I feel
like I need to kick things off by sharing a disclaimer for the
following ramble through my stream of consciousness: I’ve noticed that my brain
just doesn’t have the capacity these days for anything fancy, like a prettily-phrased
“introduction” or a coherent “story structure” (because TWENTY
TWENTY). Therefore what you’re gonna get basically amounts to a mental
file cleanout containing the latest batch of…recent stuff that’s
happened…with lots of love from my little pandemically isolated island to
yours. (There, you’ve been warned…here we goooooo!)
So we’re
a couple of weeks into the Fall semester’s version of what school will
look like, and so far things seem to be chugging along pretty well. Derek took
himself back to South Carolina to attend classes--even though his are all
happening online, at least he gets to catch up with his friends and enjoy the
university’s amenities…until the campus shuts down, anyway.
This was
also the first time he’d driven himself down in August, which
I’ve gotta admit was a little weird…for his mother. But he IS a Junior this
year, so it seemed like a fine time to let him take care of his own
business…stocking his apartment, ordering his books…and
also hopefully continuing to exhibit the safe and responsible public
health behavior that became somewhat second nature during his
quarantined time in Casa WestEnders. (Fingers. Crossed…)
Meanwhile
in the K-12 department, Riley met with his teachers in
cyberland, got a taste of how his virtual AP courses are going
to proceed, and figured out the “asynchronous learning” piece that is
supposed to hold everything together (Incidentally, I adore that term: a
multisyllabic, nerdy way of saying “time you’re supposed to spend on
assignments while not physically logged into an official instructional
session”. Wait a second…my explanation was even more complicated,
wasn’t it? No wonder it resonates with me…)
Honestly,
his Senior year somewhat resembles college, if you think about it:
Monday and Thursday he has 4 subjects, with a mixture of in-person and
on-your-own format, from 9-3:45. Then Tuesday and Friday he does the same thing
with his other 2 classes, but is finished by noon. And Wednesday is reserved
for whatever else you need to get done, be it reading,
homework, reviewing materials your teachers have sent, studying,
organizing…napping…bingeing SportsCenter…(Hey, checking in with
one’s mental health totally counts as a valid educational
exercise these days, amiright?)
In the
midst of all this, his birthday also rolled around—which of
course in Coronatimes meant a very different kind of celebration than usual.
First of all, since it happened to fall on that free-form Wednesday I mentioned
before, he…took himself to get an overdue haircut. Which I guess was
rewarding in its own way, like “I’m old enough to drive myself to Great Clips,
tell them what I want, and pay for it, independent of parental involvement?”
Eh, he seemed pleased enough with the experience, so let’s just go with that…
Also on
the anniversary of his birth, he got…cards. Now, if this seems
lame, keep in mind that once Riley plows full-speed-ahead into what we call his
“academic mode”, all of his time and attention is laser-focused on
scholarly pursuits, and he prefers to confine, let’s say “recreational
activities” to the weekends. Thus we were utterly unable to get him to
formulate clear directives on such topics as “What would you like for a present?”
or “What can we make you for your special dinner, or dessert?”
The best he could do was “I’ll think about it on Saturday, okay?”
He’s also
difficult to buy gifts for, in general, but fortunately I did have a
brainstorm: I suggested that we set up an appointment at our local Fleet
Feet store for one of their custom foot scans, after which I’d
purchase him some fresh running sneakers based on the analysis
and their recommendations.
He agreed
that this sounded perfect, so we visited our favorite shoe specialists and
found out that…his feet are very similar to mine (super-high arches being the
predominant feature). Not surprisingly, then, he preferred a squishy sole (just
like yours truly)…and also ended up with the same inserts I use, to provide
extra stability and support. And as a bonus treat (mostly for me, the person
who’d be shelling out the moolah for the swanky new gear), we discovered that
they offer a 20% discount to student athletes who participate on their school’s
cross-country team…yaaayyyy!
Finally,
because he was in a relaxed leisure-time state of mind, I even got him to
consider getting takeout for a belated bday dinner. He sheepishly admitted that
he was in the mood for Chipotle--which is one of the standard go-to
establishments that we patronize on a frequent basis. I think he might have
been afraid I was, I don’t know, tired of eating the same
delicious salad that I always get? But I’m NEVER going to turn down a
chance to have yummy food that’s been prepared by someone else, so…burritos and
ensalada, FTW!
That’s
about it…a pretty quiet end of August, all-in-all. Looking forward to the Labor
Day hiatus, and Summer weather lightening up a little bit, maybe? C’mon, how
are we supposed to enjoy pumpkin spice…everything…if it’s still hot and muggy?
Sure, I CAN do iced coffee with Fall flavors in a pinch,
but there’s just something a little bit wrong with that. So,
to what deity do I owe a sacrifice, to speed up the delivery of some cooler
temps, crisper air, and Autumn vibes…’cuz I’ll be ALL OVER IT, folks!
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