My Son is a Gas

Number one son's great fun but I'm not referencing his entertaining personality.

I mean something more akin to "a gas" from high school chemistry. Remember how gases behave, dispersing themselves throughout any space big or small, becoming more concentrated when confined, more diffuse upon expansion into a larger "space" but whatever the concentration - taking over the whole thing.

By contrast, Darling Daughter. like her father is a "Solid". Stable. Unchanging unless exposed to some extreme "heat", "cold" or" force". The "space" she takes up can be relied upon. Those two are constant and firm.

With Number One Son living downtown at school this past academic year that left me living with a pretty predictable pair.

With his arrival home May 1st though, the "gas" instantly filled up the whole place - I mean around the clock, every room in the house, "projects" in the garage and at my sewing machine, newspapers spread daily across the breakfast table, diving through my fabric stash, multiple laptops and the desktop a blaze with social media, and You Tube, his phone buzzing the arrival of incoming messages like a swarm of African Bees (not at the dining table though - we have a rule about that!) Sharpies and sketchbooks, skateboarding in the driveway, cycling, friends in groups big and small in and out, staying for meals, using the car...he attended every Leaf playoff game in Maple Leaf Square, became of legal drinking age, discovered a host of "sick" (that means "great") bars in Kensington Market, visited the CN Tower, AGO, Bata Shoe Museum, took in a Jays Game, checked out the Cherry Blossoms in High Park, had a number of medical appointments and tests and a dental visit too.

You can't pack that much stuff, along with going out every and I do mean literally every night without a "staff" of some description. Around here we spell "staff" M-O-M.

Then a couple of weeks ago my cousin and his family in New York invited him to visit them in the Big Apple for the month of June before we head to the cottage for his summer's employment. In preparation, shopping the vintage stores of Queen Street West moved into high gear.  With his NY wardrobe assembled last week was a frenzy (for me) of list making, laundry, mending and buying boring stuff like toilettries etc. As you might imagine he was too busy with "last visits" with his friends to see to those kinds of details.

Saturday morning, our "Gas" was put on a pressurized plane for LaGuardia but from the photos I'm getting from my cousin - he's quickly re expanded into their place.

Here in the once again quiet stillness of his absence I'm mindful of another High School science lesson - this one from Physics about the features of a Vacuume - the thing that boy leaves behind after every departure. I know its temporary and will pass -  I hope so because I'm also discovering knitting in a vacuume 'seems to go very, very slowly!

Thanks for dropping by!