September started out nice enough. The late August rain that we so desperately needed turned things from brown to green with a quickness. It’s like all the flowers in the back yard had been waiting that whole hot, dry summer for the chance to do their thing. The birds came back, the lizards never left, the squirrels breathed a sigh of relief.

Maya and her grasshopper.

We have a big hiking trip coming up in November, and at least Sean and I needed to condition ourselves a bit for it. Plus both kids would be playing soccer, and at least Maya is not fond of running. With that in mind, on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, I got up early and took the kids to the track at their school to run a few laps with me and to them kick the soccer ball back and forth a bit. This all went pretty well, except of course Maya was disinterested in running. They did have a lovely time catching grasshoppers, so that helped.

Then Sunday, we took them all bike riding, and Ian was able to ride on his own! This was a big achievement for him. He’s more cautious than his sister. I have a notion that he actually considers what might happen if he falls or crashes, and that can make a person hesitant. The willingness to ride without Dad right next to him to help steady him took some bravery. But he did it! His pride was evident. Suddenly he was making plans to go on bike rides all over Austin.

So it goes

The Tuesday morning before school, Maya was a little sniffly and had a bit of a cough. As has become our habit in the age of COVID, we gave her a quick at-home test, just to rule it out before we sent her into the school population. To our surprise, the test was positive! We kept both kids home, just to be safe. Ian wasn’t really showing any symptoms, but we figured it was a foregone conclusion that if one of us had it, we all had it. Later that afternoon, Ian had sniffles as well. We tested him, and sure enough, he was positive.

Given quarantine guidelines, this meant a guaranteed week off school for both kids. They seemed mildly put out that I collected a pile of homework for each of them to do while they were home, if they felt well enough.

My co-worker warned me on Tuesday that by that evening I’d feel a tickle in my throat. Sure enough, he was correct. I tested negative still on Wednesday, but on Thursday, I had the faintest positive line on my test. Sean didn’t test positive till Sunday.

Like I said, we assumed we’d all wind up sick, so once the kids were positive but the grown-ups weren’t yet, we collected cold medicines and stocked up on easy groceries. I prepped and cooked a few things while I still felt relatively well to keep us supplied with leftovers. We still do curbside pickup for our groceries, so we were able to keep our likely germ-ridden selves a good distance away from people. Even when I fetched the kids’ homework from school, I had a mask on, and accepted the homework packets outside and at arm’s reach.

Post-soccer game ice cream

Ian was visibly ill for only a day or two and then he was right back to his regular, energetic self (though he did fall asleep suspiciously early for a little while, so could be his body was still recovering a bit). Maya’s congestion and cough lingered a short while, but she seemed to be over it in a few days. Sean and I were out for the count for a good 3 or 4 days, fever, extreme fatigue, achy joints. Sean had the horrible headache to boot.

The recovery was so slow for me and Sean. For a while, our energy levels were frustratingly low. I bet it was a good two weeks of slow improvement before we were back to normal. The cough lasted longer. Even now, more than a month later, we’re both still dealing with some lingering crud.

Once the kids were well, we did manage to get them to all their music lessons, soccer practices, and soccer games. Ian and Maya got to go to a couple of friends’ birthday parties, which hasn’t really happened in a couple of years.

Maya joined an after-school music program, offered by one of the school music teachers. She tried out for a particular part, and while she didn’t get that one, she did get another that she eventually decided she was ok with. She is more excited about this musical than I’ve seen her about much of anything lately, so I’m glad she has the chance to participate.

Silly lilies think it’s fall

Our yard has been kind of fun. Right away in early September the oxblood lilies came up – also known as schoolhouse lilies, they’re sort of a first sign of fall. I mean, it was hot as heck all September, so I’m not buying it, but they’re pretty anyway.

We have had a couple of really pretty Texas spotted whiptail lizards dart through the back yard. We usually don’t see this particular variety, so it was exciting, particularly for Ian who is very fond of reptiles.

We got to watch the little lesser goldfinches eating every seed they could get their beaks around. They’re tiny birds, and they sort of perch on the main flower stem sideways, often blowing in the breeze as they peck all the seeds out of the salvias and whatnot. I was delighted to see that they apparently like basil seeds as well.

Blue jay!

We almost never have blue jays in our yard, and they definitely do not linger. I know it’s probably common for my Missouri family and friends to see them around, but for us it’s a treat. At the very tail end of not-the-best-month-ever, we had a few days where a couple fo them would zing down for a quick drink of water from one of the back yard birdbaths. Sean finally managed to grab his camera in time to catch a few slightly blurry photos of those beautiful birds.

And that’s it. Ian learned to ride his bike. We were all sick. The kids started their fall soccer season. We saw critters. There’s really not much else to say.