a triple 1987 feature Friday night begins with our babes asleep

a remote out of reach, we settle and sneeze

Empire of the Sun

always a favorite, really one of the best

then Adventures in Babysitting, Some Kind of Wonderful

restless, appreciative of stellar soundtracks, hairstyles.

Saturday morning came late, sluggish

on the fog of cold tablets

a whole lot of coffee

a trip to the valley

Olive at a first friend’s

celebration of {3} with cupcakes, chickens

pinatas, princess gowns

she: all smiles and stick-on gems

me: pockets stuffed with tissues, fingertips painted blue

chickens liked their looks and nipped

and, yeah,  chickens freak me out most

just like that, time to bid adieu

back home, second girl, second party at island’s northern tip

just before giggly squeals by airport’s strip

cotton candy, marshmallow lollipops at the door

I’d realized something.  I was about to be alone

good music very loud , as it should be

tough on an island, but I found the long way home

parked on the west side,

rain held off over the peninsula as I hiked to the cliffs, looked into Canada.

Sunday morning

tissues and coughs

sick of sick, all of us

restless

maybe me, most

we drove to places we’d never been

remarkable, really, after over five years on a tiny island

rain, heavy and not as I like to take it

I prefer drizzle, foggy grey

Olive said she likes snow, jumping in puddles and hiking in the woods.

Mama, I do not like hiking with puddles,

right then,

it was hard for me not to agree more.

I took shelter under a branch as we reached the top

caught Luke looking at the evergreen peaks of the tallest hill

couldn’t help but think he was missing the mountains of Montana.

soggy and snotty, naps and another flick

Red Dog picked by accident, really not entirely appropriate

but, we do what we do when we’re felling ill

the girls cried through the story of a dog who belonged to a town

the story of a town defined by its dog

much like the tale of our old mountain doggy pal, Buddy

:::