The Little Things

My wife and I went to a really well-produced arts benefit show tonight. There were dozens of performers, hundreds in the audience, and thousands of dollars raised for two good causes, one of which was our very own Love 146. The show had its ups and downs for me, but there was lots to write home about, except that I won't. Because my mind was on two things - food and my kids.

The food part is easy. I gardened all day today and most of yesterday. Gardening doesn't have a macho reputation of, say, power lifting for straining your muscles, but it should. At least at my age. Digging, raking, mulching, and the like really wore me down. I'll call it landscaping; that sounds tougher. Anyway, I missed dinner tonight, I was ravenous, and there was loads of good food, almost entirely in bite sized portions, in the lobby of this show. So I listened, and I watched, but often, I thought about food.

My kids are more complicated. I'm crazy about my three children, but I'm also usually glad to have a night out with my wife, with my kids in the care of a sitter. Especially a free one, like tonight. But my kids had to largely amuse themselves today while my wife and I went to work transforming our yard and getting sun stroke in April. Something in my gut also told me as I was leaving home that I should stay behind and put the kids to bed and just let my wife go out. But, as is too often the case, I didn't listen to my gut, and I was kind of irritable all night, missing the little guys and gal. They were fine, as it turned out, but missed us badly.

I want to have something deep to say about the show tonight. A number of aspects explicitly related to child sex trafficking, including a powerful monologue on the topic and some other art that hit on the themes more obliquely. Really, though, I've just had food and children on the mind. I guess no matter how large our vision, when it comes down to it, our own nourishment and our loved ones are central to human existence.

Then how dare those traffickers rob children from their loved ones, deprive them of the nourishment their souls need, and defile the very concept of love. That the world would be rid of this crime, and the children have the right to a night where all they think about is great food and their own beloved children....


Ran 2 miles on Thursday, 3.5 yesterday and 4 today.

TOTAL
Ran - 40.5 miles
Biked - 83 miles
Benched - 30,740 pounds