HOPPIN'

Squeaky

Last Saturday evening I got a text from the Bear.

She informed me that Squeaky would not be coming to visit me on the bus.

She would be bringing Squeaky herself.

Yay!  Yay!  Yay!

The man got such a kick out of surprising my kids

at Christmas...

that I decided not to tell him that they were coming.

Along comes Sunday morning...

I get a text that they are 30 minutes away.

Can I have some lunch ready?

Mikey P. is starving to death and any food will do.

I had nothing to toss together...

off I set to the take and bake pizza joint.

Unfortunately they were not yet open.

So I sat.

The man and T were in the shop working on cabinets

when the kids arrived.

Bear texted to ask where I was.

I said they were just now making the pie and to go on in without me.

They did indeed!

That's how it happened that when the man

went from the shop to the kitchen...

he found our unexpected guests.

It made him very happy.

Bear and Mikey P. could not stay long.

They had to go hunt for owl pellets.

(ick)

But they had a nice lunch and we had a good, if short visit with them.

Squeaky remained behind with us.

This made for a wonderful Sunday!

Since then, Squeaky and I have been having a nice, nice visit.

But he's here on a mission.

When I moved, I was teaching him to drive...

and his older siblings were supposed to take on that task.

That did not happen.

Siblings were busy with college,

new babies, etc.

So, yesterday we dusted off the old clown car

and took her for a spin.

Um, actually...

more like hopping.

There really isn't a whole lot you can do to help someone

learn how to make the clutch work.

It takes patience and trial and error.

The first day we giggled ourselves silly over the hopping.

By this afternoon, he was no longer laughing.
Frustration had set in.

X cannot drive legally.

But X knows how to drive very well.

I put X on the phone and handed it to the boy.

Squeaky asked questions.

He hung up.

Then carefully... slowly... slowly...

drove ahead.

Not a single hop.

What did X say that I had not gotten across?

Something about the ratio of this or that to match the force required...

blah, blah, blah.

Secret guy math/car sort of stuff that eludes me.

No matter.

It made sense to the boy.

It worked.

And the joy and pride on his face when he gleefully exclaimed

"Ha ha!  Now you are my bitch!"

to the clown car...

made it a pretty cool moment.



I told him that tomorrow we will venture out 
of the safety of the old parking lot and into the neighborhood lanes...
after he has practiced some more smooth take offs.
He has 4 more driving days here with me.
I think he will be doing fine by the time he goes back home.






He drives well enough in an automatic.
But X came into a bit of money and bought Squeaky a
used car... with a stick.
His permit is only good for one more month.
But I'm betting
with a car for a carrot...
Squeaky gets his license in a month.