Sandcastles on the Vineyard Whately Prep p.21

Sandcastles on the Vineyard

It takes us five hours to get to Martha's Vineyard after we shut the door on the house at Whately Prep. Always hard to leave Julia behind, it's made easier knowing that she will be joining us in the next day or two.  Sarah misses Julia, asking for her with a frequency that grows annoying.  I let the two boys deal with her disappointment.  I know I will let her sleep in our bedroom with me tonight.  It's the only way I can hope to sleep tonight.  Dinner tonight?  Giordano's, of course.  They make pizza with no cheese for the boys.  We get a couple of side orders of chicken fingers and fries. We sit out on the front porch watching the boats on the harbor.  It's a show without beginning or end.  There is nearly a skirmish between a driver and a mo-ped rider when the mo-ped veers in front of the car.  One of the summer rent-a-cops asserts his limited authority to separate the angry vacationers.  Sarah drops her pizza slice upside down on the porch floor, our dog, Calvin, is on it.  I offer to walk the kids into town for an ice cream.
When we get home, the house phone is ringing.  We are not used to hearing it ring.  It's my mother, making plans to spend the morning with her grand-daughter.  The boys and I will paint the porch trim first thing.  Later, we have a tee-time of 2:30p.m. at  Farm Neck; it's my father's membership.  He will be happy to host his son and grandsons.
The kids and I are all ready for bed by eight o'clock.  Our house is so small that, when I read to Sarah - Madeline - the boys hear every word. I couldn't help noticing neither of them had iPhone headphones tucked in their ears. Sarah falls asleep before I finish one page.  I plan to get up and call Julia, but I fall asleep myself.  When I wake up next, it's after eleven.  I walk the dog, lock up the house and turn off the lights.   The boys share the bunk-bed room.  Seeing them stretched out in their boxers and tee shirts, I am filled with a deep sense of affection and gratitude.  Purity bring such light.
In the morning, before I take Sarah to my mother's, we will stop at Mocha Mott's, get bagels and drinks, then head to Eastville Beach.  We will built a multi-level sand castle.  We can easily do all that before 9 a.m.. I love my children with a complexity and an intensity that I never imagined existed.  The Vineyard gives us time to live that love without the distraction of the school.