Miles is a Tiger Cub Scout. While the BSA is not my thing, Miles found out that he could be a Tiger Cub, and I decided that it would be good for Miles and I to have a "togetherness" activity. Today was field day. Miles loved everything about it... slingshots, making a pan flute, watching science experiments, and having a great time with the other boys.
Sometimes you have a neighbor who planted Aspen trees just on their side of the property line. And sometimes those trees grow really tall. All the time Aspen trees have roots that do not acknowledge property lines. Sometimes those roots grow over into my yard and send runners and shoots up into my grass. Sometimes, when stepped upon, those shoots become hard and quite painful to the bottom of my foot. And sometimes the number of runners and shoots becomes bothersome and they attempt to take over my back lawn. I may have tried to control the problem by meticulously painting Roundup onto the shoot's leaves last summer. That proved to be a temporary solution that took hours and hours of my time in the summer heat to accomplish. The mother tree was not affected by the Roundup. The shoots have returned. I may have finally decided that something must be done, and started digging the roots out of my lawn. Look at the size of the root Nolan and I removed from the lawn. It was maybe 3 inches down. Unreal. It was as big around as my forearm and we dug about 20 feet of it.
It's no secret that these two have merrily tolerated each other for the past 7 years. I think things are changing. First, the two have had some pretty deep conversations recently. For example, I overheard the following:
Miles: What did you learn in school today?
Jonathan: I learned the Fourear transform.
Miles: What did you make at school today?
Jonathan: I made medicine.
Miles: What color was your medicine?
Jonathan: It was clear.
Miles: On, the regular kind?
Jonathan: I guess.
Okay, I thought that was about the most charming conversation, and I loved that Jonathan was willing to stoop to a 7-year-old's level and answer (mostly) appropriately.
I also have been able to capture the following pictures where the two chose to spend time together...
So currently, bathroom usage is a hot topic in the US. The government stated that the proper restroom to use is dependent upon the user's gender identification. There's outrage over perverts using restrooms as stalking grounds. There's the state of current events in the United States.
Yesterday I was at the Salt Lake International Airport. I needed to use the restroom, and based on my personal gender identification, I choose to use the restroom labeled "Women". I was washing up, and in the mirror I saw the reflection of a youngish adult. I would identify this person as "male." The guy looked in the mirror and saw me and was instantly horrified. He stammered out, "Did I just walk into the women's restroom?" I turned around, smiled, and said, "The US government says you should use which ever restroom you identify your gender with." The poor kid/adult/guy was so embarrassed! He whipped around and sprinted out of the ladies room. I probably shouldn't have been so cheeky with him.
