You learn something new everyday. And today I learned how to play croquet, and I also learned that I have some pretty legit skills at it.
I was playing at my grandparents' house about an hour away from where we are staying on the beach. Most folks my age would think spending time with their grandparents would be a dreadful time. It's quite the opposite with mine. They go on hikes and bike rides and they read fancy magazines and newspapers and write books and paint things for art shows. They're overachievers. One time last Christmas they watched us when my parents went out for a few days and we had a hard time keeping up with their activities - power walks, educational games, the works.
So we went to their house and we played croquet for a while in the front yard, and although no one could beat Grandpa, we got pretty good.
I also got some great pictures of their flowers and plants around their house with my swanky professional camera. Afterwards we went to a friend of theirs in a retirement community sort of place. We talked about college - and in case you don't know, if you are a senior in high school, the topics of discussion revolve around (a) college, (b) standardized tests (SAT, ACT, AP), and (c) wisdom teeth. We left out the wisdom teeth discussion - save it for a rainy day - and we were talking to their friend who was a lot of fun actually. She said that somehow I will end up in the right place and everything will fall into place.
Sometimes we have to trust the situation and hope that everything turns out well, if not as planned. You can't plan anything with any degree of absolute certainty in life. You just have to let it flow and know that you can make it great no matter what.
We came back and I did something I had been waiting to do all day - summer reading. Today's menu consisted of AP bio chapter 2 (review of basic chemistry and physics!) and a side dish of study guide filling in.
I read a few pages before losing interest, then we played cage bingo - the loud circular structure that contains tumbling red balls with numbers and letters on them. There really isn't anything better than cage bingo.
Except for Othello, an addicting strategic game of epic proportions. Here's a handy link to buy Othello, if this casual review entices you.
Then one of my grandparent's friends from Cambridge came over for dinner. She has a PhD already but she is here doing extra research (clearly an overachiever). She leaves tomorrow, but she came to share a great dinner with us before parting.
And since we're such a striking bunch, we went out with a bang: I gave a brief salsa lesson in the kitchen and showed them some of the basic steps. I'm more of a freestyle dancer, but I can throw down something cool if I have it in me. I did tonight.
Today was just such a simply fun day. It left me fully contented. And now I lay me down to sleep, with happy thoughts in my head.
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