Summer Visits with Topher
During the hottest week of August, a welcome “storm” arrived from the east ahead of Hurricane Hilary—a rare Category 4 tropical storm that blew in from the Pacific and pummeled the Baja Peninsula and a broad swath of Southern California. I say “storm” because that is what their grandfather Papa Jim affectionately calls Simone (7), Sofia (5) and Miles (3)—the ever-moving, inquisitive, and utterly adorable children of my nephew Christopher (Topher) and his wife Jessica.
On August 14th, my great grandnieces and Christopher arrived as a Category 2 storm at the Sacramento Airport where I gathered them up along with an enormous duffle and assorted pastel backpacks filled with a week’s worth of tiny tee shirts and shorts, socks, swimsuits, a mini library of books, Simi’s stuffed bear and Sofi’s cat pillow for bedtime, favorite blankies, two pink and purple iPads, 3 rainbow colored Barbie dolls, and two car seats. And soon, the adventures and memories began.
My history with Topher began when he was six-months old. His parents, my sister Molly and brother-in-law Jim, were career foreign service officers with USAID (United States Agency for International Development). While Topher was growing up, his parents served five-year assignments in Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal and lastly, a second tour in Indonesia. Every summer, the trio returned to the U.S. during August for meetings in D.C. followed by visits to family in Goshen Indiana, Hartsburg Missouri, San Antonio Texas, and Albuquerque NM.
During his summer visits with Kit and me at Breakfast Creek, Topher’s days were filled with adventures that became memories that he recalls to this day. He played with my caboodle of barn kittens and cats, watched my paddling of ducks and geese from our log cabin near the pond, picked wild blackberries, helped me make peach cobblers, and hitched rides on the Beckmeyer family’s big red International Harvester combine during corn and wheat harvest time.
Simi and Sofi’s inaugural visit to our home in the Sierra Foothills began at Mel’s Diner where their burgers and fries were served in cardboard 1962 convertibles right out of the classic movie “American Graffiti.” I learned during that lunch that these young ladies are champion eaters who try everything without fear and clean their plates with relish. Every morning Christopher prepared a super healthy breakfast of eggs, toast, yogurt, avocado slices, and fresh fruit while Simi practiced Taekwondo kicks in the middle of the kitchen and Sofi hopped about like a frog.
Morning one, we took a nature walk along a nearby irrigation ditch trail before it got too hot. Then it was off to Grass Valley for a game of Headbands with Kit at the Lodge where his rehab continues. During another visit with Kit, the trio participated in a book club discussion that Kit and I have initiated for the Lodge residents. Marjorie (age 97) said that her favorite childhood book was Winnie the Pooh. Simi brought a copy of Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Sofi, the youngest in the circle, brought a book that is helping her learn to read—a skill I’m certain she will master very soon. Christopher brought Empire of the Summer Moon: The Rise and Fall of the Comanches—a book he has been trying to finish for six months. However, the demands of his job as a nurse in a large urban hospital in Washington DC and the demands of being a hands-on dad for three rambunctious youngsters keeps getting in the way.
To give Christopher some much needed quiet reading time each morning, I organized an array of yard and garden activities to keep the girls busy. Working as a team, we watered my gardens; picked up pinecones and twigs until we’d filled the yard waste container; fed the birds, squirrels, and a gentle doe I’ve named Doe-lores; added water to the tree frog habitat in one of my planters; picked cherry tomatoes in our neighbor’s backyard; had a breathtaking ride on the Zip Line that our next-door neighbors built for their kids; and met our neighbors and their beloved collection of aging dogs.
Late one morning, we took their uncle Kit on a picnic at and exploration of Empire Mine Historic State Park. For a couple of hours while Kit and I stayed cool viewing the Visitors Center exhibits and watching a film on the history of mining in the area, they toured the remnants of the mining operation that lasted from 1850-1956 and the owner’s family gardens and cottage.
Two very hot afternoons were spent in our daughter Heidi and her wife Sugie’s swimming pool tooling around on floats or just horsing around. Evening outings included a creekside dinner at T.J.’s Roadhouse in historic downtown Nevada City followed by Cookie Dough ice cream cones scooped up and dipped in sprinkles at Treats Ice Cream shop. Finally, we strolled through a corner park nearby where the trio gazed up at a giant Redwood tree as the downtown’s historic gas streetlamps began to flicker on.
The “storm” is now back home in Maryland. A new generation of family memories has been made. What a joy my Augusts with Topher have always been and continue to be.