Close to Nowhere

For a change it was an interesting day in the Jones house. I had two little critters running wild about the house. They would occasionally stop and give me an enthusiastic hug and continue on their way. Sissie would occasionally say "I love you Bumpy." Mostly because I was controlling the bag of chocolates.

Great-grandson Shepard (age 5) sang "Happy Birthday" to Uncle Kris, who turned 46 Friday. Great-granddaughter Sissie (Ruby June, will be 3 in August) wouldn't sing, and while she told him Happy Birthday several times, she kept complaining to me that Uncle Kris was looking at her.

I told her it was because he thought she was so pretty, and that made it OK.

Shepard has repeatedly said he'd like to come live here so he could drive his tractor (kid-size) and fix the truck that's stuck in the leaves. The truck was his great-grandfather's and when Pop thought the transmission was messing up, he parked it under a tree near the driveway and it still sits there.

I'd made Kris's favorite meal, enchiladas and Spanish rice, and while the adults enjoyed it, the kids ate chocolates. After all, it's great-grandmother's house!

Granddaughter Remy and her husband had just come in from a DOT test at an Urgent Care and they still had to go to his parents' house, but they stayed long enough to eat and get really hot and sweaty outside with Shepard.

Sissie stays in the house with me and "cooks" and plays with her grocery cart.

Between celebrating Kris's birthday and the kids being here, we had a very good day.

• This won't be my last column by any stretch, but I'm no longer going to write one every week. Between dialysis, the pandemic and my total isolation, I'm boring myself. I will write a column when something interesting occurs. Please Lord I need something interesting ­ which might be kind of scary. There's that old Chinese curse ­ may you live in interesting times.

Until then, see y'all later...