Akiva takes out ‘ye ol’ pogo stick. In order to prevent the exposed spring from tearing up his shorts and shirt, as it did two years ago, (damage not pictured in link) and possibly preventing him from having children later in life, I taped some water pipe insulation over the offending part.

SPRINK-SPRANK-SPRINK-SPRANK

SPRINK-SPRANK-SPRINK-SPRANK!

SPRINK-SPRANK-SPRINK-SPRANK

SPRINK-SPRANK-SPRINK-SPRANK!

Akiva is naturally trop cool.

When we arrive home, Gramps is pulling weeds. My impression of his weed pulling technique is that he really liked it when he was young and strong and dug up the big root balls left by adult trees cut down in the yard. He left giant craters reminiscent of meteorite impacts, which was to be expected from the size of the root. In theory, weed-pulling should not leave meteorite-sized craters. In actuality, when Dad pulls weeds, the yard appears to have been bombarded with debris from outer space.

Mom brought us to the Sterling Renaissance Faire & rented costumes for the children. When I worked there in the mid-1990s, all the workers were required to speak in funny accents and stay in Elizabethan-esque character the entire time. It was good fun! No anachronistic acts were allowed.

That is not how it is now. I asked some people who said they were old-time Ren-Fans, & they said the fair had always been this way— but that’s impossible! I asked if they knew anyone who’d been working here for over 30 years, & they pointed me to and old man slouched over a gaming table. I told him what I remembered and asked when it changed. “When it stopped being important to the owners,” he said. “Sometime in the 90s.”

“The original owners sold it?” I asked, & he nodded. He had nothing else to say.

My children, putting on some nice faces—

My children. Still nice faces. Expressions are a bit silly, tho.

At the very last minute of our visit, I find time to take some serious portraits of my parents.

I take photos of Mom moving stones around, levelling, grading, building a patio.

Some of my first photographs ever taken with my first camera are of this very same stone patio

as Mom first worked on it, between 35 & 40 years ago.

I have done a small amount of stonework, but I’m always distracted.

I would like Martin to keep me company.

Mom would also like Dad to keep her company.

Marin is better with the level than Dad is,

so I have the excuse of pretending I need help and requesting his presence.

Dad likes exercising. Mom, nearing eighty, moves rocks.

I suggested Mom make a cheesecake for Cate’s 57th birthday. Cate used to ask for cheesecake on her birthday. I remember this mostly because one year, for some reason, it didn’t get cooked enough. This made the cheesecake mushy in the center, which wasn’t the end of the world to me. I didn’t know much about cheesecake. However, I remember Mom’s disappointment. She was so disappointed in herself! I do that to myself, too. Then my children tell me, “Mama, it’s okay. It’s okay.”

Unlike the cheesecake of the distant past, the cheesecake of 2024 was perfect.

Here, Mom mixes the perfect cheesecake batter.

Dad keeps her company to the best of his ability.

We called Cate on the phone and ate half the cake on the 9th, as we had to leave on the 10th.

(We ate the rest, just the four of us, in the car the next day, and while the cheesecake was definitely better, it was a bit much.)

For spring break, we visit my parents in Syracuse. It is a good time to visit, as it is about half a year away from a summer visit. It is better than midwinter, as there is less chance of a snow storm while I drive. Between our visits to Syracuse, my family can visit us in Quebec. Then we can see each other four times per year, which might not actually be enough, but traveling is not easy.

Iris and Mom pick fix up a Kenmore for a friend of mine.

I

Pogo Stick

My mom’s had it in her garage since we were little.

Before that, it was in someone else’s garage.

It goes—

SPRINK-SPRANK-SPRINK-SPRANK!

SPRINK-SPRANK-SPRINK-SPRANK!

SPRINK-SPRANK-SPRINK-SPRANK

SPRINK-SPRANK-SPRINK-SPRANK!

Akiva wants me to let you know that his record number of hops is 84 in a row.

II

SUPERMAN

said Ma, as she pointed to the sky!

Then the kids ran

mad circles in the grass,

mirroring the superhero’s gyre

as he flew above the yard.

When at last the man of steel

tumbled from the sky—

the world as we imagined it was over.

Dad’s recumbent bike is for sale.

I take photos for sales purposes.

This is where I learned to ride my bike!

I.

Morning

Gramps (a.k.a. Dad) & Akiva unpack a box full of boxes of World War II tanks.

Not knowing that it is an unusual thing to ask my father, Akiva insists that he play.

My father does his best.

After much deliberation, Akiva picks out two tanks to take home with us.

II.

Afternoon

Akiva takes out Dad’s old skateboard.

They go up the hill.

Everyone with wheels comes down more quickly than everyone without wheels.