Duncan just told me I am far less intimidating right this minute with my puffy half-face and fragile health than I usually am, without it.
He is my babysitter right now. He's healing a full back of hand and knuckle tattoos. He is hurting and it's GLORIOUS.
I love being bowled over with their honesty at nine in the morning while I'm still sipping my first coffee and enjoying the rain, however light it is right now. The rest of the boys are walking the property now to make sure there are no more nests.
This is somewhat comforting, as we were playing Night & Seek just about every evening at dusk up until last Saturday when I got stung during the day, at least, and it was so much fun. And I can fit into weird surprising places that I didn't expect, like the cupboard that holds the hose reel on the back side of the house, as long as the hose is out of it and unspooled across the side yard. I can fit behind the lawnmowers under the steps where we keep them in a locked shed built under the steps of the loft going up from the garage.
I did mention that's where I got that big scary spider bite in 2011 that turned my arm black, right?
Do I learn? No. Is Night & Seek as much fun forty years later? Hell yes it is. And it only took fifteen minutes on the first night to convince Lochlan that if we hide together we will be way too easy to find and then the game is ruined for everyone so we need to split up. The only rule was you have to stay well inside the perimeter of the property and you have to keep your eyes open for wildlife. They turned the fence on after walking it for bears and bobcats at the start of each. Gosh it's fun living in the woods by the sea. He let me hide alone as he knows I am so competitive about the game.
The first night I saw the fattest raccoon I ever laid eyes on. The second night both neighbourhood local cats who won't stay out of my garden/off the point/away from my birds showed up and I sprayed them away and then ran through the dark for my life to hide as far away from the hose as possible. The third night I think I saw a rat but I haven't seen him since and the fourth night Lochlan got cold feet and made me hide with him again and we hatched a serious plan and sacrificed Ben, who was found first. Lochlan did not throw a rock to Ben to draw Sam to where he was, nope, uh-uh.
*whistles*
We're trying to have a great spring and we're going to have a better summer. This is the plan.
Thank you, I think.Can I smack your hand now, by accident?
Please no. It's nice being on the same level, that's all.
Oh, you're slumming today?
Not what I mean, Bridge. I mean you're this ethereal creature most of the time and today you're just a hurting human.
God, I love it when you talk dirty to me.
You know what I mean.
Okay.
Seriously.
I said okay.
I didn't explain it well. Nevermind. He looks at me and I look back and then he looks away again.
Okay, I say, and crack up.