Okay, I left off last time and we had just had our family Christmas. I had also mentioned that young Miss Hazel had acquired “Mooey,” a bouncing cow that had actually been meant for her brother...but he didn’t much notice it...and so now Mooey was serving as her noble steed as she bounded around the house...
As in boing. And in Boing. And in BOING!
Did I mention boing?
Anyway, she was happily ricocheting around the AirB&B when her parents said they needed to do some chores and suggested that Martha and I stay at the house while they and the grandkids went and did what they needed to do.
Hazel, however, was having a grand time with Mooey, so she indicated that she’d like to stay and play...with GrandMa and GrandDad. We said, heck, that would be fine.
Okay, said David and Emily, in that case we’ll just collect up young Mr. Miles and go do our thing.
Except...Mr. Miles really, really likes to be where the action is, and right now, that seemed to be with his sister, so he announced that he’d like to stay at home, too.
Ah...ha? His parents said. They looked at us. Yikes, we thought.
But we squared our shoulders. We could do this. We had been parents once. We were up to the task. So, we said, “Sure! Let’s do it! You too head on. We’ll be here to look after things.”
So, Emily and David were off.
About the photos: First, a couple of shots of plant life I encountered during my time in Marfa. Number one is what I’m told was a phoenix dactylifera, a.k.a., a date palm. I thought it was dramatic in its winter garb. Number two is a Soaptree Yucca, also dramatic in winter.
Second, here’s my obligatory picture of Martha just ‘cause I like it. This is her and our little dog Oreo (alas, gone now) back in 2018, when we still lived in New Mexico.
And, for a while, everything was just ducky. Well, as ducky as you can be anyplace there’s a tireless four year old bounding about the landscape on a rubber cow and occasionally chanting “Moo...Moo...MooEEEE!” and her brother is dashing trying to find any new mischief he hasn’t gotten into yet.
But then...but then...then...
Miles realized that Mom and Dad weren’t anywhere about.
Okay, this is why we’d been a little reluctant to look after both of them. We had run into this a couple of times before. We’d tried to look after Miles, now and then, when his Mom and Dad were out. We knew it *is* possible. Other people have successfully looked after him. Their babysitter had done it. They had a nanny for a short time, and she’d managed it.
But us...
Each time we’d tried, Miles would play happily for a time...and then...and then!...he’d look up, see that Mom and Dad were among the missing, and scream bloody murder with a side order of Jack The Ripper on a bed of fresh air raid siren. We’d always had to call one or both of his parents to, well, come back home and calm him down.
And that was exactly what happened now. All of a sudden...apropos of nuthin’ ...Miles was screeching like a nuclear-powered banshee with twin amps that both registered at Spinal Tap 11. And nothing...absolutely nothing...we did would change matters. We held him. We played with him. We tried to get him interested in videos on our phones and laptops. We danced and sang...or at least I did. Okay, maybe that was NOT a great idea, but it was the best I could come up with on short notice.
No dice. No deal. No nothing. He absolutely refused to be consoled.
Finally, one more dang time, and with sighs of great regret, we called the kids, and they came home. A moment later, Miles was happy as a clam and chirping like a canary. Though how he managed both aquatic and avian characteristics at one time I do not know and will not attempt to understand.
Well, he’s now in his late twos. He’ll be three soon. One of these days, maybe even in a few months, he’ll put up with us on his own. Or we’ll invest in heavy duty ear plugs. Six of one.
Anyway, after a while, the kids decided that they would stay with Hazel and Miles and suggested that, after our adventures that morning, we might like to get out for a while. Maybe have lunch out on our own. We agreed. And so we toddled off.
Little did we know that in a town full of fancy restaurants, we would end up lunching at Dairy Queen.
And really kinda liking it.
More to come.
Copyright©2024 Michael Jay Tucker
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