THEY'RE BACK

Sunday, October 07, 2007

The girls and Don returned this morning. I knew they were back, not because the garage door opened, but because the smells they carried back entered the house in a big black plume. A combination of campfire, sea, beach, food, port-a-potty, and sweat. Even the dogs didn't want to go near anyone... and the dogs eat cat poop, so this is saying something.

The mom gene immediately activated and I am not sure the kids were in the house 2 minutes before they hit bathwater.

We are now in a process of washing or burning the objects that came back from the campout.

But everyone had a great time. Becca made friends and influenced people. She got herself invited to dinner at some other tribe. There was bead-trading and she managed to trade up exclusively. She went boogie boarding till she nearly froze in the Pacific. Sarah hung out with her friend Julia, mostly. She even made some new friends, and loved all the preplanned activities. Don met lots of other dads - in between chasing down Becca, who pretty much went native. Apparently the food was outstanding. When men cook for each other, it's sort of a meatfest. But when upper middle class men cook for each other, it's a filetfest. Wine was uncorked after the kiddies were in bed... note for next time, I suppose. So much for the Y being a dry Christian organization.

I loved Don's characterization of the dads. I am developing an ongoing study of moms around here and it's just interesting to hear about Manculture. There were 2 guys who were sort of alpha males, trying to outdo each other... who's the best cook, who's the friendliest, who's doing the most. Then there were the people in charge of the tribe who were really just running things and making sure everyone was meeting each other and getting involved. And then there were the rest of the dads... who were all pretty much in the same boat, chasing kids, hanging out, walking the beach, putting up tents, getting sore.

I was lonely. But I made the most of it. I got a massage. I bought a skirt and some sandals. I organized the kids stuff for the week. I rented some movies I have been meaning to see, but that Don had no interest in. I read. I wrote a 16 page proposal. I walked the dogs. I watched the news - lots of houses are sliding into a huge sinkhole in La Jolla. That's morbid-cool. I drank 100 ounces of water. I went to the bathroom by myself (often) and didn't lock the door and nobody came in. I resisted the urge to bake, clean, do laundry, or grocery shop.

At one point, I thought the house was being broken into because I heard very loud KERTHUMP coming from the top floor. In fact, it was Gizmo. Sarah had accidentally locked him in her room before they all left. So he was in her room for 12 hours. That was one ticked off kitty.

I discovered I don't really know how to be alone anymore. So these occasions will be good for me. Next one I'm going to plan better.