The Boy's Best Day Ever (Imagined)
When I was in France doing French fantasy things I had this bit of paper with me that I kept looking at. It was mixed in with my travel details and conference information and various telephone numbers and stuff. It was a short essay written in my son's unsteady handwriting, called "My Perfect Day". Herewith, I offer it to you, typed, of course, but otherwise unaltered...
Morning
I would get up and take a morning stroll through the woods (1) with my beardy (2) and my dog (3), my cats.
When I get back I would build some Star Wars Legos.
Then I would go and ride a black stallion called Orca (4).
When I get back it is time for lunch.
Afternoon
I would have burritos for lunch and then we would play a game of Carcassonne.
When we were done with our game I would play Star Wars Legos (5).
When I was done on the computer we would go down to Lake Wyola (6) to swim.
Evening
When we get back we some sushi and fish pie and then I would go to sleep (7).
Footnotes
1). By 'woods' he doesn't mean Fresno, because... ah... I don't think we have anything called woods here. Sure, when you come through the airport they have big murals of giant sequoias, but don't be fooled. Those are wee drive away, at an altitude gain of 7,000 feet or so. Local? Yes, but a little context doesn't hurt. No, by "woods" Sage means one of the two places he's most familiar with walking in the woods, Western Massachusetts or rural Scotland.
2). "Beardy" refers to a bearded dragon. Sage decided a while back that he wanted to get one, and he's been saving his money ever since. So, perhaps once we're back in Massachusetts...
3). We don't have a dog, but...
4). I'm not familiar with this creature.
5). Hey, it's his perfect day. Star Wars Legos have a big part in it. In this case, though, he actually means a Lego computer game...
6). This would be the lake near us in Massachusetts, about a five minute walk away from the house.
7). Sage has thoughtfully included both my culinary specialty - sushi - and his mother's - fish pie. I assure you they're both marvelous, but we don't usually have them on the same day. This, however, is a perfect day, so all bets are off.
And thats it.
You know what I like about this perfect day? That I could make it happen. That it's not so different than a normal day. The black stallion named Orca might be a bit tricky, but the rest of it...
Well, he's kinda described our life. (Or, the life we'll have back again in about three weeks, when we arrive back in Massachusetts.)
MorningI would get up and take a morning stroll through the woods (1) with my beardy (2) and my dog (3), my cats.
When I get back I would build some Star Wars Legos.
Then I would go and ride a black stallion called Orca (4).
When I get back it is time for lunch.
Afternoon
I would have burritos for lunch and then we would play a game of Carcassonne.
When we were done with our game I would play Star Wars Legos (5).
When I was done on the computer we would go down to Lake Wyola (6) to swim.
Evening
When we get back we some sushi and fish pie and then I would go to sleep (7).
Footnotes
1). By 'woods' he doesn't mean Fresno, because... ah... I don't think we have anything called woods here. Sure, when you come through the airport they have big murals of giant sequoias, but don't be fooled. Those are wee drive away, at an altitude gain of 7,000 feet or so. Local? Yes, but a little context doesn't hurt. No, by "woods" Sage means one of the two places he's most familiar with walking in the woods, Western Massachusetts or rural Scotland.
2). "Beardy" refers to a bearded dragon. Sage decided a while back that he wanted to get one, and he's been saving his money ever since. So, perhaps once we're back in Massachusetts...
3). We don't have a dog, but...
4). I'm not familiar with this creature.
5). Hey, it's his perfect day. Star Wars Legos have a big part in it. In this case, though, he actually means a Lego computer game...
6). This would be the lake near us in Massachusetts, about a five minute walk away from the house.7). Sage has thoughtfully included both my culinary specialty - sushi - and his mother's - fish pie. I assure you they're both marvelous, but we don't usually have them on the same day. This, however, is a perfect day, so all bets are off.
And thats it.
You know what I like about this perfect day? That I could make it happen. That it's not so different than a normal day. The black stallion named Orca might be a bit tricky, but the rest of it...
Well, he's kinda described our life. (Or, the life we'll have back again in about three weeks, when we arrive back in Massachusetts.)
Labels: Family Stuff, Sage Anthony Durham
posted by David Anthony Durham at
2:02 PM
7 Comments:
David, I recommend a beardy. We have one and he's very cool. His name is Oliver Deathstrike. Ours was a rescue, as Jen is a vet, but he's cool nonetheless.
Also, Carcassone - funtastic. We love the game. Other's that are fun - Ticket to Ride, Five Crowns, Bang!. I can give more recommendations - games are one of my "things".
Anyway, what a great day. I wish mine were so easy to do. Oh wait, they are. I spend time with my daughter and wife, and watch scifi on TV. YAY!
That is an awesome plan for a day. I'm very glad that you're headed back to Massachusetts.
This essay is so touching and if I may say so Sage is really cute. By the way, if Sage's best day is so close to a normal one, he must be a really happy kid !
1) Ticket to Ride, like paranoyd suggested, is a great game. So is Settlers of Catan.
2) I agree with Cryrielle--what a gift to have Sage's "normal" days be so close to his "perfect" days.
3) HOW do I get a child as insightful, joyful, and downright cool as Sage?? Or Maya, for that matter? What is your secret? Simon and I are terrified that karma is going to bite us in the ass when it comes time for child rearing ;)
1. Lego Stars Wars are AWESOME.
2. So is swimming.
3. Burritos Rule
Sounds like he's got all his priorities right. Awesome.
I must say, what a great day to dream! He's very wise. I have seen bits of that star wars lego game, looks very cool! ;-)
I hope to catch you before you go. I'll try you at the cal state email as mentioned.
Happy packing (I hope)!
Thanks for the comments. Sage likes the attention.
I won't try to give advice on parenting. That way lies madness, I think. I am happy, though, that a kid that's seen as much of the world as he has at eight remains grounded in things like family, nature, good food and time spent playing games...
I imagine that if he rebooted this perfect day he could mix up the ingredients and would have a few replacements, but they'd always be similar sorts of things.
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