The Chicago Kid

For the past week, we had the pleasure of enjoying the company of my cousin's seventeen-yr-old son.... he flew here from Chicago for a week-long visit to our little country bubble.  We brought Jack to the airport yesterday for his flight home, and even though he was a quiet and trouble-free guest, the house now feels like someone is missing.

Jack slept in the guest rooms over the barn... a two-bedroom apartment that became his own private man-cave, stocked with soda and snacks and chocolates.  He loved the privacy of the barn when he wanted to just get a break from the heat or read his books, but he was with us at the house for most of his time here.  The day before Jack flew down, the temperature was 106... then it cooled down into the high 90s for the rest of his stay. It rained one day and the temperature was around 79, with people in town saying that it almost felt like winter. Jack thought they were joking... I explained to him how dead serious they were to enjoy such a respite from the sizzling August heat.

We brought Jack to various restaurants and shops in town, and to Royer's in Round Top for fried chicken, and my husband took Jack to an Astros baseball game in Houston.  My cousin couldn't believe that we would drive 40 minutes just to get fried chicken, and my husband commented that he couldn't understand why Jack would commute 40 minutes into the city of Chicago to get to his high school.  Jack also couldn't comprehend the limited Internet service and the serious lack of good Italian pizza.... but he did like the quiet, and the possibility of the neighbor's goats jumping the fence and creating a 'traffic jam' on the road.

Our friends up the road had their grandson visiting the same week (a serendipitous coincidence for the boys) and Jack went up there to use their pool after dinner... he drove up the hill in my Thunderbird, which he absolutely loved. When I opened up the garage door the first time, he couldn't believe that I had such a sporty car tucked away in there. My answer to that was "Do I really look like I would drive that big Camry?"  Jack said I was full of surprises.

Life is full of surprises. Having Jack here was a happy breath of family...