Now - Canned Dragons

We just got back from a trip to the beach taken with my entire family to celebrate my mom's 80th birthday. My sisters, brother, and their families were with us, which was a first. We haven't done something like this since we were kids.

My youngest sister lives in Albania and has an 18-month-old daughter. My niece is at that stage where you can understand some of what she says, but not all of it. If she says "peanut butter" or "mac and cheese," you're good. Otherwise, it's like trying to comprehend the speech of a Star Wars alien without the benefit of subtitles. She's taking a break from protesting the Kusher/Trump takeover in Albania, where she has been participating almost every day. She likes to make up different songs, but they're all the same tune. If you've heard an Oasis record, you get the basic idea.

My brother hadn't been to the beach in years and was loving getting to play in the surf. He showed up with sunscreen applied liberally to his face and not rubbed in completely, which gave him a look like he had ingested Smilex (love that Joker!). When not at the beach, he was watching older WWE/WWF wrestling matches. These were ones before the organization started to overly reflect Vince McMahon's particular kink. They were entertaining in a campy sort of way.

The beach was a mere three blocks away, but I didn't realize that in the summer heat traversing that three blocks would feel like crossing the desert to get to an oasis. My oldest son is doing a college physical education class remotely and has been timing his one-mile walks on the beach. Now that you can even do P.E. at the beach, it doesn't seem like there is much point in being physically present for anything.

Probably my favorite sighting this past week was a dog with no hind legs in a wheelchair having his best day at the beach.

I can’t believe I’m also celebrating a birthday this month and turning half a century old. Where has the time gone?