Me Thinks

Here is what I delivered this morning:

Dear neighbors--

I would like to apologize for the late night activity in our yard last night.  Our son invited some friends over for a Kubb tournament.  Kubb is a sport where you try to hit pieces of wood over by throwing sticks.  The boys were introduced to the sport at a scout camp this summer.  The tournament lasted much longer than expected as some of the games were close and long.  As it turned out, right as the final games were to be played, I told everyone that they needed to go home and that it was too late to be playing in the backyard with the lights on. I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Janine Clarke


Do you ever feel torn as a mother?   I did last night at 11:45 p.m.  I was thinking of the neighbors, especially the one that has complained to us before.  He likes to sit on his deck at night and look at the stars and he told us that the lights from our yard blind his view.  Our yard lights had been on for hours.   

I thought of my husband who at 11:40 p.m. had announced he was going to try to get some sleep in another bedroom.  Our bedroom faces the backyard and try as he might, he could not fall asleep in our bed because of the noise from the games.  He has early Sunday morning meetings.

I thought of the boys and the fun that they were having and how they had played for over five hours.  They had different brackets and matches and the intensity was mounting as there were only a few games left of the tournament.  How could I ask them to be quiet or to stop playing?  But I did.  I had to.  I said that they could not play on the Sabbath and that everyone needed to go home by 11:50. This morning I feel terrible about it.  It was what I needed to do but I still feel badly about throwing rain on their parade--and right at the crucial point!

I'll talk with my son about it when he wakes up.