Becca’s Vacation
OPINION —
This house is a tomb. Ever since the kid left. We’ve had a kid here at the lake for the past several days. Our goddaughter. She left this morning.
There is evidence a child has been in this house, however. There is, for example, a giant rubber ball, sitting in the middle of our living room.
The ball is shaped like a giant peanut. It is called a “peanut sensory stability ball.” Basically, a child sits on this peanut and it’s ride ’em cowboy.
Which is exactly what the kid would be doing if she were here right now. Bouncing on her peanut. Making happy conversation, probably while eating—I don’t know—a popsicle.
Either that, or she would be swimming in the lake right now. The child loves the lake. She adores the lake, actually.
Although the child I’m referring to is blind, and many people naturally assume she is afraid of water, the kid is not afraid. She is obsessed with water.
Over the last three days, the child has lived in lake water. Take yesterday. The kid woke up at eight. She emerged from her bedroom, already wearing her swimwear and water shoes.
“Good morning!” she said in much the same way you might announce that you won the Florida Powerball jackpot.
“Good morning,” we replied in low-pitched morning voices, drinking coffee, trying to coax our middle-aged eyelids open.
The child ate a bowl of cereal while her aunt Jamie simultaneously slathered the squirming little-kid body with SPF 12,380 sunscreen.
Within seconds the child was in the lake water.
Which felt weird to me, swimming directly after eating breakfast. But then, I was raised by old-school parenting. I was brought up to believe that you were not supposed to swim after eating. When I was a kid, after we ate a Snickers, our mothers forced us to wait at least two or three presidential administrations.
But apparently this is just another old myth from the days of yore. Modern doctors say there is no evidence that eating before swimming is dangerous. In fact, there is new evidence to suggest that swimming immediately after eating is actually healthy.
Who knows which myths they’re going to debunk next. Next thing you know doctors will be saying it’s beneficial to your health to run with scissors while smoking Camels.
So anyway, after eating breakfast, we’d walk out to the little swim dock. The little girl would jump into the lake, and she’d stay in the water for upwards of 12 hours, only exiting the water occasionally to eat lunch while bouncing on her peanut.
And somehow, I kind of got into the rhythm of having a kid around. The days seemed more thrilling. Every morning has a definite sense of adventure to it. Nothing feels insignificant or humdrum with a child nearby. Everything is so important and exciting.
Sandwiches are exciting. Strawberries are exciting. Music is exciting. Even a middle-aged fool, who unable to have children of his own, seems exciting to a child. Life. It’s all so darn exciting.
But now she’s gone. The house is quiet. And the rubber peanut just sits there.
Sean Dietrich is a columnist, novelist and stand-up storyteller known for his commentary on life in the American South. His column appears in newspapers throughout the U.S. He has authored 15 books.
