the duke of fun has finally met his "people" and gee, *not* surprisingly enough, it's *not* us!...

we took the duke to a civil war re-enactment on sunday...

oh. my. god. you could have eaten the look on his face with a spoon...

anyhow, of course it was hot and loud and chaotic and weird and i didn't understand a bit of it (the lord of the ring who would know about it took his fair-ass skin and that of his mini-me, wingman, and lit for the shade...truth be told, i begged them to (though i wouldn't *think* of removing the equally fair skinned duke to shade away from the action) , because with their ancestry they are just sitting ducks when it comes to sunlight and i am of no doubt whatsoever of some mediterranean gypsy descent and therefore meant to deal with the sun (though my maternal grandma would keel over on her 9 foot couch in her rent-controlled and climate-controlled apartment to know i just said that!) which means i can handle the sun and therefore hang with the duke) but the duke you should have seen him...made it worth it all...

right up in the action and didn't miss a beat...he knows what one needs to know about the civil war and all its attendant participants/battles/details to make it the greatest show on earth...

apparently i didn't know enough to bring a topped-off flask...but, i digress...

he's a good boy...he's a great boy!...the best!...his dedication, his belief, his sincerity...oh it is heartbreaking to be sure...

so i pasted on *that* smile and held in there through the canons and the shooting and all those grown men trussed up in excruciatingly accurate period dress and pretending they were shot and wounded and dying and dead and...dot.dot.dot...well, i do believe you can imagine the scene...

but my son, my son is an amazing human being...he could have happened into any number of families...but he happened into *ours*...

there is no way to adequately thank those that need to be thanked for sending him my way...for entrusting him to the people he calls mama and papa...to this family...we are all the better for knowing and loving the duke...

so three cheers to the duke of fun!

for his sheer passion! enthusiasm! and appreciation! for all manner of things i would never in my *entire life* care about or seek to understand...

wow, and just once to see that grin...the unabashed open for the world to see smile that takes over his person and starts touching the people around him...

we can't always know or understand or even begin to pretend to understand another's enthusiasm, but this world wouldn't be half as wonderful if we all didn't at least try...

and the duke, well he'd be the first one taking an interest in your interests and he'd be front and center the absolute loudest one cheering you on your way....

that is love...love of life, love of friend, love of self...

and i love him for that...

but that does not mean for one moment you will catch me in a hoop skirt and complicated period hair tending an outdoor hearth and entertaining the general public, the ass--i mean masses, who come through to see "living history" on the odd weekend whilst my collective menfolk nancy about in the manliest of ways in greyish blue outfits...

no sir, there is certainly not ever gonna be a big enough flask to accomodate that...

x.