On Friday– a glorious day with a light wind and temperatures in
the seventies– William and Everett finished the raft they’ve been building.
They began building it only just this week, and I’ve pretty much stayed out of it, except to tell them that they couldn’t use some waiting window mullions as oars.
Yes, rather than play the role of supervisor, or exercise any kind of oversight, it has been my pleasure to listen to them banging away on nails on the lower deck. They invited whomever was around to join them, and so many of their friends had a hand in the project. My only job was to remind them, at the end of the day, to put away the hammer and any other tools they had taken outside.
And on Friday they wheeled the raft on the neighbors’ skateboards to a wider part of the creek where, they assured me, there was plenty of room for a maiden voyage.
They returned an hour or so later, Very Wet. It’s a good raft, they said, but it doesn’t float very well.
And I say, floating isn’t everything.
The birthday girl received a birthday package the day after her birthday. That’s one of the best surprises ever, I think: a gift that comes After the day itself. It just prolongs the celebration.
Grandmom and Granddad sent Emma Grace her rings that she left at their house at Christmas, plus Grandmom sent her special ring holder that Emma Grace had so admired.
They also sent her a long-sleeved shirt, a corduroy jacket, and a new pair of tan pants with flowers embroidered around the ankles.
And they sent her this fabulous bathrobe. If you think this robe looks cozy, you aren’t getting close. This puppy is the warmest, coziest thing in the house, next to Emma Grace, and Everyone had to have a turn holding her in it.
She wears it, over her pajamas, to bed. 
