Leap Day Lore

"Aa-aw Mom, I love you!" Aaron said as he rambled into the kitchen for an 11 a.m. breakfast on this Leap Day, a spontaneous school holiday due to "The Big One" - a snowstorm stretching across much of the Midwest and into the northeastern United States.

I couldn't believe my ears. Aaron hadn't said he loved me in more than a decade - since Noah stole his spot as our family's youngest.



Shocked to hear those three little words, I replied, "What???" My 15-year-old son explained, "I LOVE these muffins! THANKS for makin' 'em."

Now, I'm certain: The way to a man's heart is through his stomach!

And that thought brings to mind a bit of Leap Day Lore. Seven "Leap Days" ago, I was a 16-year-old exchange student living in Norway. On this day in 1984, I was with my host family on a cross-country-ski vacation in the mountains of Numedal. On the mountainside, several other families with teenagers also had cabins. My host mom loved to tease.

"Now, Vendy," she said. "Once every four years on February 29th, ladies have the privilege of proposing marriage to any man."

"What?" I asked my host mom. The incurable romantic explained that sometimes men just don't get the hint, so every four years, a woman gets her chance to express her love interest. With her head held high, her right eye half closed, her left eyebrow raised and her tongue-in-cheek, my host mom wiggled her head side to side and said, "Today is that day, Vendy! You can go track down one of these young men on the mountain and pop the question."

I joined in her joke, wiggling my own head and replied, "And if he refuses?"

"He must give you twelve pairs of gloves," she said. I sputtered, "Why twelve pairs of gloves?"

She shrugged, "Maybe to hide the ringless finger?"

Today as I surfed the internet, I read several accounts of this tradition's origin. One grabbed my attention: Apparently in 1288, five-year-old Queen Margaret of Scotland was living in Norway and made a law requiring fines to be levied if a marriage proposal was refused by a man. The woman's compensation would be a pair of leather gloves, a rose, £1 and a kiss.  Another account notes: Danish tradition holds with the compensation of 12 pairs of gloves, which holds with my host mom's account and makes sense since Denmark ruled Norway for hundreds of years.

My point: Why bother with the Leap Day "Ladies' Privilege?" A real man knows what he wants and prefers to do the courting and proposing himself.

The woman's job is capture his heart. And as my son reminded me this morning:  one way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I'm training up him, and his brothers each, for someone special.

So ladies, roll out the Rolled Apple Muffins. Consider this the new Leap Day Lore!

By the way, my right eye's half closed, my left eyebrow's arched and my tongue's in cheek as I hold my head high and wiggle it side-to-side.

In the Dark House

"When was the last time you sat in a dark house?"

Aaron asked me this afternoon.

He stumped me for a moment until I realized more than a decade had passed since I'd last sat out on a lake looking down a hole to watch the underwater wonders. It was with his Grandpa Curt. Grandma Sue had offered to watch the boys so I could have an afternoon with my dad. At the time, I had an SLR 35mm camera. Capturing images was challenging in the low light; and results certainly weren't instant.

So when Aaron asked if I'd sit with him in the dark house, I agreed. Shooting digital images would be my adventure while he waited to spear pike.

Patterns in the melting ice
were the first thing
to catch my attention.

Meanwhile

Aaron broke open

the new ice cover

and scooped

out the chunks.

More than an inch thickness
had formed overnight
since Aaron and Dan's
Saturday afternoon outing.

Aaron emptied 

a five-gallon bucket

full of ice outside

the house

brought in
his spear,

 custom-made
by Grandpa Curt,

and

prepared it

for action.

During this outing,
Aaron lowered three
different decoys
down the hole
to lure in pike
in a water depth
of 12 feet.

When no pike

 showed up,

Aaron began

jigging for perch.

I started shooting
video to capture
the action
my fingers were
too slow to catch
with the shutter release.

Here's a perch nibbling
at a wax worm
under the decoy.

It got away.

But this one

wiggled

to the top

on Aaron's line,

came
up,

had a

quick

portrait,

and was
released.




Two hours passed
with more
of the same.

At 5 p.m.,

Aaron

wound up

activities

and drove us
into the sunset

and back home

to another
Dark House.

Mom's Dream Come True

"Get in there for your brother!" the "Huskies" basketball coach said as he tapped Aaron's shoulder to bring the sophomore off the bench and onto the court during today's varsity game.

A week earlier, Aaron had traded his junior-varsity uniform for varsity colors and begun drills with a couple other sophomores, four juniors and six senior players, including Isaac. Aaron continued to start games for the JV team, scored 14-27 points per game, benchwarmed for varsity games and waited
for opportunity to knock.

When the boys came home from practice on Friday, Isaac and Aaron predicted the team's starters could score 100 points in Saturday's game. The Eagles had been blown out by 40+ points by a team that the Huskies had beaten by 40 points earlier in the season.

Few coaches allow even-greater leads and instead put in second stringers and benchwarmers. We figured this game just might be Aaron's moment.

When Dan came home from work Friday evening, he said, "I was thinking about driving to Remer for Saturday's game."
"Me too!" I said. We commanded Noah to join us; and the 2-hour drive paid off.

Shortly after the start of the second half, the Huskies gained a 40-point lead. The clock began to run non-stop. Not long afterwards, Aaron felt the coach tap his shoulder.

Aaron (#21) pulled the warmup jersey up over his head, threw it on the bench, checked in with the scorekeepers and headed onto the court smiling and slapping hands with Isaac who came off the court grinning as his younger brother got his first shot in a high-school varsity game.

"How'd you like that one, Mom?" a couple parents hollered to me. I nodded saying, "I'm waiting to see both of boys on the court playing at the same time!"

Years ago during elementary basketball, Dan and I would each head a separate way taking one or the other son to his team's Saturday basketball game. At the time, I longed for the day we'd all be together at one game watching both boys play. I figured we'd have a chance during Isaac's senior year if Aaron made the varsity squad as a sophomore. That dream died at the season's start. Eight seniors and four juniors went out for the team. Aaron came home and announced he wasn't one of the two sophomores to make the varsity cut. Due to health and personal reasons, two seniors quit the team mid-season. A month later, with three weeks until the playoffs, the coach brought Aaron on board with varsity.

The dream was resurrected, and today, realized—thanks to the team for taking a 40-point lead.

Since we were seated in bleachers directly behind the team, one mom passed along my hope to the coach. He turned around to see Dan, Noah and me all present - a first for our family this season and a first-time ever at an away game.

Soon after Aaron came out, Isaac went back onto the court. With less than five minutes left in the game, Aaron joined Isaac.

I began shooting photos but decided for a moment like this, video would work best. In a three-minute clip,

I caught

both boys

going up

for a rebound,

Isaac
scoring
two baskets

and Aaron

making

his first

varsity points!

The coach let
the brothers
finish out
the game
together.

Following hand-slaps

with the Eagles' team

and a Huskies' team huddle,

 Isaac and Aaron headed over to the bench,
caught each other's eye,
and shared a soul-brother's handshake.

I had put away my camera,
but the image of their smiles
and genuine happiness
captured this mom's heart.

Down on the floor, I congratulated them and snapped their photo with the 47-89 score on the board.

Noah popped up from behind to celebrate an historic family moment.

"Well, Mom," Aaron said,
"You got your dream!"

Indeed: A Mom's Dream Come True.






And for those interested here's the video clip:

Take Time

Beaded snow fell
on our gravel road
late this afternoon
as I walked the dogs.

 

The fresh flakes

reminded me

of pearl sugar

on ginger bread.

I gave into

my creative

instinct.

Drawing a
gingerbread man
in the snow

reminded me of line
in a pocket-card poem

that my mother gave me
years ago.

It said,

"Take time to play;
 it is the secret
of staying young."

I thought of another verse

while I photographed my work.

This one  came from a poem

posted ona friend's page.

It said,
"(The arts) are a very human way
to make life more bearable."

For me, this quote holds truth: 

Taking caring of mundane business

becomes easier when a person

looks for ways to express creativity.

Even walking the dogs in the beading snow becomes fun when we Take Time.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I made

breakfast

today.

It's Valentine's Day.


Every year,
the Valentine's fairy
visits,
waves
her wand
and
sprinkles
hearts

and
sweet
treats

for

everyone

in the household
wherever
we are
on
Valentine's
Day.

She also

hangs

 heart

garlands

from

the

ceiling.

This morning's meal,  

had a Norwegian flair.

(Dessert for breakfast!)

Here's to spreading
a warm glow:


Happy Valentine's Day!

Goat-Farming On His Mind

When his creative-writing teacher
assigned the fifth-grade class
to write a series of haiku poems
and pick the best one
to print out for their own books,
Noah scrapped what
he'd worked on in class
and zipped out this one
at home to hand in today.

Seems he's still got
Goat-Farming on His Mind.

Say It Isn't So!

I caught

Blizzard

napping

on Isaac's bed

this afternoon.

From this position,

it looked as though 

our  feline friend 

was trying to hide

the fact from me.

Naptime for Francis

Mother said, "It is time for bed."

Father said, "It is time for bed."

Frances said, "May I have glass on milk?"

Those are a few of the opening lines of the childhood storybook "Bedtime for Frances."

Our Francis isn't a female
or even a badger.

He's a dog.

He didn't ask for milk
- just a dish of water and food -
after our daily walk.

He didn't raise any ruckus

when it came time to rest.

In fact, he just nestled down
on the snow and began to relax
as this photographer pulled out
her camera to capture
the softer side of the dog adopted
by our neighborhood.

Shhhh...

Now it's

Naptime

for

Francis.