Summertime

The second wave

It has been a while since feeling strongly compelled to write. The summer months eventually bled into a return to routine with school and work. However during the summer months something rather extraordinary did occur.  One of Master's siblings did join us early on and had departed. The second wave of family arrived roughly a week later, two of his other siblings, their spouses and children arrived for longer stay. A mixture of ages, from adults to children -- many who are tween or teenage.

A small aside, since the birth of our daughter, Master has always read to the child since she was old enough to comprehend words, it's a special time for them two. He will read a chapter or two from a carefully selected book, then she'd be off to bed. This summer He brought along two books, in case they finished one, the second could begin. Truthfully, He didn't believe they'd finish the first, but He reckoned they'd get close to the end. 

Well, one such mid July evening He began to read aloud, with our daughter snuggled in His arms and lap, "Chapter One; The Boy Who Lived." 

Suddenly there was a burst of interest from other children nearby, they had been arguing loudly over a puzzle and quite disagreeable throughout the day probably because they were bored -- we adults were looking forward to quiet. They all moved toward Master, "You're reading Harry Potter!" Being older one can assume they had read the books themselves but Master is endowed with a marvelous speaking voice and can read aloud with the precision of any audio book. He cleared His throat and began to read again, slightly louder. 

The children, again, regardless of age, gathered around silently grabbing pillows and blankets to make themselves comfortable. The routine is that Master would read a chapter or two and then it was off to bed, however when He reached the end of the second chapter the gathered audience protested loudly. He was forced to continue. He read half the book that evening, finally placing a bookmark, and closing it, His voice hoarse and raspy, proclaiming He simply couldn't read another word. Curt words of disappointment from peanut gallery couldn't dissuade him this time. 

He marveled slightly, getting into bed, even our daughter was very alert, usually at the end of a couple chapters, she's yawning -- but still listening and comprehending. He also admitted that the book so far was fairly engaging -- a nice little story. The following morning after breakfast, the kids handed Him the book. This was not procedure. Soon, He was again reading and finished the book by nightfall. Now we had a problem, He had only purchased the first two books -- in case our daughter didn't enjoy the story -- there would be little point in continuing. He would read even if didn't interest Him personally, but if she wasn't enjoying the book, which does happen at times, it's an easy out for Him to stop.  One of the older children, had all the movies on their device and connected that to the TV. So, at the end of the first book, they watched the film. Discussion emerged after, about the slight differences. 

During this, mouse wasn't really paying a lot of attention, instead busying herself with family, cleaning, cooking duties and the like. Soon, though as Master began reading the second installment, adults had joined the listening party. He was reading to a crowd! It took Him three days to complete the second book, probably grateful that He had only had the first two to share. Little did He know His audience was conspiring against Him. 

He finished the second story in the early afternoon, of a sweltering hot July day and said we'd watch the movie that evening at 8pm. The older children, being old enough to be on their own vanished from the house and left for town. Town from the Lake House about a two mile walk. They returned that evening carrying the five remaining books in their arms and presented them to Master. They had, unbeknownst to all, cobbled together their money to purchase them. Of course, Master didn't feel that was completely fair and offered to reimburse them for the books. His nieces and nephews flatly refused, which was interesting for mouse to observe. That evening they watched movie, mouse only half paying attention, and engaged in a similar roundtable discussion after.    

Master sighed loudly as the next book was presented to Him, He had felt He was finished, but His niece who He simply adores said it's better than the first two. Now this one of the two Harry Potter movies that mouse had seen, Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix and it was somewhere in the middle of that formally mentioned book that she too, began rather avidly listening. Midway through the book, Master's enthusiasm was slightly restored -- and admitted the tale was engaging.

He finished the book, after a few more days, and we again watched the movie. More detailed discussion followed, the book and film, while close, was beginning to diverge. This only got worse with Goblet of Fire, which was a rather thrilling story that Master was more than willing to read through. He was beginning to enjoy this. The discussion after seeing the Goblet of Fire movie, went on for hours, pointing out all the inconsistencies, and how better it could have had they just followed the actual story more.

The next book, Order of the Phoenix, was an emotional roller-coaster, as mouse was more familiar with the film, sure the unlikable characters were even more hateful in the book, but the sadness toward the end was hard for even Master read. The movie, which again mouse had always somewhat enjoyed -- now was different and she joined the roundtable discussion following the last scene of the movie. The discussion was angry -- of course she knew the meat of the tale from the film, but felt they had a reduced a pivotal character introduced in Azkaban, to a mere footnote in the two previous movies, so the film could end on a false happy note -- that no way echoed the book.

Undaunted, Master continued to read, as only two more books remained and three movies -- The Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows, which Master probably enjoying the latter more than the former. Half Blood Prince movie did seem to follow more closely the book -- with some glaring differences. One might surmise since Deathly Hallows was broken up into two movies they would follow more closely the book but was also a disappointment. The final battle scene was far more thrilling in the book and the ending made much more sense than the dumbed down but SGI laden version of the film.They had completely changed the final showdown to make a better popcorn film and boost 3D ticket sales.

Everyone was weary at the end of our double feature, having watched Deathly Hallows Parts 1&2 back to back the day after Master finished the thrilling conclusion to the book. Time was running short, and everyone had agreed that if Master continued to read, they would all pitch in to close up the house for our soon departure. Everyone did, the roundtable abandoned, as people began packing things up, discussing the film and book differences,  as they worked without complaint. The summer was over. Everyone, including us would be returning to our workaday lives. School starting for some.

Within a couple shorts days, everything was packed, the cars loaded down, and we were all departing at the same time. Everyone thanked Him and praised His reading skills, more than one sibling remarked, they never understood their own children's fascination with the books, until now. His niece hugged him and asked what He'd be reading next summer. He politely corrected her saying that if she came, she'd be reading the next book to the crowd.