8/24/09 Return from Gloucester

8/24/09

Driving home yesterday, Dad tortured us all for hours by asking question after question. “Where are we going?” “What are we going to do next?” “How far is it?” “How much do I owe you?” and on and on. We kept trying to answer them in a way that would make sense to him, but the questions kept reappearing, interspersed with snatches of the Stars and Stripes Forever. It was a huge relief when he fell asleep for a while.

Today he has a cold and is not very happy about it. He doesn’t exactly understand about germs anymore, but when we were both petting the cat and his hand touched mine, he said, “Now I’ve given you the bad things.” I explained that the bad things would have to get to my face to make me sick, and he urged me to wash my hands quickly.

Since was sick, he went to bed early. When I finished cleaning up and went to check on him, he had moved both pillows to the foot of the bed and was sitting up, looking confused. When I asked him what was going on, he said “I’m looking for a tie.” When I responded “a tie?” he mimed putting on a necktie. “You don’t need a tie, Dad, you’re going to bed,” I explained. He sat and thought about that for a while, and then corrected himself, “a hat.” I found his hat and he settled down.

Speaking of finding things, I stumbled across a treasure trove of photos on one of his shelves. Unfortunately, they’re not dated or labeled, and they range from photos from his archaeological expeditions to classroom photos, so I can only figure out details for a few.

For instance, this image is Dad using a microscope on an archaeological expedition – it has writing on the back that says “Arroyo Cuervo” and “Did I ever need that microscope!” (see next post for image)