My Cane is a Wonderful Wand

Other than  helping me drag myself around, my cane has many uses.  Like a teacher uses a ruler for a pointer to engage kids' eyes on something like a calendar or geographical locations on a map,  Using the air as a chalk board I can direct Jaden on his

"To Do List."

 

From my lawn chair throne I waved my wand and magically Jaden was picking up pumpkins, he was loading them in the wheelbarrow, cutting tomato vines from their cages and stacking them in the north east corner as if like he was under my spell.

Oh,
  He also pushed the little pumpkins that dotted our garden, to the front yard with my vague orders to

"Decorate the front porch."

 Because he said:

J: "How?"

the need for clarification was made me realize the wand wasn't as powerful as I assumed.

Me: Just however you want.
Twirling my floral  cane in a flourishing sweep across the yard the back yard.

Some days earlier he had heard me say that I'd wanted to take all the dried stalks of Sunflowers, tie them together and put them in the front yard for decoration.
(Eclectic yard art is a prednisone thing)

 

When I walked outside a little later, I was tickled with the cutest thing on my porch:

 

Like little kids  first graders waiting in line at the lunch room, J, put the pum'kins in a line on the porch.

The ensures that padre or any other visitor has a hazardous experience upon entering or exiting.

 

 

Jaden bippity, boppity, booped a store bought pumpkin, because ours, as you can see, are on the smallish side.
(Thank you, Frost.)

 

Can you see the one dead sunflower? J. remembered my crazy idea and placed it there.
So when I stepped outside and caught myself from tripping over them, I was surprised to see the sweet "flower".  

 

 

He knows that I love to do that sort of thing and because I am unable to carry that and walk well, he tried his best to implement what I would've done.

 

He had mentioned wanting to use the ugly, green vines that are starting to rot, as Halloween decoration on the front porch as well. Even I had to keep him from making a Green Lagoon for tacky purposes. 

Wrapping up the garden is always a bit somber to me. Even though I wasn't out in it weeding and tending to it this year, the lack of flowers around it's cement border- it still is hard. Because of the memories of each year in it.

This year will be dubbed the year of the Spider Garden. So there is still weeding to be done and hopefully we will get it tilled in before the ground hardens.

(aww, the only thing that made it; my fake flowers.)
 

During some of this manual labor, under the direction of my wand, Jaden would take his breaks and use them to toss the football in the air and run some moves across the yard.

 

Now THAT had me emotional.

In years past we have been to games around the clock. The Emotion Bowl this year happened and I didn't even know it til J. mentioned it the night of. Well, I saw the windows of businesses on our side of town decorated, but I thought it was still early. The weather threw me off. I was expecting frigid temps to tell me what time it was.

Crazy Idaho, what else can we say?

SO,

 It was our first

'Lackluster Emotion Bowl'.

 Which is really not us, and the many years J. has spent in organized sports, we have been aware of every league schedule, clinic, and practice.

The different activities this summer disrupted our "fan" focus .


Since choosing a different route this summer that led to individual sports, we missed out on a lot of traditions- ones that we have put in place and started some new ones.

Like the leaves outside the house,
Everything fell into place.

Actually one night we had a low temp and, just like that, overnight we woke up to naked trees.

 

His "team" is heading into the championship games this next week.

Readers, you will have to go back to this time last year. Well, any autumn day of previous years to recall or see firsthand the depth of devotion he has for the sport, for his HS and teammates

** this was written awhile ago**

It was our life!

Looking back on it I realized how engrossed I got even with flag football.
I mean, here I am, the mom- going over post game talk with his coaches.
It was so fun to sit next to the other moms in our chairs and watch our sons on the field.

 That is what is hard about the individual sports he took up this year- because it took him to places I couldn't go, I couldn't "watch."

That is why being sick is a real stupid invention.

Thankfully friends caught it on camera and J. gave me the low down right before bed each night.

And thankfully I watched most of his practices from, oh, 2 years old and on.

How exciting is it to be

young?

And able?

I admit I am jealous!
Jealous to be able to go to school elementary school and the routine you get into in a class; where you sit and day dream, who is your neighbor, going to recess and pretending to be detectives, or bounce the red ball on the black pavement. To be able, do homework, work in the yard, play with best friends.

It does get better but you still get older. Dang it.

(one such event took place the other day when I suggested they play prisoners of war,
and are ordered to rake the backyard. When I looked outside I saw mounds made that looked either like trenches or graves dug up to put the dead.

I should have taken a picture. And asked what exactly the rectangular spaces were for.
Maybe they were pretending it was their sleeping bag?

ANYWAY..

Life is full of hard things,, scrambled in with the good. Like glasses ,braces, pulled teeth,
pulled ears. You know the drill.

Maybe even the horror of

 headgear.

Which reminds me the promise I made to you about posting me with mine.

My older brother, The Torment snapped this one. Apparently I had a mullet too. I didn't know that I did at 9. I hope it is just matted down hair that had been layered to look like Farrah Fawcett or something.

Fall is more than deciding about what costumer you will wear and whether or not you will regret it later, it isn't merely getting a garden ready for spring planting or enduring the first round of viruses that leave kids throwing up all over their stuff-

 it seemingly is  a time to

reflect.

 

Whether from the moments spent getting a kid ready for all the games, watching him at practice, freezing at the games. All that fall entails, has all flooded over me!

And P.S. I miss seeing him in his football helmet and pads.

And P.S.S, I am relieved I didn't have to worry about the tension I get, whether they win or lose.
I cheer too much.

Halloween is looming...
 

Which reminds me of the cute little girl on her scooter that rode past J. and I on the sidewalk.

 

She zoomed by, simultaneously said hi and  introduced herself, then told us what she was:

a butterfly.
 

The wind made her wings flap which looked like a lot of fun and magically turned her into a butterfly and made a strong case for her being one.

 

We too were interrogated about what we were going to be.

 

for the first time,  J did not have a concrete made in advance months in advance.  And he didn't really seem to be too concerned.

..he better not be growing up!
*he told me the other day what he decided to be so it looked like the other day he was undecided.

She would flutter and eye my cane- probably because there were flowers and that's where butterflies go... 

So I took the elephant out of the little chat and told her  I was going to be a grandma and that I was practicing with my cane.

 

Five year old, Alexis, thought I really looked the part. (name change)

 

Kids give the best compliments.