In Heaven.
The LTG is putting up One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Midstream, the director decided he couldn't complete the task, so I got tapped to direct: heaven. Of all the things I do, theatre is my thing. There's a shift in the human doing/being paradigm… even though it's a thing I'm doing, it's not like doing anything else. I get lost in it, suspended in time. Hours go by and the cast is like, "Can we take a break now?" I believe it's the closest I get to a human being.

An added bonus is geting to be the rescuer. The director and the hero. Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' about.

1 May is what in Costa Rica?
As a kid, May first was a big event around our house. Mom got us going with, "Hurray, hurray, it's the first of May, outside diddling starts today." We'd all giggle having no idea what she meant. "Mommy said a nursery rhyme!"

It was also the day she threw open the windows, no matter what the temperature, because, according to Mom, it was Spring. It could be 50 degrees… in fact, it was always 50 degrees. But it was Spring and, by God, the windows got opened.

May first is a Big Weather Day in Costa Rica, as well: the official start of Green Season. Which is a nice way to say rainy season. Which pretty much just ended from last year. No problem, the rain started right back up again. (Nice yard, eh? That's going to take a little 'splainin'…)

Oh – the red plastic tub: that's full of our new worms.They are busy composting right now down deep in the wormiculture. We composted
with worms in Key West and just found out it's big here, too. In fact, Hal took a
worm workshop, I mean a Taller de Lombricultura Urbana. The whole thing was in Spanish and he understood every word. That was cool. We'll* be gardening soon, growing tomatoes in that big weed patch
out front!

*That would be the Royal We as in Hal.

Ryan's Breathing
The down side to working in that theatre is the world's oldest carpeting covering the entire inside (and it's big). Add the 100 or so cushioned theatre seats that have seen better days, and you have perfect allergen breeding ground. The place has that dusty old carpet smell. Ryan has a part in the play and when we got home last night, he was practically panting. He took a Singulair, a hot shower, drank some hot tea and all better.

Taking him off the asthma drugs was the smartest thing we've done for his health. If Ryan has asthma, it's definitely allergy-induced. I still don't know if there's any real difference between allergy-induced asthma and regular old asthma. Is there one? It seems all asthma events would be triggered by something… the trick is to figure out your triggers, then control those the best you can. Ryan's does not appear to be life-threatening, just annoying and uncomfortable when it appears.

An odd coincidence perhaps, but while researching this, I read report after report that 1) said childhood asthma drugs stunt a child's growth, and/or 2) was a phamaceutical report debunking that as a myth. But within three months of Ryan going off the drugs, he grew 3 inches and filled out. It's been a year and he is now almost as tall as Mo. I thought I was hallucinating, but everyone remarks on it. He was turning 15 then, now 16, and those are definitely growth spurt years… so probably coincidence.

Other than that – and this is the first episode that required a Singulair (which you can buy here without a prescription) – his breathing has been fine. He can breathe through his nose now and that makes him a happy camper! Mouth-breathers can have a little trouble with the ladies.

The Ladies
The boys like the ladies. Despite all warnings to the contrary, home-schooling has been the smartest thing we've done for their socialization. It's such a dichotomy to me because everyone warns about their socialization and how they are going to be left behind if they don't go to school. Well, if the way these boys are turning out is "left behind", left behind is desirable. They are nice, funny, sociable boys. They like us, we hang out, we talk, they get along in a crowd, not shy, always ready to boogie down.

Last Saturday night we went to a party, the four of us. Tons of people and a side room where a DJ was all set up for dancing. A couple of times during the party, I saw the boys – all three of them – huddled, talking about something. They like each other. I love that.

Then my girlfriends and I, who were dancing, dragged them all up on the dance floor. Hal did a few obligatory turns and sat. He's not big on dancing. But Morgan and Ryan danced the rest of the night! I didn't even know they could. Ryan even danced by himself when there was nobody to dance with, then he danced with someone's mother, because – as he pointed out – Mo snagged the only teenage girl there.

Who happened to be the daughter of Ryan's dance partner. Sandra is 19 and smokes which both boys find unappealing, thank you. But everything else about her is just fine. Both boys and she hung out, walked the property, then sat and chatted, exchanged phone numbers. As much as the boys like us, teenage girls are where it's at.

It's a good thing when teenagers hang out with other teenagers in small doses. If the boys go to college, that will be social overload for sure! But, heck, it was for me even after I'd gone to public school… so, whatever. They will survive it.

Off to work on the play. Gotta figure out some way to get paid for this…