Since Sunday morning at 4:50am, David has been off with five other Scouts and two adults at SeaBase, the Boy Scouts' high-adventure site in the Florida Keys. And since Wednesday morning at 7, Mary and Sarah have been off at Mary's conference in New England, making me all alone for the first time in, well, forever. It left me thinking of what life may be like in another seven years when Sarah goes off to college and the nest truly gets empty--and if, at that time, Mary's career has her traveling even more.
Pluses: I've not had to worry about playing the radio in the shower too loudly in the morning, or turning the lights on when I get up. I've been able to eat pretty much whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I could stay up until nearly midnight, as I did Wednesday night, working on the Quicken, and in all that time not be ignoring my bride, since she wasn't there. I could stay late at the office, and go to a happy hour--ah, if only there was one this week--without having to make a SACC pickup time.
Minuses: Boy this house is huge and empty. And quiet: I half expected the gerbils to go insane without the steady stream of life noise the kids and us usually generate. (The radio makes a decent substitution.) I miss getting Sarah hugs, or even having to get after David for the umpteenth time about will you please pick up your stuff off the floor by the door. And I know it sounds like a cheap and easy point-scoring, but yeah, I do miss having my bride with me; the comfort, the reassuring presence, the quick glances, the sharing of some TV show...
When the kids do go off to college, and if Mary happens to travel at that point, it will be certainly different; I'm just not sure yet whether it'll be a good thing, or if this tinge of melancholy this week is but a sample of what's to come.
