Yes, June brought more traveling and more shows. Still no salvation, damn it.
Short travel, and part show, is Cole's new device in physical therapy. The tank treadmill, or as Cole calls it, dog torture chamber. The treadmill finally moved this week after two weeks of getting used to pooping in the tank. First, it just pushed him to the back of the tank, at which point he was smart enough to not fight it and just sit up against the wall.
There's an old saying... when the mice are away the dog will eat cat food. Or play with the cat, or something. But when those Peloza kids are away, the parents play at a plant-based resort in Playa del Carmen. That mean's Carmen's beach. We got to use it.
They've got big-A lizards down there. It's a race!
And we came across what we think was a spider monkey on the way back from dinner one night. That was after one of use ventured into the dark caves just off the beach bar.
Freestyle watercolor painting on the beach.
Finally, in the third day, I realized I know nothing about tequila because I've only ever had the really crap stuff in shot form. But at a high end outfit like this, I bet there are good ones and I could learn a few things. So ol' Erik (whom I called Harry for the first two days, quite the accent) lined them up and we knocked them down. First, the tequilas....
Then the mezcals. These things are dangerous.
Then the potpourri agave categories.
Still made it to the Mediterranean dinner that night!
More traveling and more shows I saw The Cure again in Ohio, after having lunch at the second-highest rated Mexican restaurant in Wilmington, Ohio. Good times. Thousands left because of severe thunderstorms, but the must and did go on.
Still another show, this one at the end of the aerials summer camp for Eva.
Multiple routines, basically the lead if they had to designate one person. Including flex stuff.
The hoop dance was the one that got me this time, teared up at the sight of our gal swinging to the chorus of Be My Baby. She even got the center spot in the line at the end. There will be no encore, why don't these shows have encores like concerts?
In the intervening days Calli again traveled to Louisville to leave a part of her body in the veterinary surgery place. She made it home just in time for Father's Day, the next day, but no word for at least week on what they found from the lump they removed.
She's showing the normal signs of recovery, she's done this before, but it made for an interesting Father's Day for this Peloza Father. First, the night ahead of Father's Day was, as usual, marked by several trips to find Cole and lift him up because he's crying and can't get up on his own. But this time it was marked for the special occasion of the emerging mine field that is the fear of stepping in a pool or pee or poop that either of the dogs might have planted during the night. Fortunately, morning came with no such missteps.
But morning came too soon, when my dear wife asked me to get up and help her shoo out the mouse that had somehow (can you say door to backyard didn't close properly for a few days and a mouse took advantage?). After stumbling into the kitchen, we got the mouse close to the back door but then it noticed the crack between the counter and the dishwasher. See you later mouse. Stumbling back to bed, I lay there for some time until I decided I'd begin my day officially and have my first cup of coffee.
Good times, Cole chomped at me for about half an hour. Wanting what, we can't say for sure. But he made sure I knew he was there. And Calli wanted nothing to do with the medication that would keep her from feeling pain from the surgery, or making another one of those land mine pools on the floor. Then my son came down. "Hi dad, can I watch TV?" The words every father wants to hear. After helping me take the dogs out front for a few minutes (see note about Cole chomping), I could tell Alexis suggested strongly that he do upstairs and make me a card. Which he promptly did. Pretty good one, too, using the floppy disk idea from my radio (photo is below, but don't scroll down, you'll get to it in due time).
I started to wonder about this Father's Day thing. Then Eva came down and gave me a long sideways glanced as she passed, with Levi's card sitting conspicuously next to me. She made a strange loop around the main floor and back up the stairs to her room. 10 minutes later came back down with what I guess could be described as a card, but being Eva it was over and above. Something in the form of a chip bag, containing many "chips" that had no end of positive adjectives that described me. So that inspired a chip run to find as many new and niche brands we could for a chip tasting today. Here's the haul with the cards.
As I drove through traffic to get home and relax, bad drivers reminded me that heart attacks remain a real threat to a guy like me. I tried to find my centre (Canadian spelling), and I could Levi knew something was weird. He was trying to find a way to make me happy, asking if tonight would be a good night to have a fire. He has an empathy and emotional intelligence that will carry him far. Between the two of them, this Peloza dad ended up feeling very lucky indeed.
I looked at my right arm and reminded myself, as I've done many times before, that the figure at the top doesn't look to the paw prints to give him anything other than the joy of being a dad. And husband. She's one of those paws too. It's his job of take care of those who rely on him. They pay him back every day by giving him joy just by being who they are, and by being his. They're all I've ever wanted. It just so happens that at this very moment, there are lot demands coming from some of those paw prints. But instead of feeling bad for myself because this job can sometimes be hard, this Father's Day I feel more invigorated than ever. I have a job to do, and it's a job that I live for.
Every day is Father's Day. Today, it just so happens that there are chips to taste, beer to drink, music to listen to, and a fire to watch. But most of all, there is family to love. Let's get to work.
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