PLEASE FORGIVE THE DELAY (and thoughts on the meaning of it all)

If it's not one thing it's another. First it was the new system at our host site that took me far too long to figure out. Then it was general madness. And now it's because we've been robbed. I lost the camera, with the chip inside it that had lots of new Sam photos which, of course, I had put into the computer which of course was also stolen. I am angry and bereft. With Sam's upcoming move to Croatia, each photo of that boy, each minute with that boy, is uncommonly precious to me. Stuff can be replaced. But time with Sam, and the photos that help this old man remember those wonderful blessed moments, can never be replaced.

Oh well. Gotta let it all go. Or so my Yogi daughter tells me. She's right, but it's hard.

Didja know Sam has now settled on my name? "grappa" which is also a traditional Italian (and Croatian) drink made from pomace (pressed skins and seeds of grapes) after winemaking. The pomace is fermented without any sugar or alcohol, and then distilled. Bottom line: the resulting clear drink is 90 proof. When we were on the island of Mjlet, black clad elderly women would stand along the paths selling bottles of homemade grappa to folks like us. Don't know how I feel about being given that name.

Yes I do. It's wonderful, special, and a story Sam can tell his kids after I'm gone.

Damn, getting robbed seemed to have somehow brought on meditations on mortality...

I guess one of the (too many) reasons I love Sam is that he is the only person I know who can make time stand still for me. Can force me to live in the present. Like what happened yesterday (before we got home and discovered the break-in). We've been going to the Bronx Zoo a lot. It's a wonderful place, easily one of the best in the world. Huge. After 5 all-day visits we have seen maybe half of what it has to offer. And of course Sam wants to keep revisiting his favorite places, which makes it hard to get to new sights. If he had his way he'd spend every day in the Mouse House. But yesterday we made it to the gorillas. Last year he and Bodhi met the gorillas up close and personal, and loved it (a lovely photo in the Youngsamwise archives was purged during the recent regime change at Blogger, and will I hope return soon). This time he was rather more wary, and tended to pull me away when we got too close. In one of the other exhibit areas was a display of small animals that share the forest with the gorillas. One small display case was an aquarium with four small aquatic frogs, grey, undistingueshed, and frankly ugly. Sam loved them. His attention span is remarkable (although I've noticed that to be true in most kids of his age). I decided to time him. He watched those little frogs for 19 minutes before moving on.

During those minutes, nothing else in the world mattered. He was focused. And happy.

I have learned so much from Sam. I will never forget his lessons.