I've been wanting to take the girls down to the river but we haven't really had a chance. Today was the first day of school and I thought it would be a cool thing to do. It didn't work out exactly right because flicker (my youngest) had softball practice. We went anyways. It wound up being me and my oldest, Jelly Jar/J.J.
It was a beautiful evening and we had some good time skipping rocks and looking for crabs. NO crabs or herring fry but lots of good skipping rocks. J.J. got one to skip seven times. The water was gin clear and there wasn't any boat traffic to speak of. There was a pretty stiff south wind blowing up the river and we watched the waves fight the outgoing tide and form a little rip like you would see on the ocean. We also played a game to see who could throw a rock the closest to a stick that was floating by and I won. J.J. wanted to see who could throw a rock the furthest and I lost. I think I might have messed my rotator cup playing whiffle ball well into my thirties. I wasn't trying to let her win.
This spot on the river is a favorite where I have been taking the girls since they were very very little.
On the way home, we went the long way. Its the way we always used to go so we could count the deer. One night when flicker was two and jelly jar was four, we saw 78 deer. Tonight we only saw one little fawn, some sheep cows and horses.
While we were driving back, Jelly Jar asked me how much it would cost to dig a hole under a trampoline so it would be at ground level. She said it would be good because you jump up and down it without being able to fall off.
"I don't know how much it would cost." I told her
She pressed me.
"I really don't have any idea." I told her
Then she said,
"Daddy you have to know, you KNOW everything."
I wasn't sure if this was a complement or a dig but I said,
"I really don't know anything about excavation. That's a good question for Geoff."
After we drove by a bunch of deer-less fields she said.
"Daddy...... you don't like change do you?"
I felt a little defensive when she asked me this. I think I was still trying to figure out her intent on the last statement she made. I started to work on an argument in my head but instead I asked.
"Really? why do you say that?"
She replied,
"You don't like any of the new music we listen to and every time we drive up this road and somebody has built a new house out in the middle of one of these fields you always complain about it being there. You always say it looks stupid and ugly."
She was right.
I told her that it was true that I liked the way the fields looked before people built houses in them. I told her that I thought the huge houses people are building just look silly without any trees around them. I also bitched about why anybody would ever need to live in a house as big as those houses are when I know they only have one or two kids
After that, every time we drove by a house she asked me if I liked it or not. After a while she said,
"Daddy, the only things you like are old things, old music, old houses. You don't like anything that's new."
There wasnt a shred of snottiness in anything she said. It made me think a little.
I thought; 'why does a 13 yr old girl need to be like this; observant and smart in a way that makes me stop and think?' Why does she need to be growing up so freakin fast.'
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