It was early afternoon and I was sitting on my back deck reading a book when my son, Alex, came out and sat down in the chair next to me.

“You just get up?” I asked as I marked my spot in my book before putting it down on the table.

Alex was rubbing his eyes. “Yeah, I was up till four working on my game.”

“How’s it going?” I was truly interested. Alex design’s video games and even though I had little knowledge about writing code I knew he was good at it and more importantly, he loved it.

“Pretty good.” he looked over at me. “I’m making progress.” He stretched and looked over at our small bistro table. “Is that our pasta bowl?”

“Yup.”

“Why’s it out here?” He got up and walked over to it. “And why’s it filled with water?”

“I’m conducting a little experiment.”

Alex came back and sat down. “What kind of experiment?”

“I’m seeing if a bird bath is worth investing in.”

“WHAT!” Alex looked slightly disgusted.

“Birds need water.” I picked up my water glass, taking a small sip as if to prove my point. “Not only to drink but to clean their feathers and get rid of any parasites.” I set my glass back down.

Alex looked back over to the pasta bowl. “So now that’s going to be filled with bird parasites?”

“No, I told you I’m just using it as an experiment.” I pointed over to the bird feeders that were filled with birds. “As soon as one of them shows some interest, I’m bringing the pasta bowl back in and going to buy a real bird bath for them.”

Alex just shook his head. “What got you started on this?” He gave a resigned sigh.

“Remember how hard it rained last night?” I pointed to the deck where there were still a few puddles. “Well, I was running to the store this morning and you know that pothole at the end of our street?” Alex nodded so I continued. “Well, it was filled with water and three robins were trying to bathe in it! I almost ran over them!” I was hoping Alex would see my reasoning. “I was going to pick up a bird bath right then but, I decided to see if they’d use it.”

“And?”

“Well, so far no one’s been interested.” I sighed.

“How long have you had it out?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe half an hour.”

“And you’re positive no birds have been in it so far?”

“Positive.”

We both watched the pasta bowl. “You know you can’t just leave standing water out all day.” Alex added.

“I know. I’ll have to change so it doesn’t become a mosquito hatchery.”

Alex just nodded.

A robin landed on our railing, looking over at the bowl.

“Oh, I think we might have our first customer.” I whispered rubbing my hands together.

Alex jumped up, startling the robin so that it flew off.

“Hey!” I cried. “Why’d you do that?”

“Now we both win!” Alex went over to the bowl, dumped the water out and tucked the bowl under his arm. “You’re experiment’s complete.” He began walking towards the kitchen door. “Now you can go out and get your bird bath and I can still eat pasta out of this bowl!”

My husband Steven and I were both in our living room, each of us quietly scrolling through our phones.

“I just sent you an e-mail of a link I thought you’d like to read.” Steven said as he continued scrolling.

“Oh!” I clicked on my e-mail. “What’s it about?”

“Read the link.” Steven repeated.

“But you’re sitting right here! Can’t you just tell me?” I was feeling a little annoyed.

“It’s a pretty long article.” He looked up from his phone. “I’m in the middle of answering an e-mail from one of my clients.”

I began reading the article, which was about an app that tracked the amount of time you spent on your phone. It was written about the president of Apple who had decided to put it on the next upgrade for the phone. But before he released the upgrade he decided to use it himself and was shocked at the hours, per day, that he was on his device.

I looked over at Steven shaking my head. “How could he be shocked? We all live on our phones! Between messages, e-mail, Facebook, Goggling things, and playing Solitaire I wouldn’t be shocked if the app told me I’m on my phone 8 hours a day!”

“I’ve got you beat!” Steven had paused his texting and looked over at me. “I bet I’m on my phone a good 10 hours a day with work!”

Just then Alex walked into the room, catching the last part of Steven sentence. “What do you do 10 hours a day?”

“I’m on my phone at least that much every day!” Steven answered.

“That’s unbelievable!” Alex stood there shaking his head. “You two spend way too much time on your phone’s.”

“Apple is going to tell you exactly how much time you spend on your phone.” I looked over at Alex. “It’s just not our phone’s they can track. They can also track how much time you’re on any device.” I had to smile. “Like how much time you’re on your computer.”

“That’s not fair.” Alex objected. “I work on my computer.”

“Well, I work on my phone.” Steven added.

They both looked at me. “Well, I sometimes work on my phone.” I shrugged my shoulders. “A little.”

They both started to laugh.

“Wait a minute!” I cried. “I have an idea!” I looked at both of them. “Why don’t we try not to be on our phone’s at dinner tonight?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “That’s a easy one for me.”

“Me too!” I agreed, then looked over at Steven.

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “Sure. I’ll give it a try.”

A short time later, dinner was on the table and we were all sitting down. It didn’t take long for Steven’s phone to chirp that he’d gotten a text. He glanced at his phone, than over to me. “So, how was your day?”

I had to smile. “Pretty good…” I was ready to tell a story that had happened at work when Steven’s phone chirped again.

He glanced down then back at me. “That’s nice.” His phone chirped a third time. “I’m sorry, but I really have to take this.” He picked up the phone and got up from the table. “There’s a problem at one of my job sites and it has to be dealt with right now.”

“Fine.” I sighed.

I could hear my phone ringing from the other room. “It can go to voice mail.” I said as I looked over at Alex. “So, how was your day?”

“Pretty good.” he was about to continue when my phone started to ring again.

“Hum, two times right in a row. I’m not going to answer it.” I said as I got up from the table. “I just want to check to see who it is.”

“Sure.” Alex called. “That was a fun experiment.”

“Okay, I admit it!” I cried. “Your Dad and I are addicted to our phones!”

Alex just nodded his head. “The first step is knowing you have a problem.”

“I’m so embarrassed!” I cried as I came into the house and tossed the bag with my new shoes on the chair.

Steven came out of our bedroom. “What happened?”

“I ran into someone I haven’t seen in a while looking like this!” I swept my hand up and down my torso. “Ripped jeans that are clearly not a fashion statement but just a hole worn at the knee! A tee shirt that I’m probably going to be sleeping in tonight, if I don’t spill anything on it at dinner! A sweatshirt that’s missing the little toggle thingy that zips it up! Glasses, not contacts, no make-up, and because it’s rainy out my hair’s frizzed out like a clown!”

“Oh, come on. You don’t look that bad.” Steven went back into our bedroom, while I followed him. I’d caught him in the middle of cleaning out his closet.

“Thanks. But I know you’re just being nice” I grumbled. I sat down on the bed watching him look through his shirts.

“Hey, I’ve seen your hair twice that size when it’s really humid out.” Steven smiled, but I wasn’t in the mood for joking around.

“It was so embarrassing.” I just shook my head. “There I was bending over trying to get a shoe on when I hear my name being called. I look up, my hair’s in my face and there she is, looking all put together while I look like this!”

“I’m sure she didn’t notice.” Steven pulled some shirts out of his closet and tossed them on the bed.”

“Oh, she noticed!” I sighed. “Women judge each other. It’s what we do. I could see it in her eyes as I was apologizing for looking the way I do.”

“You apologized?” Steven looked confused.

“Of course I did. I didn’t want her to think I always go around looking like this! I was hoping to counteract the judging!”

“Did it work?” He began going through his sock drawer tossing the older socks on the floor next to the garbage bag.

“It was too late. She judged me.” I laid back on the bed and threw my arm across my eyes. “It got even worse when I broke out in the sweat! I had to keep mopping my upper lip with my sleeve.” I couldn’t help but groan.

“Why’d you go out dressed like that if it’s bothering you so much?”

“Because I dressed for a home day. I wasn’t planning on going anywhere. But then I remembered I needed shoes for that dress I’m wearing next weekend and I just ran out not thinking.”

“Well, there’s a valuable lesson in there somewhere.”

I sat up on the bed. “A valuable lesson?”

“Never leave the house without looking in the mirror and thinking someone out there will be judging you.”

“Says the man with a stain on the front of his sweatshirt.”

Steven looked down. “Oh I had soup for lunch. I must have spilled some.” He continued sorting out his clothes.

“Aren’t you going to change?”

“Nope. I’m not planning on going anywhere.” He looked over at me and smiled. “But if I do I’ll look in the mirror before I go.”

“You’re a funny man, Steven. A funny man.” I said as I laid back down on the bed.

“Look how cute they are!” I was sitting on our back porch with my son, Alex as we watched two chipmunks tumble around in a patch of clover.

“You can hear them squeaking at each other.” Alex laughed. One of the chipmunks had broken free from the tumble and raced towards the woods, the other followed closely behind.

“I wonder if they’re playing or really mad at each other?” I could see them still chasing each other in the underbrush of the woods.

“They didn’t look like they were playing to me.” Alex said as we turned our attention to a cardinal and blue jay trying to get to the feeder at the same time.

“I say the bluejay wins this one.” I called but another cardinal swooped down and chased the bluejay into the oak tree on the other side of the yard. “Okay, I guess I was wrong on that one.”

Alex pointed to my bird house as a small bird flew out of it. “What’s that?” Alex asked.

“It’s a black capped chickadee!” I was feeling almost gleeful. “They’ve been working on the nest for a few days now!” We saw another one fly into the birdhouse carrying more nesting supplies. “I can’t wait for the babies to arrive!”

Alex pointed to the small bunny hopping around around the clover patch nibbling on a clover flowers. “He doesn’t seem to mind that were sitting right here, three feet away from him.”

“I know! I love it!”

A hummingbird zipped by us headed for the feeder. “I’m suppose to be doing errands right now, but I don’t want to leave our yard.”

The chipmunks came running out of the woods, their cheeks stuffed with food. One ran right past us and into the hole that was next to our deck while the other one ran straight for the enclosure where we kept our garbage pails. “Well, we know one of them picked a really stinky spot for their home.”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe he’s hoping something will fall out of the garbage pails and he won’t have to travel too far to eat.”

“Yuck.” I shuttered at the thought.

We’d turned our attention back to the feeder where a red headed woodpecker was taking advantage of the fact that the cardinals had chased away the bluejay. “Isn’t he beautiful! I don’t see him at the feeder very often, he’s usually picking the bugs from the trees.”

Alex thought for a moment. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him at the feeder before.”

“Well, that’s because I spend more time out here than you do.” I looked at my watch. “Oh, man. I really should be getting my errands done.” I started to get up but another hummingbird was headed for the feeder. “Maybe just a few more minutes.” I said as I sat back down.

“You’re not going to do your errands today, are you?” Alex had to laugh.

“Maybe I’ll get them done tomorrow.”

My husband, Steven came out on the porch. “What are you two up to?”

“There’s so much going on out here that I just can’t talk myself into leaving.” I sighed. “Right now I feel like I could hold my pointer finger up in the air and a butterfly would land on it.”

Alex started to laugh.

“I’m serious!” I cried.

“I know that’s what scares me.” Alex got up and gave me a kiss on the top of the head before he went in.

Steven sat down next to me and patted me on the knee. “You know if anyone in this family could get a butterfly to land on their finger it would be you.”

“Aw, thanks.” I pointed to the chipmunks as they chased each other through the clover. “I’m warning you, once you start watching them you won’t be able to stop.”

I heard my husband, Steven in the kitchen so I got up off the couch and hurried in to meet him. “I’ve got a new thing!” I cried, holding out that days newspaper.

Steven sighed, “Oh no. Does this involve me?”

“Yup!” I couldn’t help but smile. “The next nice day we’re going Forest Bathing!”

“What?” Steven just shook his head.

“Aren’t you going to ask me what Forest Bathing is?” I leaned against the counter waiting for him to ask.

“Nope, I already know.” He smiled at me as he filled his cup with coffee.

“Oh come on!” I waved the newspaper in front of him. “I got the paper from the driveway! You didn’t have time to read the article!”

Steven smiled as he poured some cream into his cup. “I read the paper online this morning.” He went into the living room and sat on the couch. “I also think I’ll keep calling it a walk in the woods.” He leaned back and put his feet up on the coffee table before taking another sip from his coffee cup.

“Well, I looked it up.” I sat next to him and scooped my phone off the coffee table. “I goggled it and believe it or not it’s a real thing.”

“Oh, I believe you, but I still prefer to call it a walk.”

“But that’s where you’re wrong!” I cried. I began reading from my phone. “It says here that hiking is about the destination, but Forest Bathing is about an immersion of the senses into the natural world!” I looked over at Steven. “Doesn’t that sound better then a hike?”

“Nope.” He shook his head. “I’m all about the destination.”

I had to laugh. “Well, I used to be about that, too!” I looked back at my phone. “But maybe they have something here.” I began scrolling through the different articles. “This one says it was developed in Japan in the ’80’s. It’s the healing way of Shinrin-yoku or Forest Therapy. You go into the forest and take in your surroundings with all your senses.” I looked back at Steven who still didn’t look impressed. So I kept scrolling. “They’ve already proven that it helps you relax, reduces stress and boosts your immune system!” I looked over at Steven. “Doesn’t that sound great?”

“Walking in the woods does that for me anyway.” He took another sip of coffee. “I’m fine with that.”

“I wonder if anyone near us is doing it?” I began typing in my question. “Oh…that’s too bad.” I looked back at Steven. “They don’t have any clubs doing it yet.” I kept scrolling. “Oh wait! Here’s someone that wants people to join a group she’s starting!” I looked back at Steven. “She could teach us how it’s done!”

Steven laughed. “Didn’t you just say it’s all about being in the woods and using all your senses?”

“Yeah…” I wasn’t sure where he was going.

“Well, don’t we already do that?”

“Maybe, but what if we aren’t doing it right?”

Steven took a deep breath. “You see the trees, you smell the trees, you hear the trees. Heck I’ve even felt a tree.” He started to laugh. “The only sense we’re missing is taste. So the next time we’re in the woods you just have to lick the tree and you’re all set.”

I had to laugh. “Why do you insist on ruining these things for me!” I put the phone down on the couch.

He patted me on the shoulder before he got up. “Don’t worry, I’m just here to stop you from doing silly things in the forest.” I heard him put his cup in the dishwasher before he called out to me.“You’re welcome!”

I was busy making dinner, when my son Alex came into the kitchen. “It smells good in here! What are you making?”

I grabbed a fork to turn over the chicken cutlet I was frying. “I’m making chicken parmesan.” I said as I reached over and stirred the pot with the sauce in it.

“So what’s this for?” Alex lifted the pot that was filled with water.

“I’m making hummingbird nectar.” I pointed to the hummingbird feeders next to the sink. “It’s that time of year again!” I cried. “I love watching those little guys swooping around the back porch!”

Alex put the lid back on. “Is there anything I can do?”

“You could set the table.” I suggested. “Dinner should be ready in about a half an hour.”

After dinner, I was straightening up the kitchen and watching out the window as my husband Steven and Alex played a game of cornhole in the back yard. I couldn’t help but smile as I heard the thunk of the beanbag hit the wooden board. It was another sound that reminded me that summer was almost here.

I touched the side of the pot that the hummingbird nectar was cooling in. Even though it was still a bit warm I decided to put the nectar into the feeders. Carrying them out the back door I hung them up on their posts and leaned over the rail to watch the cornhole match.

“Who’s winning?” I asked.

“Dad.” Alex said as he laid the beanbag in the palm of his hand and lined up his toss. “But I’m only a point away from him.” He tossed the bag and it slid along the board slipping through the hole.

“Three point! You’re ahead now!” I called, happy to see they were both having fun before I went back in to finish up the kitchen.

I was only inside for a moment when Steven called. “You’ve already got hummingbirds at your feeder!”

I ran back outside. “NO! NO! NO!” I cried. “It’s too soon!”

Alex and Steven stopped playing and looked at me. “Too soon?” Steven asked.

“It wasn’t fully cooled!” I cried. “I didn’t expect them now!” I went over to touch the outside of the feeder. “It doesn’t feel that warm.” I admitted. “Now I’m not sure what to think.”

Steven and Alex looked at one another and began shaking their heads.

“What?” I cried as I looked at them. “I could have burnt their little throats!”

“Isn’t the feeder sitting in the sun all summer long?” Steven asked.

“Yeah…” I wasn’t sure where he was going with this.

“So don’t you think the nectar gets a little warm just sitting out all day?” Alex and Steven began collecting their beanbags.

“Hey, that’s true!” I was beginning to feel a little better. “It must warm up in the sun.”

Steven looked by the side of the house. “You know, he flew this way. Do you want me to check and see if he’s not laying in the grass somewhere needing help?”

“Very funny.” I wasn’t feeling amused as the two of them came up on the deck to put away their beanbags. Steven opened the back door. “Are you coming in?” he asked.

“In a minute.” I said.

Steven started to laugh. “You’re going to go around the side of the house and check aren’t you.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe.”

I was sitting on the couch staring at the pile of photo envelopes sitting on our coffee table when my husband, Steven came into the room. “What are you up to?” he asked as he sat down next to me.

“I’m suppose to be sorting my vacation pictures.” I pointed to the giant pile laying in front of me. “I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.” I sighed.

“How many pictures did you take?” Steven reached over and picked up one of the envelopes.

“Looking at that pile, I’m going to say hundreds!” I grabbed a pillow and put it behind my head as I leaned back against the couch.

Steven tried to hand my the envelope. “Do you want to start with this one?”

I shook my head. “It’s going to take hours to go through all of them and I’m just not feeling it right now.” I sighed.

Steven dropped it back on the pile. “Why’d you take so many pictures?”

I looked over at him shocked. “I was in the Netherlands!” I cried. “It was so beautiful there! I’m surprised I didn’t take more!”

Steven shook his head. “Okay, I get it, but how long are these going to stay on the coffee table?”

“I’m hoping that by leaving them out it will be a constant reminder to get working on them.”

“Okay.” He reached over to the pile of coffee table books and grabbed two of the books. “So what’s the reason these are still here?” He handed me the two travel books, one about Belgium and Luxembourg and the other Amsterdam. “You’re not planning your trip anymore.”

I couldn’t help but smile as I took the books from him and began leafing through the Amsterdam book. “Now these have become memory books! I can’t put them away!” I stopped at one page. “I’ve been here.” I pointed to a picture of Anne Frank’s House. “I can’t even begin to explain the feeling I got when I was inside and heard the siren of a police car in the distance.” I looked over at Steven and shuttered. “It was powerful.” I flipped a few more pages and stopped again. “The Van Gogh Museum, this was amazing!” I picked up the Belgium book and the first page I opened. “Bruges!” I cried. “It’s like walking into a painting of a medieval town!” I looked over at Steven. “Did I mention I fell in love with Burges?”

Steven laughed. “You’ve mentioned it once or twice.”

“I can’t really pick a favorite stop, it was all amazing!” I looked over at the pile of pictures again. “I going to need a lot of time to go though all of them.” I sighed. “While I’m trying to decide which ones to keep, I’m going to be reliving the entire vacation.” I looked over at Steven. “That’s going to take a lot of time.”

Steven nodded. “So, what you’re trying to tell me is that this could be sitting on the coffee table for months.”

I put the travel books back on the book pile and moved the stack of photos closer to the books.
“I guess this doesn’t look very good, does it.”

Steven just shook his head.

I tried pushing them behind the African violet that sat in the middle of the table,

“I can still see them.” Steven said.

“I know.” I sighed. “They do look awful sitting here.”

“Yup.” Steven grabbed the remote and turned on the television.

“Okay, I guess I really don’t need the visual to remind me to go through them.” I stood up and adjusted the envelopes as they began to slip and slide in my arms. “It’s not like I need to leave the box of pasta out on the counter to remind me what I’m making for dinner.” I laughed.

“We’re having pasta for dinner?” Steven sounded interested.

“Maybe I should have left the box out on the counter for you to see.”

My husband Steven was outside trimming our holly tree when he sent me a picture of a nest with four baby blue eggs in it. I raced outside.

“You found a robin’s nest!” I cried.

Steven was standing away from the tree as a robin was frantically hopping on the railing by my son, Alex’s back door.

“Yeah.” Steven pointed to the robin. “But he’s so upset I thought I’d stop for today and let him settle down.”

“That’s a good idea.” I so desperately wanted to take a peek at the nest but I was afraid to get too close to the tree. Instead I looked back at the picture Steven had sent me. “This is going to be so great!” I cried. “I’ll be able to watch the baby birds from Alex’s door.”

I went back inside and knocked on Alex’s door.

“Come in!” he called.

I went through his bedroom and into his office. “You’re not going to believe what’s right outside your door!” I held up the phone so he could see the picture.

“Oh, great.” he sighed. “Screaming baby birds right outside my door.”

“Hey!” I was a bit surprised. “We’re going to be able to watch nature up close!” I went to his door and opened it. The glass on the door was smeared with something white. “Ewe…” I cried. “What’s all over your door?”

Alex came over. “Ewe… what is that?”

I looked over at his railing which was covered with bird poop. “Well, I’m guessing this is where he’s hanging out protecting his nest.”

“Okay, I get the railing.” he looked over at me. “Which is disgusting, by the way, but what’s all over my glass?”

I closed the door and went to my room where I could look out my window and watch the robin on Alex’s railing. It wasn’t long before I realized what was happening.

Alex came into my room. “What’s up?”
I pointed out my window. “Watch.”

The robin was sitting on Alex’s railing when suddenly it glanced over to his glass storm door and began making a funny squeaking sound and flew at the window. “He’s seeing his reflection in your window and thinking it’s another bird, so he’s protecting his nest.” I explained.

“Oh, great.” Alex shook his head. “So he’s not a very smart bird and now he’s having kids.”

I started to laugh. “Really? That’s what you’ve come up with?”

Alex pointed to all the poop on his railing. “That, and seeing his reflection is clearly scaring it right out of him!”

I had to laugh again. “Don’t worry, after I clean it up I’ll put something on the glass where he can’t see his reflection anymore.” I looked over at Alex. “How’s that?”

Alex nodded. “That sound like it should work.”

“Just think we’ll be able to watch the babies for almost two weeks before they leave the nest!”

“Yeah.” he said, but he didn’t sound very enthusiastic.

“I’m so glad I’ve passed my love of nature on to you.” I called after him.

It had been a long overdue beautiful Spring day, and as night was falling I was getting settled on the couch for some TV surfing. I’d just picked up the remote when my husband Steven walked into the living room and stopped. “Is it hot in here?” he asked.

It was an unfamiliar question because up until then it had been a very cold Spring. I hadn’t gotten a chance to answer him before he went over to the thermostat. “I’m going to put the air conditioning on.”

“Wait!” I called. “Why don’t we open the windows instead? It’s beautiful out!”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “Sure, why not.” He went over to the dining room window, unlatched the lock, and pulled it open. He took a deep breath. “Wow! You can smell the hyacinths I gave you for Easter!”

I went over to the window and inhaled. “They smell so good!” While I was enjoying their fragrance I stopped for a moment to listen. “Are those spring peepers I’m hearing?”

Steven listened. “Sure sounds like it.”

“Oh my gosh, I love the sound of spring peepers!” I’d noticed we had some little frogs in the yard but I had no idea they were peepers. I went over to the kitchen door. “Do you want to come out and sit on the porch and listen to them with me?”

“Sure, why not.”

Once we were sitting in our chairs and had been listening to them for a while I began to wonder. “You know, the last time I remember listening to them was when we lived on the river.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” The peepers were making quiet a lot of noise now. “Don’t they have to be by water?”

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “I thought they lived in the woods.”

“I think they live in the woods but they have to lay their eggs in water.” I took my phone out of my pocket and began typing in my question. When the link came up I began to get upset. “They do live in the woods and hibernate there in the winter but in the spring they need to be by water!” I looked over at Steven. “How close is the nearest body of water?”

Steven thought about it for a moment. “I’m going to say a couple of miles.”

Now I really was getting upset. “How are the peepers in our woods going to be able to travel a couple of miles?” I cried.

Steven sighed. “I’m sure they’ll figure it out.”

“Oh, come on Steven! They’re in our woods, singing their little hearts out, looking for a mate, and they’re going to hop a few miles from here to have their babies!” I was feeling sorry for our poor misguided peepers. “They’ll never make it!”

Our son Alex came out the back door. “What are you guys up to?” he asked.

“Your Mom wanted to come out here and listen to the Spring peepers.” Steven said as Alex walked over to the glider and sat down.

“Oh is that what that noise is?” he asked. “What are they?”

“They’re little frogs.” I explained. “When we were living by the river it was one of the first signs that Spring was really here.” I held up my phone. “But I just realized that they need to be by water to lay their eggs and your Dad says the nearest body of water is a few miles away!”

Steven looked over at Alex. “Your Mom’s worried that they won’t be able to make it there.”

Alex looked over at me and started to laugh. “So, what are you going to do? Go out in our woods and started catching them so you can drive them to the river?”

Steven slowly shook his head. “I really wish you hadn’t said that Alex.”

I smiled as I looked over at Alex. “You know, when I was a kid, I was really good at catching frogs.”

“Are you serious?” Alex seemed surprised.

Now it was my turn to laugh as I got up and walked over to him. “No, but I love the fact that you think I’d do something like that.” I leaned down and gave him a kiss on the top of his head.

I just got back from a trip to the Netherlands and not ONE pothole to be found anywhere I went. Now that I’m back in the States…

“I swear I’m going to be pulled over for drunk driving!” I cried as I stormed into the house.

My husband, Steven and son, Alex both stopped what they were doing and looked over at me. Steven looked mad. “Are you kidding me?”

“What?” Now I was confused. I looked at Alex, who just looked disappointed in me. “Wait! No, I wasn’t drinking!” I cried. “And I certainly wouldn’t go out and drive if I did!” I dropped my coat on the chair and went over to give Alex a hug. “I’m sorry I scared you.” I looked over at Steven. “It’s the damned potholes! I’ve been swerving all over the roads trying to miss them!”

Steven gave a sigh of relief. “I know! They’ve been crazy this year!”

“Every day on my way to work, I see a new one.” I sat down on the couch and began to rub my jaw.

“What’s wrong?” Steven asked.

“Every pothole that I didn’t miss I realized I would grit my teeth as my poor car slammed in the hole. I’ve been gritting them so hard, for the past twenty minutes, I swear I think I’ve chipped a tooth!”

Steven shook his head. “I know what you mean. There are roads I won’t even take because they’re so bad.” He went into the kitchen and came back with a bottle of water for me.

“Thanks.” I unscrewed the cap and took a sip.

“I wonder when they’re going to start filling them?” I took another sip from my water bottle.

By now, Alex had gotten bored with our conversation. “Let me know if you need any help starting dinner.” he said before he left the room.

I looked over at Steven. “Did he just say he’d help make dinner?” I whispered.

Steven shrugged his shoulders. “I’m pretty sure that’s what he said.”

“Hey, Alex!” I called.

He came out of his room. “Yeah?” He came back into the living room.

“Did you just say you’d help make dinner tonight?” I asked. I couldn’t help but smile.

He hesitated for a moment. “Um, sure. What were you planning on making?”

“I was thinking pasta.” I pointed to the kitchen. “I’ve already defrosted the sauce, the pasta’s down in the pantry and there’s salad stuff in the refrigerator.”

“Okay.” He started to go into the kitchen, but then stopped and turned around. “Do you want me to heat up the sauce or go get the pasta?”

“I thought you said you were making dinner tonight?” I couldn’t help but smile.

“I said I’d help.” He held up his pointer finger as he corrected me. “And I only did that because you usually come right home and start to cook. But you’re pothole story was getting you so aggravated I thought dinner might be backed up.” Now it was his time to start smiling. “It was just my way of giving you a gentle reminder, because I’m starving!”

“Well, you’re stuck helping now.” I got up and went into the kitchen. “You go get the pasta and I’ll start the salad.”

Steven came into the kitchen. “Anything I can do?”

“Sure, you can put the water on.” I went cabinet and pulled out a bottle of red wine. “Now that I’m not planning on doing any more driving today, I think I’ll have a nice glass of this with dinner.” I put the bottle on the counter as Alex came back with the pasta.

I turned and looked at Alex as I reached into the cabinet for a glass. “This way I can finish my pothole story while we’re eating dinner!”

Alex gave an very unenthusiastic, “Yeah.” as he put the pasta box down on the counter.