The Diversion

I was outside on the patio this morning with my cup of coffee, talking to a friend on the phone, when the patio door opened and there was Aaron..........showered, dressed, shoes on........Wow!!  He pulled out a patio chair and sat beside me, staring down at my feet.  He stared and stared while I finished my phone conversation.  I hung up the phone, looked at Aaron, and wished him a very good morning. 

"I don't like your foot color thing," he replied. 

"What?" I laughingly asked. 

"That painting on your feet," he continued.  I laughed again.  No good morning from Aaron in return for my greeting, but only a precise and blunt commentary on my feet.  "You don't like the polish on my toes?" I asked in fake disbelief.

"No," he flatly replied.  My dark pink polish may have looked blue to Aaron since he's color blind, but when I asked him what color my toes were he said they were a "kind of pink."  And with his disapproval of my toes established, we went inside........where I poured his coffee and then went up to get myself ready while Aaron drank his coffee and read the comics.

Aaron had a perfect morning relaxing in the mulch until it was time to go.  He was in a very happy mood today.  We passed the cow pasture and there out in the distance were the cows that he loves to see.  Some days they're not anywhere in sight and Aaron wonders about that.  One day he didn't see the cows and he said, "Where are the cows?  Maybe they've been turned into meat!"  But today the cows were there and Aaron was glad.

Picture from Beth Hite

It wasn't long before Aaron brought up the subject of Rosie.  He talked again about how they held hands........several times, according to Aaron........and how he liked that.  Then he said, "I could tell she almost put it as I was her boyfriend." 

He couldn't quite explain what he meant by that, so he continued.  "If she had said I was her boyfriend, I would have said that I don't want to get married right now." 

I told Aaron that he and Rosie can be good friends.  I said that they can even call each other boyfriend and girlfriend if they want.........but it doesn't mean that they will get married.  I encouraged him, as I have done so often, to just enjoy being good friends.

"So how long did it take you and Dad?" he asked.  I knew what he meant, but I asked anyway.  "How long did it take Dad and I to get married?" I asked.  He said yes, and so I paused before telling him that it took a year and a half. 

Now I wonder if Aaron is counting up a year and a half from now to see when he might need to get married.  I reminded him that having this special relationship with Rosie does NOT mean that they must marry.  I do believe that Aaron is feeling like a boyfriend/girlfriend connection is the precursor to sure marriage.......and he's feeling some pressure.  What both sets of parents want, believe me, is for Rosie and Aaron to continue being special friends.  Period.

And in true Aaron fashion, as we drove by the field where bulls graze, Aaron quickly went from talk of hand-holding and marriage to talk of bulls.  "You don't eat bulls," he blurted.    I said, "What?!" 

"You don't eat bulls!" he repeated.  "Cows are hamburger but bulls are nothing!"

Picture from Beth Hite

I laughed, both from the humor of what he said and from relief to have left this marriage talk.  I'm no cow or bull authority, so I didn't try to expound on what he said.  I was just thankful for the diversion that the cows and bulls had given Aaron, and not in the way you might think.

I have to laugh, really.  I just have to laugh, and wait for the door to burst open today to see what else Aaron wants to talk about.

Stay tuned.