Metamorphosism

Trying to remember

For some reason none of the prunes on the trees have worms now. Earlier in the summer, when they were first getting ripe, it was gross. You had to examine every single one, and throw away more than half. Now you still examine every one, but none are infested.
Weekend: Saturday we did some stuff. Sunday we did some more stuff. Don't ask me what, so long ago.
Saturday morning, I think Beta and I moved furniture at her grandparents' house. It went well, I only squished her into the corner once and we damaged the freshly-painted walls minimally. Nothing got crushed etc and there was no blood and no tears and minimal sweat. Then we ate pizza and I went and lifted weights at the gym a little.
I say lifted weights. Worked out. I worked out at the gym.
A little.
Sunday morning I worked in the yard. I clipped some bushes. Gamma and I played catch with a tennis ball after Alpha and Beta went somewhere. Then Gamma took a shower, and then I did. Then I started to practice cello, but Alpha called and said put some food together let's go on a picnic, so we did and it was nice.
In the afternoon, Sunday was all about the circus. Gamma had been promised a visit to the circus. It was my turn, and presented to me as if I would treat it like punishment, but I didn't mind this year. Most years I try to get out of it. This year I didn't mind.
It is the cheapest circus that comes to town. The others really fucking rip you off. This one is reasonable by comparison. Gamma and I - that is, a 9 year old kid and a grown man - got decent seats for €17, plus a drink and popcorn for Gamma for €2 each, and at the end she got a large balloon with a rubber band so you can make it go boing-boing against your fist in the car on the drive home and distract the driver, for only another euro. We skipped the animal show in the intermission, which would have been only €1.50 per person, as well as the pony riding (€2) and the autograph cards (€1 I think), the poster (€2) and so on.
The show lasted two hours, totally a reasonable deal for your money. There was a pretty good clown (Charlie Chaplin style outfit) and there were some decent acrobats.
It is a family circus. We have been going to see them for about the last 12 or so years. They come to town every year. We have watched the kids grow up and either get good, or not, or sort of drop out and do something else.
One of the daughters is in her 20s now. She came out with some little dogs and they climbed up and down stuff and got treats. Then later she came out with a horse and a pony and the horse stood there while the pony ran underneath it, back and forth. She (the young woman) was tall and sort of shapely and wearing a tight glittery dress slit up past the hip, to the point where when the dads who took their kids to the circus come home and are asked, How were the horses? they say, Horses?
And there was a glittery shapely Czech gal who lay on her back and balanced things with her feet, and juggled things with her feet. And there was another blonde Austrian woman who climbed up and down a rope, and did a hulahoop act.
In the intermission, Gamma and I stayed in the tent because we were skipping the animal petting thing, and she enjoyed climbing around under the bleachers. She found a baby bracelet and a t-shirt and some other stuff.
After the show we bought the balloon on our way out, and it took a while because people kept taking cuts in front of Gamma, until I finally gave her a hand.
Then we drove home and did some more stuff. We went to a concert in a nearby town where a 12 year old Korean girl played violin with an orchestra from Budweis. She was the soloist. She stood up front, a skinny kid in a blue dress, and played. She played by heart, and seemed (as Gamma remarked) to dissolve into pure music when she played.
We left early, as soon as she was finished, because you know, school tomorrow. On our way home we passed the wunderkind and her parents, and I slowed down so Alpha could yell out the window at her how well she had played. She and her parents seemed happy.
Then we went home and went to bed. Then I slept until 3 AM, when someone sleeping in bed with me screamed in their sleep. Then I went back to sleep and kept waking myself up because I was snoring.
Then at 5 I got up and fed the cats, and my day started.