“Remoted” – Day 138 (Saturday)

Theme of the year?

Super Saturday Fun Family Day! It was the day to celebrate Chowdah’s high school graduation. (Go Class of 2020!). The weather was perfect – sunny with a light breeze blowing through the yard which was shaded by several large canopies. There were fun decorations with photos and the graduation gown and rhinestone studded mortarboard bearing a phrase from a song that kind of sums of most of 2020 and possibly the end of senior year for the graduating classes everywhere – “It was beautifully depressing.”

As always, there was lots of food. Massive party pizzas had a range of toppings including pepperoni, chicken and broccoli alfredo, and steak and cheese. We love pizza in my family and my sister’s crew knows all the best local shops and toppings. There was healthy stuff, too, but who wants to talk about vegetables when there is pizza? And chips. And cake.

Partway through the pinata beating.

The pinata smash was fun to watch. A blindfolded graduate with a broken hockey stick trying to hit a pinata with about five pounds of candy in it. What could go wrong? When that didn’t quite work, the effort evolved. My eldest niece’s boyfriend tossed the heavy candy bomb in an underhand pitch, which was swung at with the broken hockey stick which now served as a bat. That took a few tosses before the contents finally lay strewn all over the driveway. This is probably another theme for 2020 – it's going to take a lot of work and some creativity.

Famous singer boyfriend!

We older folks mostly sat in the shade, watched, laughed, and talked about adult stuff like work, the retirements we may never see, and homeowner tales of insects under the vinyl siding and carpenter bees eating a house. There was a lot to laugh at. The appearance of the cardboard boyfriend (Brandon Urie from Panic at the Disco) confirmed that I’m not the only one in the family with imaginary romantic relationships (thank goodness).

The pinata spectacle was highly entertaining. When the squirt pistol battle ultimately enlisted the garden hose, the track and field sprints commenced and illustrated that young people can run fast and ice water seems to be a highly motivating factor.

As often happens, my sister sent me home with a bag full of food – potato chips, cake, cheesecake, marinated vegetables, cookies and the equivalent of a trick or treat bag of candy. Hooked up! With all the food already at my house, plus the new party leftovers, potato chips and Italian cookies were the supper of choice. I’m really an unattended five-year-old at heart.  I mostly just pretend to be an adult.

My arrival home two hours late for the dogs’ usual dinner time went better than feared. They seemed happy to see me and had not torn apart the kitchen. It was probably as good for them that I was gone for six hours as it was for me to be gone. I know I needed the break from the barking, dog-nagging, and constant door-opening. They probably needed a break from all the shushing and “go lay down.” Whatever the case, they had their supper and napped. And all was good.