Fireside Chats with Bud

I apologize for not posting earlier.  It seems that my 5 year old laptop has sadly fizzled out.  It wants me to attempt to reload Windows, but I have to dig up the CD.  Talk about planned obsolescence.  Computers should last more than five years. 

But onto the subject of this week's post.  One of our favorite activities in the summer is to sit around our fire pit as the sun sets and the stars come out.  Now, as we enter the middle of August, we don't have to wait until 9:30 for the sun to set, which is a good thing.  Usually, after dinner, one of us will go and build up the fire.  I prefer using the environmentally friendly method of building a tent out of some dry tinder, and gradually adding larger pieces of tinder.  I learned this method from the physical education teacher at school when I chaperoned the eighth grade camping trip.  Sadly, due to budget cuts, the adventure program is being downsized, the camping trip will be cut and students won't have the opportunity to learn how to build a fire without using white gas (which is my darling husband's favorite way to fuel the flames).  Sometimes, we'll make s'mores by the campfire (once the gasoline burns off), but other times we'll just sit quietly and listen to the wild sounds of the evening, trying to identify all the chirps, snorts (those usually, but not always, belong to the pigs), whistles and chatters.  The dogs and cats will come join us, the latter jumping up on any spare lounge chairs to curl up.   

This setting apparently is an ideal place and time for a nine year old to muse over the great wonders of our world and our society.  The quiet, and probably the darkness, aid in allowing a child to really talk about subjects that may not be "cool" to discuss during the busy-ness of the day.  Topics have ranged from the mundane to the profound.  We have had discussions about stars and planets, tourism, old houses, farms and the sources of food, baseball, the ocean, God and gods, football, music, professions, art, World War II, friendships, honesty, and most recently, Star Wars.  This last I found quite amusing, since Bud made the comparison that the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry can be compared to the entire Star Wars saga.  He had picked out which player would be which character.  I can't remember them all, and I'm sure I'll be corrected, but here's a bit of the list:

Ortiz:  Luke Skywalker
A. Gonzalez:  Hans Solo
Youkalis:  Chewbacca
D. Pedroia:  Would have been Princess Leia except for the fact that he would never ever say "Would someone get this walking carpet out of my way?" to Youkalis.
Ellsbury:  Lando

A. Rod:  The Emperor
Jeter:  Darth Vader (because in the end, he's really not all that bad)

We'll take any suggestions you may have to round out the roster.

By 10pm, Bud is all talked out or thought out, and we return to the house to retire for the evening, allowing our bodies and minds to renew themselves for another day of adventure.