I had the great privilege of working remotely this week . . .
. . . while my daughter and her cousin attended day camp in the woods.
The actual woods. Very unlike any urban camps they might have attended close to home, their activities here were things like archery, kayaking, fishing (okay, so they both opted out of this one), crafting, swimming, rock climbing, and – well – chalk drawing. They were also told that “totem” meant “pole” so we had to clear that up. But all in all? Amazing.
As we drove to camp Wednesday morning, we scanned the radio for music we all might like. Have you tried that? With two tweens in your backseat? We found one with a good beat, clean language, very little DJ interruption… and surprisingly quick headline news (my hand poised on the dial to turn it): “The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on the Constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act today, at 9 o’clock Eastern.” That may not be exactly what they said, but it’s pretty close.
And suddenly, we were talking about marriage and fairness and how many times people could get married (twice if you married in both the U.S. and India; twice or more if you got divorced), who people can marry (whoever they like, of course! right?), who cares (not just gay people), and which branch of government has the final say (um: all?). We talked about state responsibility and how laws change, and they agreed to exit my car in the pouring rain only after I promised to tell them the decision just as soon as camp was done.
I wondered silently if any other campers had this on their minds.
When I came back that afternoon and shared the good news, they jumped up and down and waved their swimming towels, climbed into my car, peppering me with questions, and then we swam off our raft in the middle of the lake.
By the end of the day, the historic decision had been distilled simply to, “The Supreme Court says YES!”
Then it rained. And then it stopped.
And then we swam again. And fed the swans, Gertrude and Alice . . .
. . . with Aunties who stopped by to finish the week with us.
We treated ourselves to rootbeer floats at a drive-in.
And roasted marshmallows. Because we were away from home and it was summer and life was good.
Are you the babysitter? 