The Weatherman Predicts Rain and Snow!

COUNTDOWN – 12 DAYS!!!

It is a rainy day in Ohio today (Monday) with the threat of snow overnight! How unpredictable spring weather is. My desk at work is located close to a large window.  I heard the rain pounding against the glass throughout the day and found myself regularly being happy that I was not on the Appalachian Trail and also praying for the thru-hikers that were plodding along the path enduring the wet and cold terrain.

With the crazy weather pulling my attention away from the tasks on my desk, I found myself reflecting on and smiling at the birthday party at my house on Sunday. My two grandsons (that live in town) were both born in April so we had a joint wingding yesterday to celebrate the lads’ 4^th and 6^th birthdays. My wife is so cool and thinks of great ideas to make the day special.  Over the past week, she (with the help of the two boys) made a papier mache piñata and purchased a few unique gifts for each. She decided that she would make each boy his own super hero cape. She didn’t want to copy a comic book hero like Superman or Batman, so she designed a unique cape for each grandson. For the elder, she made a red cape with a lightning bolt on the back thinking we could call him Flash or Lightning or Thunder. On the blue cape of the younger one she placed a giant star – he loves to play Super Mario Brother’s Galaxy video game so we were going to suggest “Galaxy” for his alternate personality.

The elder grandson opened his cape first – took one look at the lightning bolt – and with wide eyes of excitement said, “Great! Now I can be WEATHER MAN!” Now with his super powers, he will not even need Doppler Radar to predict and control the storms. After having a great laugh over his pronouncement, I thought how beneficial it would be to take him on the trail. It would be more than convenient to have Weather Man go before me ensuring sunshine and blue skies.

The younger boy opened his star cape. His dad helped him put it in place. I turned my head for just a second and when I looked back I thought that he had just slipped on the tile floor and landed on his posterior. He got up and looked at his father. With a face of disappointment and a rather sad look in his eye he whispered, “I can’t fly.” The reality of the pretend super hero cape was soon replaced with running around the house at light speeds occasionally smashing the sound barrier. Putting on a special cape does not make a super hero fly….putting on a good pair of boots does not make a thru-hiker walk.  The change in my grandson’s attitude when he embraced the world of imagination is the kind of attitude adjustment I need when I embrace some the adversity on the trail – no adversity… no adventure.

Thank you boys for some great lessons – and may you each fly high and do good deeds.