Grateful for: Balmy, spring-like weather. It reached at least 70 deg. today!

Watching: The X-Files. At last! A Monster of the Week episode! This monster had a conscience, which made the story especially compelling. I liked this one.

Springtime in November

This morning Tab took Daniel to his swimming lesson, his last one until the Express Swim America sessions resume next spring. When the swimming sessions started up again this fall, Daniel was still in level 3, but he was promoted to level 4 a few weeks ago. In level 4 the kids are working on the back stroke and the crawl. Six months ago, Daniel was petrified of the water, but now he is a virtual fish. His back stroke is especially strong.

Ch'han, Daniel's level 1 instructor, stopped by to talk to Tab today. She asked if we were going to enroll the twins next spring. He answered yes, that we'd just been waiting until Daniel moved into level 4. "You'll have your hands full with those two," he warned her.

She just smiled. I've seen Ch'han in action; she has a gift for handling the most fearful kids and getting them acclimated to the water. I was glad to hear that she is going to be teaching again in March.

1:15 p.m. I'm at the playground with the boys, enjoying what feels like a spring day in the middle of November. It is nearly 70 deg. today! What a change from earlier in the week.

I struck up a conversation with another mother, whose family had just moved here from Manchester, England. "Is it always this warm here in November?" was the first question she asked me. I wish I could have answered yes, but instead I had to tell her that this is atypical.

The playground has a rather international flavor today. In addition to the English mother and her children, there is a father and his three kids speaking what I think is Polish. It sounds similar to the bits of Polish I've heard in Tab's family. One odd thing about that group: one of the boys is running around in a shirt and underpants. This is unusual attire even for 70 deg. weather. The kid's not a toddler either; I'd say he's about five. Stephen noticed it right away: "Hey, that kid is in his underpants!" he laughed. I shushed him, but he ran off giggling. The family seemed unperturbed, however. Maybe they don't speak English at all.

A woman just arrived with her two daughters, aged about 8 and 10. The girls ran up through the maze, and the older one has climbed into the tower and is sticking her head out the window.

"I'm the princess!" she called out.

"Do you have an announcement to make, Princess?" her mother prompted.

"Yes. The announcement is: I'm better than you are!"

"No," said her mother. "You should announce that you are getting married!"

Who is this mother and how did she manage to sleep through the past few decades, I wonder to myself.

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