Watching: Weird Al Yankovic on VH1's Behind the Music. The first Weird Al song I ever heard was "Another One Rides the Bus," when I was a sophomore in college, but the one I especially loved was "Yoda," a parody of "Lola" by the Kinks, which had a lot of airplay on the Dr. Demento show the following summer. Weird Al doesn't seem to have changed much at all in the intervening eighteen years, which is kind of comforting.

Ripples from Stones

It was supposed to rain today, but the rain stayed far west of us. We had an overcast but rain-free day, which was fortunate because I wanted to do something together as a family. Most of our weekends are spent on separate projects: Tab usually takes the boys with him to visit yard sales and run errands on Saturdays so that I can work, and I frequently take them to a playground on Sunday so that he can do house projects. Only rarely do we get to spend time together doing something fun.

We decided to take the boys for a hike along the Delaware and Raritan Canal tow path. As I've written before, the canal is a marvelous place for a long walk. It is free, scenic, and not far away, a winning combination.

Our outing today almost didn't take place because of a misunderstanding between Tab and me this morning, however. When we were discussing our plans for today, neither of us really listened to what the other person was actually saying, with the result that each of us thought the other had nixed the idea. Even though we finally got the matter straight, we both remained a little nettled as we piled the kids in the car and drove to the canal.

The boys didn't help matters by squabbling, as they so often do on car rides. Daniel likes to antagonize his brothers by substituting their names for the words in a song. Stephen is his favorite target.

"This old Reno, he played one, he played knicknack on my Reno," Daniel sang.

"Stop it, Daniel!"

"With a knicknack paddywhack, give a Reno a bone, this old Reno came rolling home."

"Mama, Daniel's still singing about me! Make him stop singing about me!"

"Knock it off," roared Tab, his limited patience at end. "I want all of you to behave. We're going on a family outing, and everyone's going to enjoy it, whether we like it or not!"

Instead of driving to Washington Crossing State Park as we usually do, we parked near Scudders Falls bridge in Ewing about five miles south of Washington Crossing. This area of the tow path is much less traveled than the Washington Crossing area; still, we saw a fair number of cyclists, joggers, and walkers.

Although the canal and tow path run parallel to Route 29, a busy road, I found myself easily tuning out the highway noises and enjoying the peaceful walk. The water level in the canal is higher than it was earlier in the summer, thanks to some of the rain we've had. Through the trees to our left, I could catch glimpses of the slate grey waters of the Delaware River. A few trees grow between the tow path and the canal; their branches lean out over the canal surface as though they are trying to catch sight of their reflection. Tab commented that it will be pretty here in the fall when the autumn color of the leaves is reflected in the water.

The boys were perpetual motion machines, as usual, never seeming to tire of picking up stones along the path and hurling them into the canal. "Watch me, Mama! Look how far I can throw it!"

"No, watch me!"

Tab and I walked along the path, holding hands. The bad feelings from our argument this morning had rippled outward like the waves from the stones that the boys throw into the canal; but like those ripples, they, too, had disappeared.

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