Not a Total Failure

"Mom, you gotta come see what he's doing!" Little Girl is always excited when she thinks #2 Son is doing something particularly extraordinary or funny.

What is it this time?

"Just come see!"

Out we go, to the front yard, to find #2 Son with his bow and practice, dull tipped arrow, the broken reel from his fishing pole, and a big grin.

"Hey, mom, guess what I'm going to do!"

I couldn't begin to imagine.

"I'm going to go climb a tree in the woods! I'm going to shoot this arrow into the tree and climb using this 13 pound test line! This is so going to work!"

This is so going to fail, i told him.

"No, mom, really, it will work!"

He let the arrow, with test line trailing a broken reel, fly. It soared to about second floor height, then got pulled back down by the weight of the reel. It traveled about 10 feet.

I couldn't help laughing, it was hysterical.

"I need to let out more line!" His enthusiasm was not curbed at all, and he began unreeling more line. I went in to get the rest of the family.

"This is going to work!" He kept saying it, and i just kept laughing.

The next shot traveled up, again was jerked back by the weight of the reel, and went about 20 feet, to the edge of the property. Now all of us are laughing.

"The next one will get across the street!"

The others gave up after a final laugh, but i needed to smile so i kept watching as he repeated the performance, the reel pulling the arrow back, the let out of more line, over and over until he reached the stand of trees across the street.

Finally he reached the end of the reel, so he picked a tree, and let fly. It went about halfway up, hit, and bounced back. Exactly as i expected. Undaunted, he tried again, with the expected result.

Next he tried to get the arrow over a limb. Enter, again, the weight of the reel.

Finally, in disgust, he picked up the arrow, tossed it around a tree as high as he could get it, grabbed it and tucked the arrow under the line, pulling it tight.
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"I'm going to climb that two feet of tree, this will work!"

The arrow fell off.

The whole time, i am laughing fit to be tied.

Finally he picked it all up in disgust, shaking his head. "Well, that was an epic fail."

It didn't fail to give me a laugh, son, so really it was a success.


Today is:

Birthday of the Queen Silvia, an official flag day -- Sweden

Day of Acca Larentia -- Ancient Rome, Republic and Empire (earth goddess and protectress who raised Romulus and Remus)

Festivus -- For the Rest of Us! (The holiday started by Kramer on the episode of Seinfeld that aired 12/18/97, have some meatloaf, decorate with an unadorned aluminum pole, have a "Feats of Strength" contest and an "Airing of Grievances"!)

Mouse-Marketing Day -- Fairy Calendar

National Pfefferneusse Day

Noche de Rabanos (Night of the Radishes) -- Oaxaca, Mexico (part of the lead up to Christmas, bring out your best carved radish!)

Popcorn Popping Day (so you can string it on the tree, of course)

Porlaksmessa, Feast of St. Thorlaker -- Iceland (patron saint, though never officially recognized by the Holy See)

Secret of the Unhewn Stone -- Celtic Calendar (Only day on their calendar not governed by a tree month)

St. John of Kanti's Day (patron of Lithuania, Poland)

St. Servulus' Day (patron against paralysis)

Tenno Tanjobi -- Japan (Birthday of Emperor Akihito, national holiday observed as a day of rest.)

Two Days To Go Day

Victory Day -- Egypt

Ziemassvetki -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (birth of Dievs, highest of the gods)


Birthdays Today:

Corey Haim, 1971
Carla Bruni, 1967
Eddie Vedder, 1964
Susan Lucci, 1946
Harry Shearer, 1943
Jose Greco, 1918
Madame C.J. Walker, 1867
Connie Mack, 1862


Today in History:

Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city of Aleppo, recovering the tattered tunic of John the Baptist, 962
St Philip of Moscow martyred by Ivan the Terrible, 1569
Giovanni Cassini discovers Rhea, a satellite of Saturn, 1672
John Flamsteed observes Uranus without realizing it's undiscovered, 1690
The Continental Congress negotiates a war loan of $181,500 from France, 1776
Benedict Arnold court-martialed for improper conduct, 1779
"A Visit from St Nicholas" by C. Clement Moore is published in the Troy (NY) Sentinel (Now usually titled " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas"), 1823
The opera Hänsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is first performed, 1893
The first all-steel passenger railroad coach completed, in Altoona, Pa, 1907
The first hospital ship built to move wounded naval personnel is launched, 1919
Alice H Parker patents gas heating furnace, 1919
Discovery of the first modern coelacanth in South Africa, 1938
The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories, 1947
Dedication of Tokyo Tower, the world's highest self-supporting iron tower, 1958
The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City is topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it the tallest building in the world, 1970
A 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes the Nicaraguan capital of Managua killing more than 10,000, 1972
The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having survived by cannibalism, 1972
Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling, 1986
In a referendum, 88% of Slovenia's population vote for independence from Yugoslavia, 1990
An 8.1 magnitude earthquake hits Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean, 2004