The Number Field

My Father's Day was so great that it had to start on Saturday. Even though my mother had spent all day, every day with Elena during the week, when Jenny asked if she would care for Elena on Saturday night so we could go on a date, she happily agreed. We went to a late showing of Star Trek and stayed out way past our bedtime. I have fond memories of watching Star Trek movies with my dad when I was a kid * . Between that and the connections between Elena and Star Trek , even the choice of movie put me in a Father's Day state of mind.

On Sunday morning, Elena let us sleep in past seven--my mother says she's never heard of a four-month old who can sleep ten hours at night, so that's another Father's Day bonus. When we got up and going, I opened my presents.

Elena gave me a card featuring a cat dressed up as a princess, and a book of Russian fairytales with English translation. It's the same as the one that I read to her when we visited Matt and Carrie. According to Jenny, she and Elena had to work very hard to find it, even deciphering a webpage in Russian to make sure that it was the right book. To throw me off the trail, the book was delivered to Jenny's brother's house, and I don't know when Jenny picked it up. (Her hiding places for presents have always eluded me, even though we have lived in small apartments.) Also, Elena got a new onesie that declares "I ♥ Daddy." Jenny gave me a Nike+iPod kit to use with my iPod--I hope that soon I'll find time to run and put it to use. Before long, Elena will be ready for a jogging stroller and then we can really get out there.

Later in the morning, we had a great breakfast of waffles and ice cream. Jenny cooked bacon into the waffles. When topped with real maple syrup it makes an intense dialogue of complementary flavors. Everything's there: hot and cold, sweet and savory, fluffy and dense, and so forth. I can't imagine a more perfect breakfast. In the evening, the great dining continued--we visited Jeremy and Amy, and Jeremy had marinated and grilled some good beef, which we had along with buttery potatoes, corn on the cob, and other good side dishes.

Many thanks to Elena, Jenny, my mom, Jeremy and Amy, and everyone for a wonderful Father's Day!

* I'll never forget seeing Scotty pick up a computer mouse and treat it like a microphone while they saved the whales with super-strong transparent aluminum foil. From the release date, however, there's a strong possibility that we watched that one at home, not in the theaters. I do remember watching The Undiscovered Country in the theater, especially the zero-g globules of Klingon blood, magnetic boots, and the Peter Pan quote at the end.