Things and I met them at the American River. Good times were had by all, and Thing 3 asked, "Can we get one of those boats?" I think more experience is a good idea first.

Here's my son being ferried across some rapids by friend Mike:


And now his big sister:


The baby offered to paddle me around a stream for a while, so I let her:


It's been a long time since I've had that much fun. Also, these friends are pretty much the parents I want to be, so being around them is a combination of fun, relaxing like a spa, and inspiring. Good day.

I may have announced before that I'm changing beehive types again. The top-bars are interesting, and I am delighted with their cost basis, but managing bees in them is a higher-input job than I'm willing to do. So I drove out to a beekeeping factory and got a whole whack of woodenware. My nephews and my kids nailed most of them together yesterday. Hopefully all of the boxes (called "deeps" and "mediums") will get painted today, and we'll move the bees Friday. By "we," I mean me, Thing 2, now the proud owner of a child-sized suite, and whoever else I can rope into helping. It's going to be a tough day, I think.


Work has me over a barrel, but slacking on schoolwork is helping a little bit. Yesterday, with the company of my sister, her children, and some of mine, I ran for 45 minutes. Who would have thunk it? Apparently I run well in company. And I got past one repeat on the sock!


So now there's just those pesky sleeves, more grading of many papers, some housework, and 1 7/8th socks between me and the Kauni cardigan. Seems totally doable.

Some day.