Tonight after swim lessons UberGeek wanted to take us all out to celebrate my annual review at work. We were pretty bedraggled overall, so our options were limited and the kiddos were demanding hot dogs. The best ever hot dog spot, Hot Dog Hut, was getting ready to close up for the night so we had to settle for Orange Tree. Not exactly fine dining but I didn't have to cook.
On the way home we had to stop and pick up the Subaru. As we pulled into the parking lot UberGeek noted that the flag at the preschool was still flying. "Aren't they supposed to take it down each night?" I asked. "Yeah, that was my job in elementary school, sixth grade" he replied. "I had to play Taps at night and something else I can't remember in the morning."
UberGeek's abandonment of his musical talent always saddens me. I imagine him serenading me with his trumpet and dream of family sing alongs while he plays the piano. "I haven't played the trumpet in twenty five years, I wouldn't remember how" he says dismissively. I try a different tack, "What if it injected more passion into our marriage?" I whisper loudly in the minivan idling in the empty preschool parking lot. "What if it made you more attractive to me?" "You already find me attractive" comes the reply, with the sarcastic grin I know so well. I give his parents the utmost credit for imparting in him a healthy sense of self esteem. "Why can't I convince you to do things you don't want to do anymore?" I aim at him as he begins to ease himself out of the minivan. By now the kids are laughing and saying, "Play the trumpet daddy, play the trumpet!" UberGeek just grins at me and I kiss him as he escapes to the waiting getaway car, maybe this is not the end of the discussion.
