Jobe deceives his grandmother and causes things to get hot around here; Christmas Tree; the cold, empty streets of Bangalore
Friday, December 17, 2010 at 12:23PM 
Just in case anyone might doubt that Jobe was actually a willing and not an innocent accomplice to the deception that was played upon his grandmother, I would note this about him:
Of all the babies that I have ever known in this world, it is Jobe who is the most pleasant. He is the happiest, most good-natured baby that I have ever spent time with. Seldom does he ever fuss, cry or scream and if he does at all, it is only because something is truly wrong and the moment that wrong is righted, he is cheerful again.
And... might I add before I continue... Jobe loves his grandpa! In fact, he adores his grandpa! If you do not believe me, just look at this picture.
This is Jobe, and how he feels about me... how I feel about him...
Anyway - the deception: While I was still in Barrow, I got a call from Margie. Jobe had fallen ill, she said. He had an upset tummy, apparently caused by a bug of some kind. He was crying and pooping, doing all the things that babies with upset tummies do. He could not go to daycare, so she was going to go into town in the morning to take care of him while his parents went to work.
I called her the next day while she was at Jobe's house with him.
"How is he?" I asked.
"He is doing better," she said. "But he was pretty fussy this morning."
Fussy?
For Jobe to have been fussy, he had to have been feeling downright uncomfortable.
But here's the thing - Jobe had not been sick at all. And Lavina and Jacob skipped work that day when Margie thought she was caring for a sick baby just so that they could go to work.
Melanie had been concerned about our woodstove, getting close to 30 years old now, and had persuaded her siblings to join her in buying us a new one as a Christmas present.
So, while Margie was babysitting a Jobe who was not at all sick and I was hanging out in Barrow, our children had come out to the house to oversee the installation.
Margie stayed in town one more night and then the next day picked me up at the airport. I then drove us home. When we entered the house, we were both surprised to see this new woodstove, glimmering with heat atop the rock slabs in the living room.
It even had a glass door, so that we could look through to see the fire burning and the coals glowing.
So here is Jobe, in the arms of Charlie, as seen in a reflection off the window of the stove brought into this house through his deception.
Thank you, Jobe! Thank you, children and grandchildren!
Even before she had been deceived, Margie had picked this tiny tree that was growing right beside the house and would have to come down at some point anyway. She waited until I was home, until most everybody was present, to begin decorating it.
Decorating the tree. Remember what I told you about Jobe adoring his grandpa?
Jobe observes as his mom hangs a birch-bark canoe ornament. Perhaps next year he will hang it himself.
Jobe scoots toward a tiny helicopter.
Jobe and the helicopter.
Charlie and Kalib look at a picture Charlie just took.
Kalib admires the tree. "It's a real Charlie Brown tree," Margie said when she looked at this picture. Yes, it is kind of tiny and scraggly, but when you see it in real life, it is very pretty and somehow seems just right.
When children and grandchildren visit, they soon must leave. Remember the Volvo that Jacob bought Lavina for her birthday? It has lost its front bumper already. They must get it repaired now.
And this one from India:
In the middle of the winter close to two years ago, I woke up and came to this computer to find an email from Sandy waiting for me. She was still engaged then and she told me how late the previous night or rather in the very wee hours of the morning, she and Anil had been wandering about on foot through "the cold, empty, streets of Bangalore."
I laughed at the very thought. Bangalore streets - cold, empty? The steamy, overflowing with the constant surge of humanity streets of Bangalore? Cold? Empty? Still, I put the image in my mind of the two of them out there alone on dimly lit streets in weather that might have plunged down to maybe 60 or even 55 degrees walking, talking, sometimes serious, sometimes smiling, enjoying, happy to enjoy solitude in a city with scant idea of the meaning of solitude... and it was a pleasant image.
I then went to Barrow and when I arrived the temperature was in the -40's... -47 or -48 if I recall correctly. So I took a picture late at night, with not a soul on the road and sent it back.
"The cold, empty, streets of Barrow," I typed.
As to the above picture, I took it the day after Sandy and Anil married. Several of us were in an auto-rickshaw with a smoky, two-stroke engine and she was sitting right beside me. We would all eat pizza shortly.
Reader Comments (10)
The scene in the second picture looks so cosy.. and also the one with Charlie, Kalib and Jim in it.. makes me feel all warm inside :)
Your kids are the best! And your tree is lovely!
The tree is awesome. It's a great Charlie Brown tree. Jobe is too cute!! What a great Christmas gift for you and Margie. Merry Christmas!
It is sooooo obvious Jobe LOVES his grandfather!! He is the most striking, precious baby I have ever seen.
What a precious baby and you have a very thoughtful and caring family. I love the stove and the little tree. It just looks special! Merry Xmas to you and your lovely family.
i love the tree...i hope you and your lovely family have a wonderful Christmas
What a perfect Christmas story. That was so nice of your family to do for you and Margie =)
Well lets hope that Jobe is done playing tricks so when he gets older he doesn't pull one on his p arents.
Glad you're enjoying the stove and you're welcome.
Oh, my bumper is fixed, Jacob not allowed to look at my car anymore...just kidding...readers out there, my husband is at fault, & I'm not letting him get off the hook easily. :)
The first pic in this blog is my screensaver now...maybe Lifesaver also??? :) Love Jobe...
The tree is amazing..perfectly decorated for the wonderful family.
Oh, how toasty that stove looks!
And, your Charlie Brown tree is lovely...just like those of my childhood which were all, of course, lovely!