Day 19.182: Five for lunch

Exile #4 came for a visit last night and we took the opportunity of us all being together to go out for lunch. 

The rest of the day has been dominated by the World Cup and we are still waiting to see who England will meet in the last four.

Day 19.174: Quick visit to Exile #4

I was off work yesterday and today in honor of tomorrow’s holiday. Exile #2 and I decided to pay a quick visit to Exile #4 to see how they are getting on in their new place. All went well and we were able to take them out for lunch.

It was all delightfully uneventful compared with the previous time we traveled from here to there. 

Day 19.162: Exile #2's Sunday Column #556

Exile #2 writes...

This has historically always been one of the busiest weekends of the year. Exile #3’s dance school usually has their dance show this weekend, often involving Exile #3. For probably a decade, however, it has also involved Exile #1, who films, edits, and reproduces videos of the show. Exile #3’s birthday is usually on or around dance show day, too, and to cap it all off, Father’s Day usually rounds off the weekend.

This year was not too different. Exile #1 filmed the show. Exile #3 went to watch and cheer on the dancers, we celebrated Exile #3 on Saturday evening, and today we celebrated Exile #1, mostly by letting him have a very rare lie in, and the opportunity to choose an evening outing. He chose Biddeford Pool and, although we had had a rainy, thundery afternoon, this evening was absolutely perfect.

Day 19.161: Birthday!

I had a very busy day today. The most important part was celebrating Exile #3’s birthday which waited until the end of the day. Happy birthday Exile #3!

Day 19.153: Birthday cake

Exile #4 shared this photo of their solo birthday celebration:

I believe they are getting together with friends over the weekend for another celebration. 

Day 19.152: Civic duties

On Tuesday, four of us voted in the Maine primary elections. 

Today, I did the last of the duties relating to the Honda Civic that Exile #4 was driving last week by sending the title to the insurance company in acceptance of the total loss settlement. Meanwhile, today is Exile #4’s birthday and they have been doing a lot of adulting. Moving into their first apartment, starting a new job (today was day 4) and buying a car to replace the aforementioned write-off. Quite the start to a new season of life. Happy Birthday!

Day 19.145: Not entirely according to plan

After I worked a half day, we packed up the van and Exile #4’s car and set off for their new apartment in Massachusetts.

Unfortunately, about 3/4 of the way there, a large truck, illegally using the left lane thought that maybe moving into the middle lane was a good idea, but chose the bit of the lane currently occupied by Exile #4’s vehicle. One side-swipe and a 180 degree spin later, and our plans were a bit derailed. 

I met them at the yard where they were towed to. I was a few miles ahead of them when the incident occurred. 

Amazingly, we managed to get Exile #4 and the contents of the car into the already quite full van and we were able to complete most of the plan for the day after a two hour delay. We skipped some of the planned furniture construction, but at least put the bed together. 

The apartment seems very nice and the insurance company will provide a rental car for the next few days, so things are not too bad all things considered. 

Day 19.144: An odd cycle of movies

With Exile #4 going back to Massachusetts tomorrow, tonight the five of us completed a little cycle of movies. We often watch TV series together but there wasn’t time to start a new one so we decided to do some stand-alone film watching and it turned into an interesting little film festival. There wasn’t any planning behind it until we realized how we could bring it home tonight. 

We started with Project Hail Mary (2026) (featuring Ryan Gosling - this will help us close the loop later). Next was Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026) (small town feel-good), then Fargo (1996) (small town with murder), then, for the first day of Pride month, Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (secluded location, more murder) then Companion (2025) (secluded location, strange girlfriend, more murder). 

Tonight, we brought it all together with the charming Lars and the Real Girl (2007) featuring Ryan Gosling, small town and a strange girlfriend. Exile #2 and I had watched in many years ago - near the start of the Exile but I’d forgotten what a gem it is. 

Day 19.141; Exile #2’s Sunday Column #554

Exile #2 writes...

Exile #1 and I made the bold choice to get up at 5am to join our nature group at the coast for a couple of hours before church. I was not the only one to opt for a winter coat and nor did I regret it! Although we have not had any, there has been snow in the mountains, which is fairly unusual for Maine in May. It’s been pretty chilly though.

Afterwards, we swung by the house to grab the other Exiles and headed to church where Exile #4 joined the group of those being celebrated for graduating from college and high school.

Exile #4 then spent a bit of time catching up with a friend before we all settled down this evening to watch a movie. As always, we had a lengthy discussion about what it should be. Having enjoyed the very sweet Remarkably Bright Creatures last night, we opted for the grittier classic Fargo tonight. I hadn’t seen it since moving to the US, so I’m pretty sure I understood different things this time - but I thoroughly enjoyed watching it again and it seemed to be a hit with everyone.

Day 19.134: Exile #2’s Sunday Column #553

Exile #2 writes...

One benefit of having our primary board game instigator home for a brief period is that board games happen! Yesterday, the game in question was Finspan, the latest in the Wingspan universe of games. We introduced Wingspan to Exile #4, so it was fun to have the favor returned with Finspan. It’s essentially a fishy version of the bird-based game but with some different mechanisms. It also, unexpectedly, gave E5N1 the opportunity to demonstrate some of his fishy knowledge, courtesy of the Marine Bio class he took this year (this being Maine, Marine Bio features pretty heavily on syllabuses!). As was to be expected, Exile #4 ended the game victorious, but we all enjoyed it, and it was a good way to spend a rather gloomy and overcast holiday weekend.

Day 19.130: Exile #4

Exile #4 is home for a couple of weeks before they start work back in Massachusetts. I went down this afternoon to help clear out their student room and drive a large vehicle with most of the contents in it. It meant a lot of carrying stuff down the stairs on a very hot day. When a rain shower interrupted, we were both pleased to have an enforced break. 

Here is a classic image of Exile #4 from the first year of the Exile along with a recreation using their graduation cap that was designed especially to echo this childhood moment. 

We did try it with extended arms, but tiny though they are, their arms are a lot longer than they were in 2007. 

Day 19.125: College Grad

Today was Exile #4’s graduation from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). We had a busy day:

Exile #4 is right there - can you spot them?

Graduated!

Friends!

A pre-dinner drink at the hotel bar

Day 19.124: Rainy drive to…line dancing?!

Exile #4 and their friends had arranged a pre-graduation gathering at a line dancing club for visiting family. Exile #3 decided against it but the rest of us went and had.a great time even if the volume of the music was not conducive to actual conversation with the other family members. 

Day 19.118: That's one fancy hat

This picture came up on Google Photos because it is from almost exactly 18 years ago. We were impressed that Exile #4 elected to style their fancy party dress with a winter hat.

Around this time next week, we'll be celebrating their college graduation - an occasion for another fancy hat.

Day 19.117: Migration

Not birds this time, but E5N1 who has vacated his freshman college dorm room to return home. There are piles of his stuff in every available space right now. 

His last final was today, but he still has some work to complete and submit before the official end of the semester tomorrow.

Day 19.105: Composers Ensemble

It was the second semester showcase for the Composers Ensemble today. E5N1 played trumpet, sang, played percussion and composed one of the pieces. The whole concert is on YouTube. I think this link will take you to his piece at around 1:06:00: [link]. It was a great program with a nice variety of styles of music written for this unique collection of instruments.  

Day 19.098: Concert

Exile #2 and I went to a concert this evening including E5N1 (and the rest of the university choir) singing with the symphony orchestra. It was excellent. I especially enjoyed their rendition of Zadok the Priest which I have also sung (many years ago). It has one of the best choral entrances I’ve ever heard. If the school posts a video I’ll add a link.

Day 19.092: Exile #2’s Sunday Column #549

Exile #2 writes...

It’s been a fun having E5N1 around for the weekend. We got to spend a little extra time with him today and finish up his birthday leftovers.

It was also nice to go back to the high school yesterday and see a few old friends. The show was the musical version of 9 to 5 and, as ever, it was performed to a very high standard. For once, however, they had decided not to edit at all for language or content. This meant the Dad behind us had quite a busy time of it answering his children’s questions, my favorite being “Dad, what is blackmail?” 

Day 19.088: Happy Birthday E5N1!

Today is E5N1's 19th birthday. I chose a photo from each year - within a few weeks of his birthday.

Here is zero:

Here is one through nine:

and ten through eighteen:

This is nineteen:

We'll see him for a birthday celebration at the weekend.

Day 19.085: Exile #2’s Sunday Column #548

Exile #2 writes...

After a fun and busy Easter service this morning, we had an unexpected visitor! E5N1 came home to hang out with us for the afternoon. There was much sharing of music, including a choral piece he’s been working on, and we also called Exile #4, who is getting very close to the end of their time at college!