And On A Thursday, We Have To Say Goodbye. It Was a Short-Lived Syracuse Visit, But Wonderful All the Way

The score is Rhiannon and Abu, 11 matches to 0. Tunga and I, Nope. Lossine and I, Nope. Chitunga and Lossine, Nope, too. Abu and Rhiannon were the Corn Hole champions of the first week in August at Mt. Pleasant. Two nights of serious matches (and me trying to seriously get a lot of work done in between games), but the Captain Glue Stick and the Rhino Dolphin made the rest of us look like fools.

Rhiannon, a student from my Syracuse days and now a lifetime friend, was irreplaceable this week with Young Adult Literacy Labs at a time when we needed her creativity, her expertise, her humor, and her willingness to step up and step in.

As I type, the twins are trying to get her to stay another few days and I have to admit I'm on her side. I've said for a while now that summer serves as the ultimate distraction to help me get through the absolute most chaotic time of my year -- all the CWP-Fairfield work. It is the love and laughter on the home front that makes it all worthwhile: spur-of-the-moment dinners, cooperating house-cleaning festivals, spontaneous adventures just to get out of the house, joking on one another, and simply enjoying every second of the day.

I'm too fried to capture how much I've enjoyed the company of Rhiannon (but Lossine got Berry soap for our dishes, so we'll have her in spirit). If she stays, I'm overjoyed, but if she departs, I wish her the safest travels.

It's all elephant shoes. Elephant shoes all the way.