I keep a calendar in the kitchen with all the important events of the month listed on it. Below this, I keep a neat little folder with pertinent support documents in it, like Cyd’s summer fun special events and programs, the list of school supplies she’ll need before August 4th when she enters the second grade, my dentist’s appointment reminder card, etc.

Usually, I’m pretty good about keeping things straight, since our lives revolve around weekends when I work shows or have work-related activities. Not this month, heh.

Yesterday I dutifully rounded up father, grandmother and camera to watch Cyd’s summer fun finale program, listed on my calendar for July 10th at 6:00pm. We showed up to retrieve her from the A+ (after summer fun care) people and get her to the finale on time. I had wondered why the finale was being held two weeks before summer fun closed, but I rarely question things run by the municipality and the state…they never make sense.

We were a week early.

So off to the Old Spaghetti Factory we went, to sit in the cable car and pretend it was the Hogwart’s Train. My fun with Cyd, however, came later.

After we had dropped father and grandmother off, Cyd and I got into a conversation about sky-diving. She figured she could parachute from the top of grandmother’s three-story building. I explained it wasn’t high enough. We launched into a discussion about aerodynamics, variable wind velocity at different altitudes, drift, drag, e=Mc2, the dangerousness of the sport, thrillseeking in general, etc. I mentioned to her that the actor who plays Legolas, otherwise known as Orlando Bloom, who is her most favorite actor after the three kids from the Harry Potter movies, is a thrillseeker. I pointed out that the second disc of our “Lord of the Rings” set showed him parachuting, bungee jumping and snowboarding. Excitedly, she asked to view this footage. When we got home she immediately plunked the DVD into the player and sat before the tv, rapt.

After the entire DVD had been viewed she mysteriously disappeared to her room. As I did some general clean-up around the living room I noticed I hadn’t heard a peep from her for about twenty minutes. Now, one of those things that mothers have is an internal timer on silence. There’s the accepted regular amount of silence, then there’s the extended accepted regular amount of silence, and then there’s the “something’s not quite right” amount of silence. With Cyd, these intervals are ten minutes, fifteen minutes, and twenty minutes, respectively.

When I peeked into her room, she had hauled out one of her larger carry-alls and was humming to herself as she packed her art supplies, a sketch book, some small toys and a watch.

“Cyd, hon, are you packing?” I asked.
“Yep,” she smiled.
“Where are you going?”
“To see the Elves.”
“You’re packing to go and see the Elves?” I replied, astounded.
“Yep.”

Eh, okay. Elves are keen folk. Commune with nature, brave in battle, luxurious, elegant, intelligent…

“Be sure to pack a warm jacket ‘cuz it will get cold along the way.”
“Okay, mom.”

Later, as I report this development to her amused father by phone, she wanders in from the kitchen with a small ceramic pot in hand.

“I’m going to have to cook a meal if I get hungry on the trip,” she announces. Five minutes later, she is fast asleep on the living room couch.

This morning, I ask her why she has packed her shoe horn among her things.

“That is my practice sword,” she answers matter-of-factly. “Everyone has to have a practice sword.”

The skinny of it is that she plans to leave on her trip today after summer fun. She promises to be home tomorrow morning and to stay safe.

I hope she has a wonderful time.