IT'S TUESDAY...

... and the family have departed in their various directions.  Today, we head back to Los Angeles to resume the pattern of our lives there.  Our quiet dead-end street in Laguna Beach is about to be ripped up for its entire length by the Water District--a six-week job that will take until the end of June.  A good time to be away, though we plan to spend some time down here again at the end of May.  I guess those plans might need to be revisited.

In the meantime... this is the first morning in a week and half that we've been able to enjoy our usual quiet cup of tea in bed.  A mixed blessing.  This is the time that little Luka makes his first appearance, with a big, joyful morning greeting.  To allow his Mom the luxury of an early run, we have been taking over baby duties until breakfast time--either taking him out for a spin on his brand new red tricycle, equipped with a push-bar at the back, since he's still too little to ride a trike; or playing with him in the garden, where he loves to water with the watering can or the hose.

My son was also visiting for a week from Iowa.  He's an enthusiastic walker, so I got a good workout several times, trying to keep up with his sturdy pace.  It was a pleasure to have the middle of three generations of Clothier guys join us, to make up a full threesome--as well as a sobering reminder of the passage of time, and of my own too rapidly advancing age!

I can't deny that I feel the burden of the years, tiring much more easily than I used to, and finding it harder to adapt to anything other than my usual routines.  Now that we're reduced to our normal complement of three--George, Ellie and myself--the cottage seems blessedly quiet.  But the blessing, as I noted earlier, is a mixed one.  We miss that squeal of delight when our grandson greets us in the morning.