Man of the Hour

Hello and welcome to the last Saturday of March, here at the Wannaskan Alamanc. Today is March 28th.

Good grief, Charlie Brown! Someone please tell me that the month of March was out of planetary alignment, the stars were scattered, and chaos reigned, because that sums up my experience. Wild. 

The original Wannaskan Almanac Kid Writer-in-Residence, aka WAKWIR, was home on his spring break. "Help me write the blog," I told him on our drive down to the Twin Cities last night. "Write about me and all the things I did," he answered. So, here we go.

He flew to Minnesota a week ago and spent a night with his brother. He later reported that it was "the best time," and "honestly, Ma. If my flight home had been delayed, I wouldn't have minded spending another day with him."

His flight north was on time, however, and after his dad picked him up, they went to Walmart because, as you know, when in civilization, shop. According to the WAKWIR this was NOT the best time. To give you a sense of what's considered not the best time, in his words, about another shopping expedition with his father, "Ohmigosh, Mom. He spent five minutes analyzing the oregano and the Italian seasoning until he found the cheapest one."

The younger siblings were thrilled to have their older brother back because his visits meant generous amounts of Minecraft time together in the living room.

There was business to attend to, such as tax returns and working his last days as a barista. I suggested he pack up his four shelves of LEGO sets and two shelves of National Geographic so the younger kids would have space to put their stuff. "All they have is crip-crap anyway," he said, "Well, it's their turn now to get to display it," I answered.

He may not have packed up his stuff, but he did do something else that was pretty useful and amazing. "You know, Ma. After mass on Sunday, I was looking at the church's mixing board, and I realized that I  actually understood it. I could set it up so it sounds better and fix the settings." I made some calls, and he was there with Fr. Christon by Wednesday, made more adjustments on Thursday, and tested it out during daily mass on Friday. Those involved were hugely pleased with the results. I was glad that he was already able to put his college education to good use. "That's a real job, you know, being a Church Sound Tech. It was on the list of jobs I saw at school."

He also had a birthday this week! It was a low-key affair, but that was okay. As we reflected on another year, we noted he's had far more blessings than bumps in this past year. He's happy, he's healthy, and cruising into the next year with steady optimism, adventurousness, and eagerness.

If you can't get enough of this charming fellow, you can follow him on his YouTube channel, where he posts 2-minute clips daily. Think of it as an "In the life" glimpse of a college kid (with some great views of Philly).