A beach day

Not in the best of health. Even so, I spent the day out with my family, at a museum and at a windy, chilly Lake Michigan beach. We were joined by my old schoolmate, Dan, and his family. Funny how bearable an illness can be with old friends nearby. There were billowy clouds and lovely, white-tipped waves; we didn’t bathe, but the children enjoyed the playground. Daniel (my son) was so delighted that at leaving-time, he had to be carried away against his will (mercifully, he scaled the biggest hill himself).

We were mostly in touristy St. Joseph but also drove through Benton Harbor, the poorer twin, which has run-down churches with names like Aún Hay Esperanza.

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I’m reading Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life, which I found in our local library’s equivalent of the Little Free Library. Ursula Todd (1910–1910, 1910–1914, etc.) lives, dies, is reborn, and lives her same life again. And again. Her lifespan lengthens because déjà vu teaches her to avoid mishaps. (It takes her a few tries to figure out how to avoid getting Spanish flu.) It’s like watching a video gamer replaying levels; or Groundhog Day, set in Downton Abbey’s England, not Punxsutawney. Atkinson skewers some characters, especially the loathsome doctor who delivers Ursula (the girl sometimes survives his care, sometimes doesn’t). The repetition is macabre and funny. Working out the metaphysic isn’t easy. Michael Huemer’s theory of reincarnation comes closest, perhaps. But on that theory the déjà vu wouldn’t transmit real memories; and it would be unlikely – or, strictly speaking, rare – that the same siblings should be sired after Ursula.

A flurry of activity

Four school friends:

Hoku, Dan, the Pedro, moi.

I thought we would have just one outing together, but one outing turned into three. Which is just as well. I’d last seen Hoku on my wedding day; and although Dan and the Pedro live nearby, I don’t see them as often as I’d like.

Our wives and children were with us, too.

Yesterday, we were in Michigan, at one of the beaches. Karin waded into the water with Daniel, and I held Samuel’s hands. It was the boys’ first time in the lake – or in any body of water larger than a bathtub.

Samuel wore a full-body swimsuit that Karin found at Goodwill just before we traveled to the lake. It has built-in flotation pads. It made Samuel look like a pint-sized linebacker.

At first, he was nervous in the water; but soon he was floating on his back, kicking gleefully, his wild hair spread out over the surface of the lake.

The sand outside the lake was like a bed of coals. The air was like a furnace. The water was warm and pleasant.

On the other days, we toured Bethel; we bowled; we strolled; we ate and drank; and we supervised the children’s play at various parks. Samuel became acquainted with the splash pad. It was a delightful weekend for him.

It was a delightful weekend for me, with peers I’ve known for decades, from whom I sense acceptance rather than the usual, palpable disdain.

More friends for Samuel

Happy fifth anniversary (yesterday) to Karin & me. I can truly say, I love her better than on our wedding day.

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Today we were visited by Dan, my high school friend; Lizzie, his wife; and their three young children. This is the second weekend that Samuel has been able to play with friends of his own age. One of Dan & Lizzie’s little boys ran in circles around Samuel; Samuel laughed and laughed.

Our annual holiday

The semifinals of the Champions League were unremarkable. The winners, PSG and Bayern Munich, played on Sunday, and Bayern deservedly came away with the title.

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Karin took some days off from work, as she does every summer, but this year we didn’t travel much. We went as far as New Buffalo, Michigan – forty-five minutes away. With our friends, Dan, Lizzie, and their children, we strolled through a county park distinguished by its marshy scenery and two boardwalks: one high in the air, the other at marsh level. We saw marsh plants and kayakers and little fishes.

Then we tried out the beach at New Buffalo. It was crowded with revelers from Illinois, so we left. Frankly, I’d rather have gone to a beach in wintry Old Buffalo. We went to Niles for lunch. On our way, in tiny Three Oaks, we were detained by a long parade of flag-waving tractor drivers.

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Karin & I have been counting kcals again. I’ve lost several lbs. Watching my diet has forced me to acknowledge that butternut squash is more filling and nutritious than jasmine rice. Mowing has become a more welcome chore, since it burns kcals and allows me to increase my food quota. I briefly considered buying a reel mower to work out even harder. Then I watched some videos of people using reel mowers and decided it wasn’t for me.

Closing credits

In this last week of a momentous year, Karin & I are quite sick, and Samuel is sicker. He’s been congested, feverish, and lethargic. He’s struggled to breathe and to drink enough milk. At night, I’ve lain awake, worrying, listening to his creaks and gasps.

Mary helped us to take Samuel to the doctor.

Karin & I have decided to delay our move to my parents’ new house by one week.

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What more can I say of Samuel? Though it wrenches me to see him suffer, he’s a tremendous blessing. He’s so small, so quiet, so new. I regard him with awe.

Karin sacrifices herself for us. I do what I can for her and for Samuel; or, rather, I unceasingly think of what to do for them. I often fail to do it.

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I’ve spent most of the year indoors, on couches or in armchairs. (It didn’t help that in January I sprained my ankle.) There were a few exhausting weeks outside the apartment – touring Ithaca with Karin; hunting for jobs in South Bend. On the whole, though, I’ve been sedentary, and I’ve felt poorly.

I don’t mean that I regret sitting with Samuel or finishing the Ph.D. On the contrary, they’re two of the best things I’ve done.

Both endeavors attracted many helpers. My dissertation’s “acknowledgments” section mentions dozens of people: Cornell philosophers, Ithaca Salvationists, family members, and many others who helped in one way or another to remove that millstone from me. And when I’d completed that project, I again found a large group eager to help with the project of raising a child. Apart from my family, I’m especially grateful to my fellow churchgoers.

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I’m grateful, also, to the teenaged race walker Glenda Morejón for bringing glory to Ecuador this year. Ecuadorian soccer players also performed well in the U-17 and U-20 World Cups. (The grownup team looked hopeless.)

Ecuador’s president faced a severe challenge to his position. So is the U.S. president now being challenged in a more ritualized fashion. These politicians provided material for this blog.

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Two people I haven’t discussed much are my old school friend, Dan, and his wife, Lizzie, who lifted my spirit by moving to the area and going on several outings with Karin & me. Also, it’s been a pleasure to observe the life of Ada, my new niece.

Of course, no yearly review would be complete without Jasper and Ziva. It’s obvious, now, that they’re incorrigibly naughty; but they more than compensate with their affection and their sheer being.

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The last book I’ve read this year is James Hilton’s Goodbye, Mr. Chips. It’s debatable whether that old teacher influences his charges in any substantial way. What he does better is to invite them to enrich their lives through the enjoyment of his person.

My own influence is meager; nor is the sheer enjoyment I provide very great. But then, neither does Mr. Chips blossom until he’s in his forties. And this blossoming is due to his wife.

La reina rezaba por los niños pobres

… according to Duolingo’s sentence generator. Karin was amused.

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It’s Labor Day weekend. There isn’t a day when Karin & I don’t have at least one event scheduled with this or that acquaintance.

For us, this is unusual.

Today, we visited my friend Dan’s family. We went to the beach. Although the water was supposedly infested with E. coli, it contained many bathers.

We didn’t bathe. We walked down a pier to where, between the cities of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, our own St. Joseph River empties itself out into Lake Michigan.

We also went on a carousel (I gather it’s impossible not to do so if one goes to the beach with Dan’s kids).

I rode the flamingo:

It had a slimming effect.

Dan and his wife, Lizzie, kindly gave us many things for our baby. Dan & Lizzie aren’t going to produce any more children. They have three who are cute but wild, especially at night.

My niece, etc.

Ana shares this photo of David and little Ada.

What a sweetie!

Tomorrow, Karin & I will spend some time with my high school friend, Dan, and his wife and three young children. They recently moved from Vermont to southwestern Michigan.

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My current reading:

(1) Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, translated by Robert Graves (1957), revised by some other dude (2007).

(2) Michael Grant, The Twelve Caesars.

“Robert Graves’ Penguin version … is entertaining, but has to be used with caution.”

Yes, I expect that Graves sneaks in a few extra poisonings.

(3) Terri Jentz, Strange Piece of Paradise.

True crime.

Vacationing from Yale, the author camps out in the Oregon desert and is mutilated by a mysterious axeman. Decades later, she returns to the scene to seek out the axeman, his motive, and cosmic meaning.

The book is highly introspective: was the author’s trauma due to herself, or to the axeman? The author writes 100+ pages before even considering the latter possibility.

Still, it isn’t bad.

(4) Lois Duncan, Down a Dark Hall, original 1974 version.

This classic gothic school novel is by the author of I Know What You Did Last Summer and Stranger with My Face.

(The 2011 update incorporates new technology – email, cell phones, etc. – NO GOOD.)

To be continued. …