BrainStream: The Fourth and Friends

It occurs to me that I haven't written about me of late and have been using this site to record instances of prior art. So here's a little tidbit.

I am immensely enjoying fatherhood. Though I'm much more tired than I would like to be, it's not nearly as bad as I was expecting. Most of that is due to my wonderful wife who lets me sleep through the night. I'm normally a light sleeper but have managed to train my brain to shut out the nightly feedings with an emergency switch-on for when I detect Kirky's frustration level rising or an increase in the volume of my son's wails. Or maybe it's just that I'm so damn tired.

But seriously....my son spoils us. He is quick to calm though sometimes figuring out what will sooth him is a crap shoot. Change in position? pacifier? black-and-white bullseye side of his whoosit? bouncing? tummy time? Though one thing that always works is food. The breast is the world's best and fastest pacifier.

It's been amazing watching him over the past few weeks. He's about six weeks old and he's already holding his head up with surprising control. He's smiling more and more each day, & learning to imitate people - mostly when they stick their tongue out at him. Last night we played a game of "silly noises" where he'd make a funny sound, I'd imitate it and he'd repeat me. We did that for almost 5 minutes...it was great.

This past weekend we took him on his first road trip. We drove 7 hours to Melissa's house in Toms River, NJ. This was the same place we all had gathered for the Book 5 summit and I couldn't imagine a more low-key, relaxing place for Will's first vacation.

OK, maybe "low-key" wasn't the correct phrase but it was still relaxing. Melissa invited us down to spend the 4th with her family & family friends and it was a blast. Melissa's mother is an amazing hostess and we watched as she flawlessly directed carloads of people coming in and out of her house at all hours. There was always food to be had from munchies to dogs and burgers to goodies from Melissa's uncle's bakery, (the canoles and sugar-free cheesecake was to die for), to the crabs I caught with Melissa's "cousin" Joe that were marvelously cooked on the grill by his and Melissa's father with a wonderful garlic sauce. That was the other thing - the house was constantly full of the delectable aroma of roasted garlic. Absolutely amazing.

There was other things besides the food - but it's always about the food. ;)

Another highlight was getting to "teach" Joe how to fish as its something I haven't done in years & pulled the knowledge from goodness knows where. We didn't catch anything but besides learning something new, Joe seemed to enjoy the meditative nature of casting.

We spent a lot of time in the pool as my sunburn proves. I waited a tad too late to put on sunblock and now have a pink hue about me. "I don't burn" Ha, ha, ha....maybe 10 years ago when I actually spent summers outside. I don't think I've spent that much time outdoors since my honeymoon - which is pretty pathetic.

The night of the fourth all we had to do is sit on Melissa's back patio to see fireworks. She's right on the bay and there were 360 degrees of color all around us - it was great not having to go out or even move from ones chair to see the display.

Probably the highlight of the weekend was seeing Melissa and Megan with Will. It's important to me to surround my son with friends of mine who are educated, funny, open-minded, & intelligent and I couldn't imagine a better pair to foist him upon. We all took some great pictures of him that I'll get up on his site soon.

I also had the honor of eavesdropping while Melissa and Meg worked on their next joint project - a play. I don't think I've really said enough of how talented Melissa is as a reporter and Meg is as a writer. Watching them plot, plan and pen is as much fun as reading the stuff they produce. I can't wait to see this show on Broadway - it's going to be a hit. While Melissa's been churning out copy, it won't be long before Meg has several books published. Mark my words - they're going to be famous if I have anything to say about it.

Before I part, permit me to be overly sappy. I want to say how lucky I am to have such great friends. Kirky and I aren't really actively social people. Most of my friends come from the Internet with my various hobbies and we don't get to see each other often, in person. When we do, I am continually surprised by them including their wit, intelligence and just how generously sweet they are. Melissa and Meg make up an integral part to this small core group of friends & though we are always sad when we must part from our in-person visits, that melancholy is far outweighed by the memories formed during our stays with them. I can't imagine a better group of people to call my friends.

We'll be seeing them again in August at the same location as we continue our whirlwind summer tour of showing off Will. In the next two months, my Dad and his wife will be visiting as will my Mom and we'll be taking Will to Western Mass., Western Connecticut, California, & Georgia. Phew!

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