Anticipation

If I could capture one perfect moment and bottle it, I think it would be the anticipation of a sweet summer evening, just before the sun goes down, of children running around on the grass at the drive-in theater, watching their phosphorescent necklaces and bracelets glow stronger in the fading light, playing a game of “blob tag” as they wait for the double feature to begin. Soon they’ll pile into the backs of the hatchbacks and SUVs and curl up on pillows and blankets snatched up from family room floors, passing the popcorn and soda around, trying to find dropped Tootsie Pops that fell from the candy bag and wiggling into their long pants as the night cools off. But for now, there is just the sublime sensation of wanting something and knowing it’s about to happen, and whatever happens, you’ll have a bright blue glow on your wrist for the rest of the night.

So, that was Saturday night — the kids’ first drive-in movie, a double-feature of “Scooby Doo 2” and “Ella Enchanted.” Such a perfect night — it never even chilled off — that I even thought the movies were pretty good. Perhaps I was hypnotized by Anne Hathaway’s gigantic, unblinking eyes. Hannah, who is always thinking, offered that “if we lived in Averill Park, maybe we’d go to the drive-in more often because it would be closer.” It’s all of 20 minutes away. I offered that perhaps we could just go more often, when they have suitable films. (Our area is actually blessed with several remaining ozoners, and this one, The Hollywood, is one of the best.)

Otherwise, the weekend was fairly uneventful. Always directionless when the spouse is away. A million things to do, no real drive to do any of them. The kitchen is a disaster, and the laundry’s behind. I need to build a new canoe rack in the garage (or so we’ve convinced ourselves), and I really need to figure out the treehouse I want to build for the kids, the basic scheme of which keeps evading me. So what did I do Saturday? I cleaned my bike. Believe me, it needed it, and it’s likely that you have no idea how messy it is to try to get the fall/winter wet lube off the chain and switch over to dry lube. That chain was a disaster, man. The rear derailleur was completely gunked up, so I took it apart and soaked it in solvent. Had to adjust the front brakes, which are still riding a little high on the right side, which I just don’t get and can’t seem to fix. But a nice sunny morning for making a big oily rag pile in the driveway. Yesterday was dreary and threatening rain that never came, but we were all tired from the late night and made a nice lazy day of it, capped off by watching Lance win the Tour de Georgia and the joyous moment of picking up the mom at the train station, which is always a big event.