It's so humid here that the window in the door between the house and garage steamed up today! The other windows steamed up as well. Good thing we dodged a month of summer in MN. I know Minnesotans maintain that what they have constitutes summer, but if you have ever spent a significant amount of time during the warm part of the year in a part of the United States even a few latitudinal degrees south of MN, you will know that what they have is not summer. It is an extended spring followed by an early fall with a couple of hot snaps sprinkled in there. I would never dream of jogging in the middle of the day here, but did so in MN with impunity.
So, that's not really big news, like most places not named MN or AK, it's August so it's hot and humid. I've been quite busy since I last typed. When not preparing for my class or taking care of Anders, I'm thinking about the stuff that I have to get around to doing.
Anders was baptized on his birthday, then I left for Athens the next day, arrived on Tuesday and later that day began teaching in the second summer session at OU-Chillicothe. Being back in Kansas reminded me that OU is Oklahoma, oh no! The class is scheduled to meet for four hours, from 6:30 to 10:30 pm twice per week. I went almost the full four hours the second day. That was probably cruel and unusual punishment for all involved. Anna gets bored if I talk for four minutes straight, let alone four hours. The student haven't dropped yet, so I have that going for me.
Anna and Anders returned with Greg and Dorene last Saturday. I lived for five days as a bachelor. Our friend Bill, who has serving as our house sitter also stayed with me. I am convinced that without women, men would devolve into the state of nature. Trudy stuck with Bill. It was also a Roger-heavy period of time. Without Anna around, I not only went on a walk but joined him for the Ruby Tuesday salad bar later. Roger is off to New England for the month. We will see him again around Labor Day after the Newport Folk Festival, Jazz Festival, and other festivals, shows, and revelry.
Anders had a nice birthday and baptism. Anna's grandparents' church in Litchfield, MN gave us a large wooden chest for his baptism. Anna's sister Mandy and brother in law Matt served as Anders' sponsors on her side, and from my side it was our friends Brad and Martha Albers. Most of Anna's family attended the baptism, as did my mom and uncle Fred. Anders tried to dive into the baptismal water. There was a concert band at church led by Litchfield's Mr. Holland, so said the Star Tribune just a few days earlier in a big feature on him. Well, the band leader had a bit too much leeway. He called out the baptismal party to stand and clap. Anna turned the color of a tomato! They played the congregation out of church. He motioned Anders up to the mike. I took him up, the band leader gave him the mike, which he then tried to eat. Anders loved having the brass section right in front of him. He probably would have grabbed an oboe if he could walk at the time.
Another funny moment happened when Anders took a picture with his great grandma Carlson and his second cousins. For the picture, Anders was plopped down between his five and seven year old cousins, total strangers to him, but he took it in stride as if to say, "Hi, I'm Anders, nice to work with you today. Where do you want me? Between you guys and below Great Grandma? Okay." Meanwhile, his fellow baby cousins were apoplectic. The girls were crying and had to have a parent hold them for the picture, so essentially they were acting like babies. When it was over, Anders had a look that said, "Did you get what you needed? Was that good? Nice working with you." And he went back to the party. So, Anders is on course to be a child actor, should we so chose.
Anders didn't know what to do with his birthday cupcake, but he loved his ice cream cake later that he had at his second party at Greg and Dorene's house. Anders gave it an approving shake. Anders also picked his birthday to start crawling, much like he chose to to breath and eat on his due date. He has a knack for doing big things on notable dates. He changed a lot in the days I was away from him. Anders now crawls, goes from crawling to sitting up, and can pull himself up to a standing position in his crib.
We have slowly begun moving our possessions downstairs now that Anders' head has become a magnate for sharp wooden corners. All of our movies and CDs are now downstairs, along with our coffee table, and the big bamboo thing with the glass shelves. I'm sure it has a name, but I don't care enough to ask Anna what it is called and suffer her contempt for not knowing the proper names of furniture. They also brought back my aunt Marilee's flat screen TV for our living room. It's nice to feel like we have a piece of Marilee in our house.
On the evening after Anders' baptism, a friend of mine told me on the phone that another old friend of ours had drowned. My high school friend Chris "Speez" Spilde was one of the funniest people I ever met. He had one of the two most infectious laughs of anyone I ever met (the other being my friend Tom Wyse). Speez was my tennis partner, a fellow Nordic Dancer, and also a teammate on various football and baseball teams. I knew him for almost 23 years. He left a wife and two kids behind. It's dizzying to realize how quickly life can change. A joyous day turned tragic. I still can't believe Speez is gone and I will never hear his laugh again.
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