Dirt Department Guy

This was Heath's official, self-appointed job title for the day. Dirt Department Guy. It is most appropriate for him.

After a fantastic preschool pal's fifth birthday celebration at Ben and Jerry's, Heath anxiously returned home to his latest boat-building project. In addition to measuring the floor of the boat to make sure it's big enough for a giant shark mouth, much dirt had to be placed on the floor.


For stability, he explained, as he patted the damp mud onto the boat's deck.

Within one load of damp dirt, a lone worm wiggled. His poop will be good for the tomatoes, he announced, then gave it a home by our plant. I have high hopes for that plant. Too high, probably.

The worm and the Heath.

Needs more dirt, he yelled. He IS the Dirt Department Guy, so he should know. I was getting a little nervous about the precarious stick, I mean, sail.

Heath's boat. I find it reminiscent of Tom Hank's boat in Castaway. Not bad survival skills for a four year old.

Measuring. It seems to be big enough for one person. I guess Stella and I need to get cracking on our own boat. Hope the sharks don't get us.

Back to the rockin' party at Ben and Jerry's. Not only did the kiddies make and consume loads of ice cream, they also made these awesome tie-dyes. Heath, the color minimalist, stuck with red. Stella gave all the colors a whirl.

And we concluded our 2nd daddyless day at a nearby park where Stella climbed the play structures and swung to her heart's content, while Heath sat on some bleachers by the basketball court in absolute awe of the group of twenty-somethings playing some ball. Not only did he see grown men dunk, alley-oop, and foul one another, he was also exposed to every single four-letter word known to man, and every single option and addition one can apply to those four-letter words to make them that much longer, and therefore, powerful.

When the, uh, mother of all such words was used not once, not twice, but thrice times in a row, I said, hey, let's get ready to go get some dinner somewhere. As you can imagine Heath had no interest in leaving his friends, as he now referred to them, and was quite certain they would be calling him into the game any minute now.

A brisk and graceful exit did not take place. But we made it to McAllister's Deli for dinner, and I did not have to cook or clean up dinner this evening.

Daddy will be home tomorrow at 1pm.