ceviche! chalk! church!

"Oh, lookie! It's your darling first niece!"

Yes, it is! At long last, too! Feels like forever since we've been together in person!

"I thought y'all were meeting for margaritas on Tuesdays?"

I wish! The last of those was on 13 July, which I had called our penultimate luncheon before she returned to teaching. Then there came the spate of thunderstorms that curtailed our outing the next week... and one thing after another ever since.

"Oh, that's right. Then the breast cancer scare for you and the 'kids might have COVID' scare for her after school started, and Bananas' games and now the opera festival taking up weekends and evenings. "

Exactly. But we were together today! Me and her and the girls, munching Mexican food!

"Just they way y'all like it!"

That's right!

"Was this at the Jalapenos here? I don't recall any of them having outdoor seating."

We were at the one in Richmond Hill, which is kinda sorta (joke for the bfrb, as it's nearly his 39th birthday!) halfway for both of us. As you can tell, this is post-meal, as there is no shrimp ceviche in sight. It's gone, gone, gone, baby!

"So these were at the catching-up-with-life and breathing-the-same-air portion?"

You got it! Miyah had a green crayon, but Chloe had none. But Miyah had spotted a red one under a table... so she fetched it out, then gave her green one to her little sister. How super sweet, right?

"Oh, that really was! Good for her!"

Yes, it was. She had a real meltdown earlier during the meal, just before the food came out. She'd had her tablet turned up LOUD, so I'd turned the volume down while she was in the bathroom with Christina. Upon her return, she'd cranked it up again, so I'd asked her to turn it down. That's when she started losing her cool, stomping, putting on her 'mad' face, mumbling her words, repeating herself again and again. I took the tablet, to keep her from turning it up, and she carried on for probably another twenty minutes, stomping around on that outdoor patio. We didn't talk to her, just made sure she was safe, as we ate our food and talked. Then, she returned to the table and started eating, not even looking at the tablet, as if nothing had happened.

"I guess ODD is like epilepsy in that way. There are no physical signs that someone has the malady. That's why it can be disconcerting when, all of a sudden, the electrical storm hits their brain and causes a radical shift in their behavior or personality."

So true. A doctor is to determine this week if she has the disorder. I wonder if they'll be running an EEG to look at brain activity? Christina said she hoped the doctor would be able to see Miyah in full-tilt tantrum mode; I suggested she might want to provoke an attack, to help them make a diagnosis.

"Good idea. As you well know, it's very hard to diagnosis anything that is ischemic in nature, be it a gremlin in a piece of electronics or more like your breast leakage deciding to stop three weeks before you finally have a surgical consult."

So far, Chloe doesn't seem to have those issues. Then again, her birth mother wasn't taking drugs during that second pregnancy, so perhaps Miss Chlo will be okay.

"That's definitely something to hope for."

Both girls are sweet as can be, most of the time. Take Miyah - even though I had taken her tablet, as her real self, she drew a picture for me, of me with her and her sister. With no prompting, apropos of nothing. How about that?! I have it up on my refrigerator, like the proud G'Aunt I am!

"I know you are!"

You bet I am!

"So, when does the chalk come into the story?"

Right about now, funk soul brother!

"Hahahaha! I love that song!"

Me, too!

"And you were saying..."

Right about now - oh, you mean to carry on with the tale. Gotcha! We four went to the park, just down the street, where, the girls had their birthday party last year. When it started raining, we forsook the swings and slides for the covered area, where Christina broke out this new artist box of chalk. That was all that was needed for fun!

"And are those your scribble flowers that you always draw?"

Two of them are, but the other two are not. Miyah had asked that I draw one for her, so I did (upper purple), doing it in slow motion and talking of how I was doing it all the while. Chloe, naturally, wanted me to draw one for her, too, which I did (lower pink), again giving the full demonstration of how to do it.

"And they had copied your actions and drawn their own flowers???"

Yes, they did!!! See why I said I was a proud G'Aunt??? They listen so well!

"Wow, they really do. Miyah's looks really good!"

I know! They even put on the stem and little 'leaves', just like I do.

"What's with the sign?"

None of us saw that until after we'd been drawing a while. Then, the supplier of the chalk - that would be Christina - who was relaxing with Mousse, not creating artistic endeavors or her own - spotted that solitary warning. Ack!

"So, that's when y'all stopped drawing?"

Heck to the no! In for a penny, in for a pound, right?

"I see. So, I take it that Christina is the one who spotted the water hose, too, and set about removing the evidence when y'all were done?"

Absolutely correct! Then Miyah and Chloe had fun stomping in the puddles until it was actually time for us to depart.

"Not all to Hinesville?"

No, just them and their dog, Mousse/Moose. Hey, maybe that's what he should be called! Maybe I'll try that and see how he likes it the next time I see him and them.

"Okay, you do that. Hey, looks like you finally made it to church again."

Hey, looks can be deceiving, kiddo, but I did end up feeling like this was Sunday.

"You're deliberately being disingenuous, aren't you?"

Just a smidge! I truly was at Asbury Memorial, though. Doesn't it look like I'm wearing a very fancy tiara?

"Yes, dear. Was that at Billy's sermon this morning?"

Oh, no, I missed that. In fact, I haven't been back since... well, since before my adventures in Florida and California, actually.

"If you aren't allowed to sing, you don't want to go?"

Yeah, pretty much. Though that wasn't the case today! Sherrill Milnes even led us all in singing "Hallelujah" this afternoon!!!

"Well, hooray for that, and a rousing 'Amen!', too!"

My thoughts exactly! How fabulous to sing, even masked up, alongside those stained glass windows, surrounded by those peach walls and vaulted ceiling! "Inspiration" was the title of this segment of SVF-9, and inspirational it was, with fourteen songs voiced by eight artists - make that nine, as the great star of the Met chimed in!

"Oh, I just know Carolyn would have loved that!"

Yes, she would have. Hopefully, next year we will be out of pandemic mode and the concert of religious works will be free, as it usually is. Then she and I will enjoy it together!

"That would be magnificent, and such a blessing!"

Yes, it would be. Now, I've take the time to smell this warm rose - you know how much that means to me - but then I'm off to catch a movie! The Ryan Reynolds one that I've awaited so long is finally in the cinema... and I've been so very busy that I haven't been able to see it yet. What's up with that???

"Busy, vibrant... right? That's a good thing, a very good thing."

So very true! I feel like I've been holding my breath since last March, waiting, waiting, waiting, and hoping for a cure. You know, not just for this COVID-causing virus, but more in the spirit of R.

"I am well aware. Now, relax, breathe, and see "Free Guy"! And just let it be the movie it is, not the movie you wish it might be. That way, you can be surprised and enjoy it."

Thanks... I'll do that.

"Sweet dreams! You've had a delightful day with those you love!"

i thank You, God.