This morning, an adventure - for Eli's sixth birthday, instead of getting him another toy, I offered to get tickets for the aquarium for him, his mama and Ben. Got them for first thing Monday, thinking it would not be crowded. Ha! As Anna said, we forgot to take end-of-school trips into consideration. When I saw the number of tour busses lined up outside, I knew it'd be crazy- and it was, it was mayhem.
It's a marvellous place, with all manner of fascinating sea creatures and a moving walkway with fish, including sharks and manta rays, swimming not only on both sides but overhead. Amazing - stunning anemones, silky jellyfish, gorgeous specimens, big and small, from everywhere. Ben as usual shrieking, Glammaglammaglamma! pointing to every fish, and there were millions. Eli has been there before but even he was excited. But ye gods, the noise was unbearable. We did not last long. Anna suggests we go back on a Tuesday in November.
Yesterday Ben was sick and his mother was desperate, so I took Eli to a Doors Open place on the waterfront - a fire station that has a rescue boat with giant nozzles for fighting fires at sea, very exciting. And then we played in the sand at the fake beach there and rode our bikes all the way to my house, a long ride for a brand new six-year old. Later, I watched the beginning of the leadership debate at Anna's, and couldn't finish. Excruciating - hearing our own blowhard idiot mini-Trump sing from the Trump playbook: promise them everything with nothing to back up your claims, tell pointed lies about your opponents and your own achievements, et voila, a province for the taking.
I am having trouble getting myself in motion. There's so much to be done, and it's as if I too am floating serenely about in a giant tank. Well, I did do a big talk last week, am teaching and dealing with tenants and floods in my old house, have managed to get the garden in and keep it, so far, alive. I did a fasting blood test that proved I do not have diabetes and finished reading "The Empathy Exams" and took it back to the library on time. So I've managed to slog through the necessaries. But I feel like a lump, thinking of all the things there are to do, including exercise, house clearing, and the next draft of the memoir, and turning instead to FB, or the NYTimes, or a snack.
Maybe it's the heat. Maybe it's this extra kilo or two I seem to have acquired around my belly that makes me uncomfortable.
Maybe I should cut myself some slack.
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