July 7 – “Holiday chuckles”

From the sound of things last night, or actually the lack thereof, I suppose the Fourth of July fireworks season is officially over.  We discovered this year that without the big pecan tree that used to be in our back yard (that was one of the many casualties of Hurricane Ike) we could sit up on our deck and have an unobstructed view of the city’s big fireworks display over the Gulf of Mexico.  Not that we could see the Gulf, but the fireworks were very easy to see.  And not only that, we could swivel around in our chairs and watch the display over at Moody Gardens as well.  We have seen that one many times, usually from the comfort of our front porch, or one real scorchers of nights, through our front window in air conditioned comfort.  Of course we missed out on experiencing that mass of humanity on the seawall, which can, in spite of the sheer numbers of people, be kind of fun.  Then we missed out on the outrageous traffic jam that inevitably follows.  Can’t find anything nice to say about that one.  As it was, we could see the hordes of cars exiting from Moody Gardens as they passed just a block away.  Took them at least an hour to start thinning out.  Oh, and speaking of not finding anything nice to say, the mosquitoes were nightmarish.  Our little guys finally bailed out on us and returned inside.  And that was with spray all over our bodies.  Mosquitoes are always annoying, with that incessant buzzing around your ears or attacks on your nose, or flitting about just within the field of your vision, but just beyond the range of your fastest slap.  These critters hurt, too.  That memory led me to do something in church Sunday that I can’t remember ever doing before.  I prayed for “some relief from the infestation of mosquitoes.” 

The next day was Nathan’s birthday party, and Kel and his family spent the night with us afterwards.  They just didn’t want to deal with all the traffic, since they would be returning to our house the next day anyway for our family holiday get-together.  And with his four youngsters in the house, that could only mean one thing.  The donut man would have to make an appearance.  It’s amazing what traditions develop with these grandchildren creatures.  This one belongs to Micah actually.  Once long ago when he and his brothers were here, he was the first one up (well, after me).  We snuck out of the house and made a secret donut run.  And ever since then, well, it’s a tradition.  Micah was pretty tired this time, though.  He slept in much longer than usual, but when he came into the kitchen, all bleary-eyed and groggy, he was searching for his shoes, worried that he missed the donut man run.  I assured him that he was just in time.  We hit the mother lode, too.  Had to wait two extra minutes, but there is nothing quite like fresh, hot donuts early in the morning.  Noa even got her first taste when her brother snuck her a donut hole.  She wasn’t completely sure what to do with it, though.  At one point I saw her stuff a piece into her ear.  Tasty. 

After breakfast all the boys headed over to Home Depot for one of their “you-build-it” days for kids.  This one was an insect trap.  Perfect for boys, especially when they even threw in their very own plastic insect, perfect for terrorizing Nani.  On the way over there Josiah, the no-four-year-old was doing his best to get some attention.  I heard him announce, “Hey Guys.  I want to count to zero.”  A brief pause, and then “Zero.”  Giggle.  Giggle.  That brought no response at all.  I think I may have been the only one that heard it, in fact.  So the determined little man raised his voice considerably and tried again, “I going to count to zero.”  Pause again for effect.  This time he expanded his count, “One … Zero.”  I had to snicker out loud that time, and his Dad heard him, too.  I gave him an “Attaboy,” but he was satisfied with the chuckles.  Can’t beat a good laugh at a four-year-old’s unique humor early on a Saturday morning.  Nothing quite like it.

Psalms 126:2-3 says, “Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy.  Then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’  The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.”

Father, please don’t ever let me forget that there is joy in the simplest of things … even counting to zero.  Amen.