French Kiss Part 3

I was in the nectary with my mom when my cell phone rang. One of the locals, who'd been excavating on the other side of town, wanted me to find something they'd left behind back at the old Celtic ruins dig site. Apparently he knew I was an archeologist. I told him I was on vacation with my family, but I said okay.

"Where are you going?" mom asked.

"I'm going to work," I told her. I could hear her heave a deep sigh behind me.

Within minutes I was off on another adventure. I was born for this, really. Now that I think about it, I can't imagine myself doing anything else.

After changing clothes, I arrived at the Celtic ruins site. I have to admit it's the first dig site I've been to since I started my adventures -- where I actually got goosebumps. And I think I know why. I was going right into the bowels of my heritage. I know I have French blood through my paternal grandmother and I have Irish/Celtic blood through my paternal grandfather.

While I walked inside, it seemed as though the place hadn't been disturbed in awhile. My favorite part of being an archeologist is the exploration of the ancient tombs and the discovery of the treasures hidden deep within them, waiting for some intrepid adventurer to find them. Most of the time it's just me and the voices of the ancients echoing around me.

The first room of the ancient Celtic tomb seemed empty and barren until I got to a pile of rubble. I have to admit I get pleasure out of chopping through those piles of rocks. Usually I find something good there.

Another thing a good explorer has to have are instincts. At that point my instincts were telling me that the wall behind the pile of rubble was hollow. A hollow wall meant the wall was blocking a door, and a solid wall meant there was no door there.

My instincts proved correct and before long I had gone through the secret door into another room. I love secret doors and switches, puzzles and trap doors.

I also love finding ancient coins. Simoleans are a fairly universal currency, but special merchants only take ancient coins for some of the rarest relics and adventuring supplies so I was glad to see these. I was afraid this wasn't why I'd been sent into this cave though.

French Kiss Part 2

Ever since mom officially became Mrs. Nathan Plumb, she's been a different person. Really. She has. I mean, the day after the 'wedding' she asked me to ride my scooter. Dad says she's rediscovering the 'passion' that made him fall in love with her in the first place.

I fixed my first batch of nectar, and decided to go and take a sip.

To my surprise, mom was waiting for me. She talked about the weepy French movie she and dad saw.

Then she went into how she and my father met. "We were just kids -- both trying out for the orchestra," she said between sips of nectar. "I wasn't much older than you, to be honest. I'd heard of his reputation, I knew he'd been a bit of a ladies' man but I didn't care. But with me he was -- shy -- and remarkably self-contained. "

"Why'd he take so long to marry you?" I asked. "I mean, the two of you have one child a YA and another almost teen. If if were me, I'd have probably left."

"I think he wanted to keep his options open," mom said matter-of-factly, "but then he realized I was probably the only person left who'd actually put up with his flights of fancy." Mom laughed. A genuine, hearty laugh, one I hadn't seen from her in a long long time. I was glad to see it.

French Kiss Part 1

The next thing I knew, I was in this little French hamlet called Champs Les Sims. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. I almost clicked my heels.

Apparently dad has been planning this family vacation for some time. He didn't even bother to tell me about it, and he tells me just about everything. It's like Aunt Margaret used to say, that it takes my father awhile to make a decision, but when he's decided to do something, he usually does it.

We arrived at the bed and breakfast at Champs Les Sims, a Tudor-style home with more than adequate accommodations. We put our bags down and then set out to explore the town.

Unlike my excursions into Egypt and China, I was in France merely as a tourist, with my parents and kid brother. I wasn't going to get involved in any relic-hunting adventures while in France.

Yeah right. Like I, Savannah Rachel Plumb, am going to wander around some cozy countryside town for three days sipping nectar all the time? Especially when I could learn to... MAKE... nectar of my own.

So when we got to the nectary, I spotted this little boy who, I swear, was a dead ringer for some of the pics I saw of dad when he was younger. I was half tempted to ask if they were related.

Sure, I had, um, difficulties, learning the craft, especially tumbling in a bucket of grapes while I was trying to squish them, but I pored into the Nectar Made Easy books at the local bookshop and bought a bunch of grapes from the seller so I could start learning on the machines at the nectary.

When I got back to base camp, I found my parents -- BOTH OF THEM -- rocking away to this one song they were both playing on guitar. "You two seem happy," I said.

Then Sebastian, who had been calmly eating ice cream, came running in the room. "Vanna, guess what? Mom and dad got married!"

You should have seen my mouth. It completely flew open.

It all made sense to me. That's why dad made this trip. Dad slipped mom to Champs Les Sims to marry her. I had to admit, I held back a few tears.

Prelude to a French Kiss

"Savannah, how do you feel about us going to France? All of us?"

That was the stunning announcement dad made as he burst into my bedroom while I was painting. Dad is still very much capable of these; even in his advanced age he is still capable of shocking us all.

"Dad! Did you tell mom? What about work?"

"Work knows. And as for your mother, well -- it's a surprise."

"What do you mean, a surprise?"

Dad got that mischievous little glint in his eyes. I just knew he was up to something.

Back from China

So I returned from China and my dad wanted to talk to me. He decides to do this in the guise of 'training' me -- basically going into the fitness room and working out.

One thing that gets overlooked about my father is how maniacal he is about staying in shape. As crazy as he is about music (and let's face it, he is nuts about it), he's just as much of a stickler for working out. It's a regimen he began in his teens and he continued well into adult and now elderhood. I do think it's his secret to maintaining his vitality.

"Savannah, I need to know," dad began, "just exactly what your occupation is. What is your job title?"

"At the cemetery or --"

"With the trips. Not even two simdays after you left Egypt you were called to China. Care to clue me in?"

"Gotta tell you, dad --" I said, "I'm an adventurer. There. I said it."
"But princess, there's got to be more than that. You're not just wandering willy-nilly about the globe doing nothing."
"I'm an archeologist," I told him, "I study ancient civilizations. And --"
"Whatever it is you're doing it's certainly making you happy. I've never seen you like this, you're positively glowing.
"Sometimes my adventures require me to go down in tombs older than all of us put together and retrieve valuable and ancient relics. I'm having a blast, really. I'm meeting new people and learning a lot of new things."

He continued the conversation in my bedroom. We were watching the Llamas' big football game against their archrivals. Poor dad was going hoarse yelling at the TV. "You know that was interference!" He then turned serious. "You know, princess, I've always said that as long as you're happy then I'm happy. It's clear to me that your restlessness and curiosity have led you to pursue this unusual career path, one you obviously love." After the football game, he turned to some sappy love movie, and I heard a lot of his guitar riffs in it.

Back on the road

China this time. :-) I know this has to be my shortest blog post ever, but you know where to go now to follow me.

Later,

Savannah

Mommie Dearest (cont'd)

My mother has a problem with my lifestyle. I knew that pretty much from the get-go. She's had a problem with it since I was born, so I wasn't surprised that she was upset about my choice of career.

I was typing in my travel notes when she sat at the table with a bowl of soup.

"You know, Savannah, I'm still trying to get my head wrapped around the fact that you're an archeologist."

"You should be proud of me, mom," I told her. "I'm studying ancient cultures, traveling around the world, and meeting new people. I'm happier than I've ever been in my life."

"Savannah, I see that this work does make you happy. It's just that -- I worry about you, going all these places, why? You could find fulfillment right here in town."

"Mom, you know I never really 'fit in,' not in this family nor at school. When I was a teenager I kept a lot of my activities secret. I didn't tell anyone I was president of the school chess club. Why? Because I was trying my darndest to 'blend in.' But Ari showed me I didn't have to do that. I could just be me. All those times I broke curfew, you think I was out drinking and smoking and partying? Heck no. I was either in the library reading or exploring the catacombs at the local cemetery. There was the one time I was at Clarice's house. When it comes down to it, I'm a big fat geek, mom, just like you and dad and Aunt Margaret."