ONE MORE CANISTER OF COFFEE.

HIM.

Daddy?
he asked.

When you're a sumo wrestler, is it legal to yank down the other wrestler's underwear?

Well,
I said.
I do not know the answer to that question. But it is my favourite question of today.

And it remained the fave.

___

One of the things I love about this boy is the range of his interest, the depth of his curiosity, and his ability to throw himself in equal measure into both physical pursuits and mental ones. To go from racing around the house like one of his current heroes, Jesse Owens, and then go to crafting stories and artwork like his current hero...now that I think about it, I am actually uncertain as to who his current inspirations are. Although he has enjoyed Vermeer as of late, and done his own version of the Girl with the Peal Earring. It's entitled Boy with the Pearl Earring.

Currently bouncing around reading three different books on reptiles, a bio of George Washington Carver, and the Roald Dahl classic Matilda.


___


HER.
Endless, boundless energy, bottled up like human nuclear fusion, with a spirit free and wit to dagger Oscar Wilde.

We have found a shared love of film. I love it so much.

Some families have stringent screen times rules. That's great. To each their own. But I guess in ours...we use what we use when we need what we need, and what we watch, we watch together. A shared and communal experience. Of course, that does not include Becca and I watching Amazing Mrs. Maisel or Designated Survivor after hours.

We're currently watching Spielberg's Lincoln. Already a lengthy story at 2.5 hours, it's turning into a four-hour epic with our frequent stops for explanations and discussion about what's happening.

I like how he focuses on the last months of the Civil War and shows the agony he faces in trying to balance, politically, the conjoined horrors of 1) ending the war and 2) ending slavery; knowing that they're intertwined and that timing will be everything.

There's a lot to explain and talk through. Habeas corpus. The nature of the Republican and Democrat parties then versus now.

You mean...the Republicans were the ones who were fighting to end slavery?!

Yep.
I said.
That's how it used to be. Lincoln's party. Ain't his party no more. No way.

___


HIM II.
These are today's treasures that brought him joy.

Gonna get on a high horse here for a sec: remember this image as Christmas approaches, fellow citizens and parents.

This is joy.

An empty canister of coffee to collect outdoor treasures in. A water bottle. A hat to keep semi-warm from the biting Gorge winds.

Joy. What do you need?

___


THEM.
A little of this, a little of that, and one more of this.

Post-race. She came in first this time around with a time of 28.23 seconds around the house. But silver is honorable as well. 33.07.

And there was one disqualified for not finishing. Or starting.