- Yesterday, on the Internet, I saw a video of a mom coming out of a 10-day COVID-19 self-isolation.
- Waiting for her was a toddler doing what can only be described as a happy dance, arms raised, feet and legs pumping up and down.
- When she saw her momma, she ran to her and threw down a whole-body hug.
- Which made me remember when the Teenager was a wee lass.
- Those whole-body hugs toddlers dole out are literally the best feeling in the whole world.
- And remembering them made me sad.
- Because she doesn’t do that anymore.
- Now days, I get that side arm, half-hug/half lean away thing.
- I’ll take what I can get, obviously.
- There are a lot of teenagers who want nothing to do with their dads.
- But … hugs recharge your batteries.
- Or for me they do, anyway.
- Did I just admit to being a hugger?
- Strike that from the record, please.
- A friend of mine has a couple of daughters, one in college, one at Booker T.
- He likes to say, “These days won’t last.”
- Life is melancholy, sometimes.
- For all the chaos and frustration, it can still be deep, meaningful, and beautiful.
- You don’t get the good without the bad.
- So savor …
- Ugh. I just turned into a self-help meme.
- Suck the marrow out of life, kids.
- I read that somewhere.
- In a book.
- With pages.
- And speaking of pages, I’m at about 160-ish in To Kill a Mockingbird.
- I’m reading it slowly, trying to savor it, I guess.
- No more than a couple chapters a night.
- I admire her patience as an author.
- Giving over chapters and chapters to character building with the plot just kind of slowly building in the background.
- I don’t have that kind of patience. More of a pulp writer, I suppose.
- I’m getting into the weeds.
- Need to be deliberate about finding more ways to slow things down a bit.
- Here it is Friday and all I can remember about the week is homework with the Teenager and the condensation drain line on the A/C stopping up and flooding the bedroom.
- Have I told you guys the saga of my move?
- No?
- Well, best not to start now.
- Thematically, it’s akin to Tom Hanks’ The Money Pit.
- Kinda.
- “These days won’t last.”
- Okay, let’s link out on a high note.
- The benefits of running just one mile every day.
- Today’s working/writing soundtrack.
- Plan your Halloween-season reading list accordingly.
- Eight ways to improve your mental performance in the morning.
- Also, still savoring Ted Lasso.
- Roy Kent is my spirit animal.
- And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.
- Try to enjoy your non-90-degree weekend!
The Toddler Dance
skepticlysm 
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