in the past 3 days

The past three days have been great. :)

I love having things to do. (the greatest problem that I find myself faced with during the summer months is the complete lack of activities. with nothing to do, I find myself sitting on my couch and watching the same re-runs for days at a time. While I do enjoy the ability to recite entire episodes of Avatar the last airbender (I am cool), having plans makes things more interesting.)

Thursday and Friday were spent (where else?) at the library. A special science program for children was taking place on oceanography, and I helped kids use microscopes, used a pile of solargraphic paper, and watched an old movie about undersea life. I think it was an educational disney movie, and it had classical music involved.

As a thank you for being fantastic, I got a pair of awesome safety glasses. I'm a very happy (and very geeky) kid.

Saturday was spent visiting my Grandpa. :)

We drove to his house, and spent some time together. I picked green beans from the garden in his yard. I like green beans. Being the cool guy that he is, my Grandpa had a previous engagement (visiting a neighbor for dinner) so we left at six.

Driving home, we saw these:we pulled over by the side of the road and took pictures. It was fantastic. The balloons passed directly overhead, and were low enough that you could see the features of the people inside of the baskets. The people in the baskets were waving down at us, and we were waving up at them. We took pictures of their balloons, and they took pictures of us. I thought that was a little strange, but who am I to judge?

I hope that everyone else has had as wonderful of a week (or past three days) as I have.

With love,
Pi

(P.S. those four pictures are mine. I'd kinda like them to stay that way. if you want to use them for anything, just ask me, and I'll happily give you permission. just please ask first!)

Wednesday Wisdom

My library
Was dukedom large enough.
Shakespeare
(The Tempest)

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Reason for choosing this quote? I'm volunteering at the local library this summer. (I am so cool.) I help kids pick out books, I shelve things, and I help them with craft projects every Wednesday.

Wednesday crafts are too much fun. Made pinwheels last week, and having a roomful of children playing with handmade pinwheels is adorable. The project took about two hours, considering that every kid cut and decorated their own wheels, and because there were only enough scissors for half of them to use at one time.

Another bonus about working with children: I don't have to pretend to be mature in the least. I make masks, play with stickers, color pinwheels, and read children's books. Is it even possible to not enjoy the library?

Blueberries for me.

There are things are so entirely habitual, that one forgets that there was ever a time when this was not in existence. For me, one of these things is blueberry picking.

By the time I was old enough to remember, and possibly even before that, I was old enough to go blueberry picking. No summer has ever been complete without a trip to the farm. It is always the same farm, and it is always the same bushes.

The changes are always small, but never insignificant. As time goes on, the wagon grows lower to the ground, and the bushes no longer loom like trees. You don't fear times when you are separated from your mother, or feel the need to stop everything you are doing in order to make an urgent trip to the bathroom. The ride to the berries halves with every trip, and the amount of berries collected doubles with every inch grown.

You always seem to think the same thoughts. Despite the fact that your bucket fills quickly, you are certain that Robert McCloskey's Sal from Blueberries for Sal and you would have gotten along very well. The largest and ripest berries are picked and eaten instantly. With age, you have become better at blueberry picking, if only so that you can eat them faster.

Messy fingers bringing ripe berries to smiling lips, and you take another berry from the bush. The most perfect taste that invades your mouth reminds you of childhood, of summer, and of your love for tradition.

Wednesday Wisdom

“I like boring things.”
Andy Warhol

---

I like simple things.

Like bubbles, and air, and laughter,

and sand, and sailing,

and the smell of books, and learning new things,

and being alive.

In the past week:

I've walked a dog, went for a run, watched unnatural amounts of the Disney Channel, babysat, ate more cookies, made double layer jello, read some books, forgot to blog, attempted to clean my room, ate a box of popsicles, forgot to blog, bought things to put into fantastical care packages, slept.

So, why haven't I been blogging?
Answer: I forgot entirely. When I remembered, I felt bad about forgetting, and promptly forgot again.

Here's to hoping that I don't forget again.

What I'm up to now: preparing for the fourth of July party, blogging, feeling content, not really doing much of anything.

---

What I've done since I created this blog post, saved it as a draft, and went to explore the greater world around me: Went to Hoboken, did not see an emergency relating to an oversized chicken, bought lemonade from an adorable boy on the sidewalk, saw family, felt tall, saw more family, felt short, played with five year olds, watched the Disney Channel, ate some food, walked around Hoboken, saw the house my Grandpa was raised in, saw some fireworks, rode in a car, and multi-tasked and watched fireworks while riding in a car.

I've driven through Hoboken before, but I don't think I've ever actually been there. I was excited about expanding my horizons. Sometimes, I like to think about what life would be like for me if some details were changed. Today, I explored the idea of being raised in Hoboken. I can't say that I disliked the idea. But, I can (and will!) say, that I am entirely content with being raised where I was raised, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. :)

My fathers family always gets together for the Fourth. My Aunt and Uncle own a lakeside house, and we alway go to it. This year, we went to Hoboken instead. Half of my family is shortish. There are several outliers. These outliers could step on me.

The good thing about driving on the fourth of July is that you get to watch tiny pieces of firework shows. You get to see the smallest explosions, and the biggest explosions, and every color of the spectrum. At night, as you lie in bed, thinking about your day, you get to take the memories of fireworks, and mend them together. You get to create an entirely unique light show. You get personal fireworks.

Today was my Grandma's birthday. Because it fell on the fourth of July, we always had big parties. It has always been, and will always be, one of the high points of my summer. ♥