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6/7/1999 Monday In bloom: Glorious roses everywhere. The prettiest garden in our neighborhood belongs to Cranky John, the crabby miser who lives a few doors down from Miss Jean. His house is on the corner so his back yard is separated from the sidewalk by a fence, and his thirty rose bushes and other flowers are lovely to see when we walk by. The man may be a grouch, but he certainly has a way with roses. Weather: The topic of conversation around here. It is going to reach the mid- to high-90s today, with high humidity as well. Typical New Jersey summer weather--two weeks before summer officially begins. |
Master BuilderThe twins and I took a walk this morning before lunch, and everyone we met along the way complained about the weather. I feel like a maverick for saying this...but I love summer, heat and humidity and all. Granted, I might feel differently if we didn't have air conditioning, but I rather enjoy being outside in the heat at least for a few hours. I'll take summer over winter any day. The weather is supposed to break mid-week, which is just as well since my mother and Jake are arriving for a long weekend visit on Thursday. My folks in Maine can't bear New Jersey summers. My family has lived in Maine for nearly 21 years, and they've lost their ability to cope with New Jersey heat and humidity.
Daniel also has an almost uncanny ability to figure out how things work. Nearly two years ago, when Daniel was only four, I wrote in my (offline) journal:
He said, "It needs batteries. See? They go right here," pointing to the battery hatch cover. "Here is the switch to turn it on. This thing," indicating a sort of turntable on the bottom, "makes it turn round and round. And here is the speaker." In less than a minute he had the toy figured out. He is going to be one of those amazing people who can size up the most complicated machinery effortlessly. I have more conflicts with Daniel than I do with my other two sons. Tab claims that he is the one who understands Daniel, but the truth is, I understand Daniel all too well. The things that upset me most about Daniel are my own worst traits that I see reflected in miniature: impatience, irritability, a little selfishness. And the things I admire about Daniel are the traits that I am proud of in myself: curiosity, imagination, intelligence, loyalty, a sense of humor. This is not to say that I value Daniel simply as a reflection of myself or that I don't see those many qualities that make him a unique person. It's just that I find it interesting to look at my children and see little bits of myself or Tab in them. Nature or nurture? Who knows.
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Speaking of our visitors, Daniel is regarding their arrival as a self-imposed deadline for completing his 
Daniel has always had a talent for building. He started with Duplos as a toddler and then moved to Legos and Tinkertoys. This Christmas he received his first K'nex kits, including this space station, and he was hooked. K'nex are actually a lot of fun. The colorful pieces are shaped as varying length rods and semi-circles that snap together in a most satisfying manner. You can make an infinite number of vehicles and structures, ranging from something as simple as a two-dimensional balloon all the way up to motorized Ferris wheels that stand five feet high.
Daniel has done nearly all the work on his space station by himself, following the very detailed pictorial instructions. As soon as he gets up in the morning, he immediately begins working on it, reluctantly stopping for a quick breakfast and racing back up to it as soon as he's done eating. After school, he goes straight up to his room to continue the project.
This morning he hit a snag somewhere, which was frustrating him. Tab promised to help him when he got home from work, but when Tab went up to Daniel's room this evening, Daniel had solved the problem on his own.