The J-Man & Bebe left yesterday. I did not cry. I thought* seriously about crying, but I did not cry.

What a help The J-Man was to 1-handed me and to Mr. Big Food. And what a pleasure to have him around for a few days! He knows the lay of the land so well– though he did have a misadventure with some fireants, and that first day outside in the Mississippi heat really snookered him. But man, not only did he catch me up on some garden work, he made progress. Patio hasn’t been so clean in ages.

Rocky & Missy didn’t miss a beat when they saw him! Nor Bebe when she saw her old friends, and reacquainted herself with the Lake, and the Apartment. She’s such a goof.

And then there were suppers & movie watching! Like old times.

The funniest episode was when Miss M and I realized we could induce some cognitive dissonance into ‘Phens brain– which is psycho-babble for messing with a 4-year olds’ head. The J-Man had come down from the Apartment– where he & Daughter C used to live– to take the dogs on an afternoon walk. She and ‘Phen and I were Skyping, I switched the call to my portable phone, and walked out toward the Workshop just as Bebe was rounding the corner.

“‘Phen! Who’s this?”

“It looks like Bebe!!”

Note. Looks like. Not getting anything past him. Bebe belongs in North Carolina, not Mississippi.

Repeat.

And then I pointed the camera at The J-Man– who was all smiles.

“UNCLE J!!!”

“Hey Buddy!”

“UNCLE J!!!”

“Hey, ‘Phen!”

“Where is Aunt C?”

Cognitive dissonance accomplished.

Thanks, again, J-Man. We love you!

• This is wrong. I didn’t *think * about crying. I thought about *not* crying as I was deciding to not cry. All of our thoughts about our thoughts– our meta-thoughts– are silly. I just didn’t want to make the J-Man feel bad.