Over the last several years we’ve shared stories about our daughter Sophie, from her adoption in China, to her appearances on Quilting Arts TV, and now her college career. But it has been awhile since I mentioned our 2 boys who are all grown up. Sam is 24 and Mason is 32. How did that happen??
This weekend I was remembering some of the things that happened when our boys were little, and doing the things that little boys do. We have family legends about muddy footprints through the house, a toad in a jar on the kitchen table, catching (and releasing) lizards in Hawaii, finding garter snakes in the garden, picking big green tomato worms off my tomato plants, catching crickets to hear them sing, and the glorious but infrequent visits to a friend who had an aquarium full of snakes in her living room. When we visited family friends in Florida, they loved hearing stories of the alligators on the golf course. When we visited the zoo, we spent a lot of time in the reptile house. Oh yeah, that’s what memories are made of…
My brothers did things like this too. We grew up across from a muddy pond, a swampy stinky pit that was later rehabilitated into a park with shaded green lawns, a lake and a graceful bridge. (Loomiller Park in Longmont) But when we lived there as kids, there were frogs and toads, minnows and tadpoles, catfish and muskrats who lurked in the thick brown water. If we stepped into the pond the sticky mud would grab our shoes and that was the end of the story for our footwear. My brothers would bring buckets of pond water and creatures home, and after dinner when they went out to return the slippery creatures to the pond, the whole garage smelled like a murky slimy green marsh. Oh yeah, those were the days. Good cheap fun.
I have to say that Sophie has really never gotten excited about bugs and snakes and frogs. She was focused on soccer and violin and books. But as we all know, you don’t have to be a boy, to grow up to be a herpetologist or entomologist.
Our boys of course grew out of their fascination with creepy-crawlies, but I am sure there is a whole new generation of kids who would rather spend time with a frog, than do homework. I see you guys buying fabric for them! So tonight I created a new category just for those future herpetologists…and the parents and grandparents who are wracking their brains about a Christmas quilt gift.
…sharing your love of fabric,
Luana and Paul
