Old Friends, New Friends, and Smiles
Today after work I was able to get Dean to go out into the woods with me and the dogs
The only way to get him to come and do that same old loop across the street in Rock Creek Park was to invite our neighbor and his friend Elijah
Elijah and Dean are buddies.....it may be safe to say that they consider themselves best friends
Elijah was away in Spain all summer with his younger brother and his parents
Off visiting his grandparents while dodging the humidity and the mosquitos of Northwest Washington DC
Dean expressed missing Elijah on various occassions.
Elijah was good enough to write Dean a letter from Spain.
well, Elijah and his family are back and Dean can not get enough of him
They wrestle and they run then they wrestle some more til someone bonks their head and they break for some crying and then wrestle some more; and of course they laugh. They laugh a lot, their laughter is infectous. It is funny to see them.....they talk very little, yet they are always communicating.
This weekend past we Lisa and I got a babysitter for Grant and took Dean to the RFK parking lot for the weird and cool performers of Cirque de Soliel
Oddly enough....James and Ross had also booked a babysitter for their younger child and took Elijah to that same 5 o'clock show on Sunday afternoon.
Dean and Elijah were so pumped at the performance that seeing each other at intermission sent them running in circles. Twenty-five minutes of running in circles.....the full duration of the intermission only breaking to pee
Never once did they talk about what they had seen, yet they shared the experience.
Dean asked to sit with Elijah as we were corraled back to our seats after intermission then again a few times as the show started. After the show they ran smiling out of the yellow vynyll big top out into the parking lot, smiling , laughing, and holding hands until Dean rammed his head into a side view mirror.
Apparently today after Lisa picked up Dean from Rosemount Elijah stopped by and the boys unproductively played with their scooters....bicycles....tricycles.....exchanging and fighting over each vehicle all the while never doing much riding
so when I got home and offered to take Dean out with Elijah I found that Elijah had left minutes before my arrival and that Dean had not yet fulfill his Elijah fix.
A call to Ross and James showed that Elijah was excited to hike which meant that Dean was excited to hike as well.
The same hike that Dean refused to attend when it was just Roscoe, Brutus, and myself.
We hiked.
They ran and tripped and ran some more only to trip again. There was some game where I was to chase and they were to run all the time they taunted me with a gesture around the eyes like a bird watcher holding his binoculars. I kept a good pace right behind them occassionally catching them as they slowed to cross a fallen tree or to manover a technical rooted section. At this point I let out a deep belly growl, more comical than scary, and they would unleash the laughter. Energized to speed on ahead.
After a fair amount of running, a good amount of tripping, and a whole lot of screaming we came out of the woods to the end of Rosemount Road right behind the Rosemount Center only to find an odd looking Bohemian looking character with a thin framed body, loose fitting black clothes, and a wild scraggly beard. I had Roscoe and Brutus by the colar before we even made the turn and saw this strange man sitting on the log. Just as we were about to turn the corner to head past the man down the hill and onto the last bit of trail to home I heard a voice say my name. Without having to turn and look I smiled, it was Sven, I knew that voice. I walked over releasing Roscoe and then Brutus, Roscoe fell comfortably at Sven's feet. I then introduce the boys to the not so odd man resting on the log with his guitar. Sven was neither strange nor stranger, he is an old friend. A person who has always brought a smile to my face no matter how negative I may be trying to be. Sven and I have hiked together many miles with our dogs and ridden many miles together on our bikes. Our lives have taken similar yet different paths. Both continue to love nature and the city and that Sven is also a father and I am sure a wonderful one at that as he showed his skills by sharing his guitar with Elijah and Dean. Sven instructed them with his gentle voice as he got them to each strum the guitar. The meeting was brief, but enough to make me leave smiling and wondering why I do not smile more often.

more on this
the story never went full circle
but there are parental duties to tend to

night for now
(this blog entry was typed with Dean in my lap....Dean and I talked while I typed..He watched my hands on the keys and we discussed which letters were which and what buttons do what....at times Dean tested different keys ((F3 being his favorite of the day, a find command))....Dean is pretty good with the MOUSE....well, he can guide the cursor to hit play on a QUICKTIME MOVIE....which for three is a good start...the entry was ended abruptly when Grant woke up and started to cry, at which point I had to put Dean to bed and check on Grant...then the Disney movie began....Dean was in and out of bed....I was up and down the stairs....Grant was wide awake in my arms as it is hard to sleep when I am trying to be stern with Dean while trying to make him go to sleep or at least stay in bed....Dean eventually went to sleep or stayed in bed, Grant and I went downstairs, put on a CD, Roscoe was resting at my feet, we all relaxed til Lisa and Brutus got back from their errand......it is amazing to see 7 month old Grant respond to his mother coming through the door....the Love and Attachment is evident)