The weather here in South Carolina is quite like summer for someone like me who has lived most of his life in northern climes. Although it was pretty cloudy most of the day, the temperatures were in the seventies and it was comfortable to be outside without a jacket. And I played like a kid on summer vacation yesterday. Let’s see. I jumped on the trampoline, swung in the swings, dug in the sandbox, played soccer, had a rousing round of hide and seek, and rode bicycles around the neighborhood including a couple of good bicycle races. I also got to go to a park and stopped for ice cream on the way home. All of that was just in the afternoon because it isn’t summer here, it is autumn and our four-year-old grandson had school yesterday. He attends a half day preschool program in the mornings and comes home for the afternoons. He no longer takes naps as his busy life requires that he get a good night’s sleep and his parents have discovered that if he naps, he tends to have trouble settling down to sleep at bedtime. For him, it is pretty much full steam ahead all day long. I have to confess that his grandfather took a nap yesterday and report that he had no trouble falling asleep at bedtime.

The interesting thing to me is that even though my day had lots of fun and physical activity, my watch, which doubles as a fitness tracker, reported that I was not keeping up with my usual level of activity. We were so busy that I never did go for a walk yesterday, and we are used to walking at least a couple of miles. In fact, I had to have a workout on the stationary bicycle in the evening to meet my fitness goal for the day.

All in all, however, we are having a wonderful time in South Carolina. Being a northerner, I am charmed by the local accent and thought it delightful when the receptionist at our grandson’s preschool called me “Patrick’s granddaddy.” I’d forgotten what it is like to be called “honey” by a clerk in a store that I had never previously met. And I beamed a bit when our grandson’s friend called me “Poppa,” which is what our grandson calls me, and our grandson pointed his finger at him and said, “He’s MY Poppa!” The friend had assumed that Poppa was my name, but our grandson saw it differently.

There is such joy in being a grandfather. I think that I imagined it would be fun long before I became a grandfather. When we were newly wed, before we had children of our own, I used to say that when I get old I wanted to make toys and play with my grandchildren. And in the wonderful way that aging works, it seems like it didn’t take long at all and now I am that age. I haven’t really become a toy maker, though I’ve crafted a few things. Among the projects we’ll do in the next few days is a trip to the hardware store to buy a few PVC pipe fittings to glue together to make an “escape slide” for a house that our grandson uses to play with some of his action figures. I know the name of some of those figures, but am sure to become even more familiar with them in the days to come by playing with our grandson, who corrects me if I place the wrong item in the hands of a figure and who has already informed me, “Papa, the new Mask video comes out on Friday.” And today is Friday, so we’ll be attending a matinee of that movie this afternoon. I’m pretty sure it will involve munching theater popcorn with our grandson.

I suppose I’ll have to be careful with my diet. I don’t think I did a very good job keeping track of calories yesterday, with hot dogs for lunch, a trip to the ice cream store, and pasta for dinner. It was all very good and tasty, but I know I need to be careful about calorie intake. That is another part of being the age that I am. I don’t lose weight as easily as I did a few decades ago.

The bottom line, however, is that I’ve got it pretty good. I’m enjoying South Carolina weather in a season that is more to my liking than the hot an humid summers around here. And I know that before long I’ll be returning to the north where I not only will experience a climate that is more to what I am used, I’ll also get to have regular time with four more grandchildren. It is a good thing to be retired so that my schedule gives me time to play.

Of course a grandfather doesn’t have energy to keep up with his grandchildren all the time. Our grandson did have to wait and play quietly while his Poppa took a nap yesterday. And I know it was a challenge for him because he came to get me after I had been lying down for a while. And I could feel the burn in my legs when we were racing bicycles. As a four-year-old who has mastered a two-wheel bike, he is considerably faster than when he was using his strider bike that had no pedals. Even with the advantage of the bigger wheels and a bike with several speeds, I had to work a bit to keep up even though I probably used a bit of grandpa sense to come in just behind the grandson in each race.

To add to my joy, I have the best story-reading, game-playing, hide and seek counting grandmother for a partner. Double teaming a four-year-old is a good strategy for us. We enjoyed it when our children were preschoolers and we enjoy it with our grandchildren. And, in addition, our daughter and her husband provide all the backup we need with other tasks of everyday life.

I went to bed last night with lots of fun memories and I rise this morning eager for the adventures of a new day. I feel like a kid again and that’s a good feeling.