“Do you know why you train BJJ?” I asked.
You shook your head.
“It’s like training your Pokemon. The more they train, the more experience and skills they develop. People are the same. We need to train to build our real-life skills. And BJJ is an important real-life skill to have.” I paused.
“Does that make sense?”
“No,” you said. “None of that made sense.”
I waited until I knew you better to start this letter.
You look like your sister: heart-shaped face and a cry that could pierce leather. But will you be more like your brother? Or an alchemy of the two?
Back in Dublin, we took you to see the doctor.
“Annabel has a serious double-ear infection,” she said.
“She hasn’t been bothered by her ears.”
“Well. She’s just really tough then.”
Doc, you have no idea.
It’s not that you’re not sweet, AB. You are. On your brother’s birthday, we worried you’d feel left out when he got gifts and you didn’t.
We needn’t had worried.
“Why do you pretend to talk like Deefer?” Oliver asked.
Turns out ventriloquating (a technical term) for your dog is very common. Linguist Deborah Tannen calls it “talking dog.”
We think of it as translating the thoughts you’re having, Deef. Adding color to the commentary we see running in that head of yours:
In July 2022, we visited Bray. You come out of the DART station, follow the little alleys with a Chinese, a coffee shop, a casino. Suddenly, the alley opens up, and you’re there on the Strand. Three big planters and wooden benches sit in front of Bray’s aquarium. Finbees coffee house tucked in next to it, separating you from the ocean.
It has a Manhattan Beach vibe (we’ll go there someday), but replace the volleyball nets with little huts selling 99’s with all the toppings.
My first thought when hearing about the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge? Sounds great, but that’s impossible for us.
Both Amy and I worked — a lot. Our kids spent the entire day in creche (daycare). We lived in an apartment in a city. There was no backyard we could chuck the kids into to leave to their own devices.
But moving to Dublin, Ireland had an unintended consequence: more time outside. We had no choice. With no car, we either walked or took public transportation. Instead of driving everywhere like we did in Albany:
At the end of 2021, Amy started talking about the 1000 Hours Outside Challenge. Despite my initial skepticism (1,000 hours?! 3 hours a day?) we started tracking our time outside. We realized with existing habits, we were already tracking close to that goal.
And we loved the lifestyle.