Scottsburg

The long drive to Scottsburg was pleasantly uneventful. Our rental car was bumped up to a Mercedes Benz due to some sort of mistake on the part of the rental company. Other than the lack of much-needed luggage space, we didn’t complain.

Like our time with Kathy, our time in Indiana has a similar low-key feel to it. However, with two middle school-aged girls, we do need to keep them occupied. We don’t want them sitting around on screens all day so we do our best to get them out and doing things. Priya and I both have regular, vigorous early morning workout routines, but the girls don’t. So it’s a matter of being intentional about activities, particularly when they are not around kids their own age.

playing hoops at the Y; I didn't teach her that form

The other challenge we would have is that both of our girls have July birthdays. Their peers in Nairobi generally have their birthday events with friends. Our kids are always traveling with family this time of year. One year, when they were younger, we had a birthday party for them in June so that they could invite their friends. It was nice, but we still ended up having the birthday party expectations when the actual days came around. In any case, this year we allowed them to choose what they wanted to do (within reason) and it worked out okay. For Kiran’s birthday, she was fortunately with a new friend roughly her own age so that was a nice bonus. Kinaya was with the cousins and we went to this place called Activate, a technology-infused “active gaming experience” as they call it. We did it last year and it’s pretty cool. 

birthday girl

 

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Another challenge to our attempts to keep the kids active is the fact that July saw the convergence of Wimbledon, the Tour de France and the Olympics. My attention to Wimbledon has waned a bit in recent years as some of the stars that I'm more familiar with have faded into the past. When I lived in Switzerland, I was gripped every year by the French Open and Wimbledon. I was playing a lot of tennis then and my friends were all into tennis as well. I still enjoy it but not quite as passionately as back in the day.

cheering on England

The Tour de France is a bit the same, in a way. When I was doing a lot of cycling, triathlons and so forth, I was closely tracking pro cycling, and the Tour was the ultimate event. The past few years I’ve found it more of a challenge to keep up with it. I still watch but not as closely.

ice cream in historic Madison, Indiana

The Olympics, on the other hand, seems to continue to get more interesting. Granted, it comes every four years (or two if you count the Winter Games), so, like the World Cup, has more of a draw to it. Most people we met while in the US this year were either watching or at least tracking what was going on. The US did pretty well this year so I suppose that helps in garnering attention.

My mother-in-law is not a huge TV person as compared to most Americans. She has a smallish TV tucked away in her office. We would either crowd around the small screen or, if convenient, I would pull out her projector and show the games on a sizeable wall projection. It actually worked pretty well.

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barbecuing in muggy southern Indiana

Otherwise, we had a couple of barbecues, played mini-golf and went to dinner a few times. There’s a place called Derby Dinner which we’ve been to a few times. It’s sort of a theater in the round (or square in this case). They have a buffet dinner which is pretty good. It sort of has the feel and smell of a church potluck. Maybe it's the scent of old people perfumes and baked ham. The crowd is dominated by senior citizens and they are very White. I'm not used to being around either in large numbers, but it’s unfortunate that other demographics don’t partake. In any case, the actors are mostly local and the performances are always great. Or maybe it’s just my impression since I’m inching towards being a senior citizen…

watching "Annie"

I also tend to do a few chores while I’m there. I enjoy gardening since I don’t have a garden of my own. The kids helped out a bit but it was a bit hot and muggy. When my mother-in-law first moved in, I spent quite a bit of time taming the growth that was encroaching from the adjacent woods. I ended up with a nasty bout of poison ivy rash all over my lower legs and feet. Since then, I’ve been careful to avoid the stuff. Until this year. Unfortunately, it’s not the kind of thing you necessarily notice right away. In fact, I didn’t see the first signs of rash until about two days later. I ended up with rash on my left arm and right hand that stayed with me for the next several weeks. Dumb. At least the girls avoided it.

reflecting on dad's strange inability to avoid poison ivy