Notes - as it was

         You spent a little time reading before going to the pool to watch Owen and Brennan ‘swim’ with their arm floaters. Kim and Paul were also enjoying the water after spending time on the beach watching birds, finding shells and making sand castles. You tried a new restaurant at John’s Pass called Boardwalk Grill. Kim and Carol shared a larger than expected salad with turkey and ham, etc. and two fish tacos while you and Paul each had an order of fish and chips. – Amorella

         1313 hours. The fish was really good. The small and not cheap restaurant is up on the Boardwalk. Paper plates and plastic utensils – there was a window bar for eating as well as four tables for four each. Kim and Paul are enjoying the sun on the balcony. Carol is with the boys in the living room, and I am sitting in the bedroom at the table. We have the front east window open as well as the two sliding doors on the west side (one in the bedroom and the other in the living room).

         1647 hours. The boys are up from their naps and heading down to the pool. I am up to page 47 in Thinking in Numbers and have covered the chapters: (Preface), Family Values, Eternity in an Hour, Counting to Four in Icelandic, Proverbs and Times Tables and Classroom Intuitions. I did take a few notes but am not sure what my task is here to know how to put them to use.

         You are attempting to show by example how you feel you connect with the author Daniel Tammet. – Amorella

         1907 hours. Baked chicken plus left over salad from lunch for supper. I don’t want to show how I feel connected with Daniel Tammet. I want to learn something from the book and apply it to my own thinking. What use is there in reading any book unless I can possibly gain something useful from it?

         As you have clarified your reason for reading, what have you gained from reading the first forty-six pages? – Amorella

         1. On page 18 he is finishing a description of an awkward family meal with two married guests who were clearly incompatible with one another. Tammet ends with the following: “I thought of the infinitely many points that can divide the space between two human hearts.” The chapter title is “Eternity in an Hour.” As such this was an amusingly sad chapter. I don’t know that I have ever used “amusingly sad” in a sentence before.

         2135 hours. We watched the boys dance to songs from “Cars” (Owen sang the words to ‘Life is a Highway’ as he free-form danced) and then the four of you saw and/or listened to an hour or so of music videos of the ‘80’s on YouTube (we did not know about such music mixing snippets). The boys finally went to bed after dancing for more than half an hour. They were funny, especially Brennan, he would stomp the floor with his right foot trying to keep time with the music then swing around stomping in a circle like his left foot was nailed to the floor. We had a good fun evening.

         You are not ready to continue on with the book presently – too many happily mixed musical memories from the eighties. You and Kim watched MTV almost every afternoon after school for about an hour from the time she was six until she was in junior high. Kim and Paul are watching “Iron Man 3” Carol is sitting in the bedroom rocking chair facing you more than half way through her latest Child book. No listening to waves tonight. The air is on as it was actually quite warm this afternoon especially with the sun pouring through the windows. Let’s call it a night. Post, boy. – Amorella