Sunday, May 29, 2022

 Sunday, May 29, 2022  

 

  Sidney was feeling better this morning and in full throttle. I worked to keep him occupied so Shivani could sleep. It was no big deal. The kid plays beautifully by himself. First, I made him a waffle with maple syrup. 

  I had an 8 am tutoring appointment. I dreaded it because of my poor nerves, but I had a great time. I thoroughly enjoyed the work on comprehension with both the M & W sisters. Using the question format I developed, I used 3rd-grade material with first-grade M. She did very well. Each time we met, I offered her the opportunity to work on something else. She always chose this.  

  Fifth grade W had worked on the spelling exercise for the past half a dozen sessions. Today, she wanted to work on comprehension. I used sixth-grade material. Her comprehension is excellent. She read the passage aloud and figured out long, unfamiliar words well. However, she misses words like and, the, to, for, of, and from. It drives her mother nuts. I thought it was funny. While she learns new words easily, she stored these easy ones incorrectly or in the wrong part of the brain, making retrieval ineffective. Whatever, having to overcome a bad habit is more challenging than having to learn something new. 

   While working with the girls, Sidney started screaming for his sleeping mom. I managed to find out what he needed; he needed the lid on the box of toys opened. I abandoned my post and went to him. The small break was no big deal.

   I didn't go to church. I wanted to maximize my time with Shivani and Sidney. We went back to the fishpond beach National Park at the harbor again. This time I wore my bathing suit and went in using my noodle. I had the ankle weights with me, Katie recommended, but they seemed like a drag to wear. The noodle worked well to hold my head out of the water. I could stay calm and get my feet under me when I needed to. It was a struggle, but I wasn't panicked. Then I tried to get out of the water. I couldn't get up. I reached out to the nearest human, a twelve-year-old boy who spoke no English. He gave me his hand. His mother yelled," Dos manos." He cooperated but had no sense of what else to do. Shivani came and hauled me to my feet.  

  We stopped at Target before we went home to pick up food. Shivani had preordered. During the pandemic, stores developed this new system. You placed an order online and paid for it. An employee collected the items and delivered them to your car. Target set up these numbered pick-up parking places. You parked and let them know your spot. You showed them your code number when they came, and they loaded your purchases in your car. This was all at no extra cost. It couldn't last forever. It made sense during the pandemic. People were concerned about going into stores; Target needed customers. All sorts of stores made accommodations that will now become standards. When we're good and used to it, Target will start charging.

  We got home just in time for me to watch the televised dance concert from Kalihu Theater in Waimea. The local dance studio stages two concerts a year. I missed seeing them during the pandemic. Melissa told me she subscribed to the live streaming of all the performances at the theater. Shivani helped me sign on. From what Melissa said, I thought I would get all the performances for the $100. Instead, I had to pay an additional $20 to see the dance concert. I was surprised. I paid anyway. While these performances are not professional, I love them. The choreography is good. I don't particularly care for the pyrotechnics of professional ballet dancers. For me, that's gymnastics, not dance. My background is in modern dance, not ballet. I prefer simpler choreography. Much of what the dance studio does appeals to me. There was only one section that was not satisfactory. Both the choreography and the dancing were poor. I suspected the dancer, a teenage girl who didn't know what she was doing, had done the choreography.