Whenever any combination of our 8 grandsons comes over to play, they always head for the newly renovated boys' room and its cache of costumes, toys, and weapons. Miles (2) and Luke (5), pictured here, have spent the most time with us lately because their parents, Travis and Heidi, have been extremely busy with the triathlon season. Miles tends to choose the Viking costume, complete with a horned helmet and a double-bladed axe, while Luke favors the Indiana Jones look, with the addition of a sword or two. However, Miles has been known to play Indiana himself on occasion, most notably once when Luke was in time-out: Miles put on the famous hat and, rotating his hips from side-to-side, mocked his incarcerated older brother with "Jo-o-nes, Jo-o-nes!"They all have Jack to thank for the plastic armory he's put at their disposal. It helps to have an uncle who was preoccupied with medievalism during his childhood (although I suspect it will be a long time before Jack's willing to share his Playmobile castle and figures). Even Travis had a couple swords during his childhood, named Naegling and Hrunting after the famous Beowulf blades, with which he would defend his sister's, his mother's, or his blankey's safety whenever they were threatened by me.
Thus, the brave comitatus tradition continues because, as the Beowulf poet observed long ago, "Wyrd oft neareth unfaegne eorle thone his ellen deah."
2 comments:
i want this post to make me happy...it should, of course. but mostly i just feel really sad we live too far away for my boys to be a regular part of things.
Kato--That's exactly how I used to feel about my Jones cousins in Brigham City being so close to Pocatello year round when we only got to Grandpa and Grandma's during the summer. I'm just happy you're close enough that we've been able to see you several times a year--and we can work on doing even better than that in the future.
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