What are Little Boys Made of?

What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails,
And puppy dog tails,
That's what little boys are made of.

This past weekend my uncle and cousin were in from New Jersey. My cousin brought her son, Nathan with her. He is four years old and ALL boy! Seeing him this past weekend reminded me of what being a little boy is all about.
He had two new experiences this weekend. First he was taken to a lake to catch fish. He caught six and has since told EVERYONE about the experience. One was even a pretty nice size catfish. Of course he wanted to throw all of the fish back, so they could be with their families. I guess he hasn't read my previous blog entry!!!
His other new experience was climbing a tree. Man I was jealous!!! To be a small boy and to feel how big the world can feel in the top of a tree...oh to be young! He did not climb very high or in a particularly large tree, but the smile said it all. Those days are past for me. I am pushing 260 and can only climb a tree unless a safety harness and tree stand are involved.
My other trip down memory lane happened a few months age when Missy and I were visiting our friends Brent and Kristi in Texas. They have three boys. If you need to learn about the world of a little boy, their house is a good place to start. We stayed with them for a couple of days. Brent and Kristi would keep asking whether we were okay, because Missy and I would just sit there for long periods of time. In all honesty we were amazed to watch the day to day life of our friend's household. To say that Kristi manages chaos would be an understatement. There is ALWAYS something moving and going in that house. Now I am NOT saying that these boys are misbehaving or are undisciplined, quite the contrary! They know their right from wrong. What I am saying is that there is more imagination and energy flowing under that roof than few places I have ever been.
The best example was the second night we were there. The boys had a little friend spend the night!!! Well two of them were playing downstairs with some cars. All of a sudden, the other boy comes FLYING down the stairs and runs into the room where the other two are. He screams, "GUYS, COME ON! I'VE FOUND THE SECRET TREASURE CHEST!!!" Now I was amazed at the level of this boy's imagination, but was unprepared for what happened next. The other two boys, as if on cue, dropped their cars and sprinted up the stairs following the instigator. They simply adopted this boy's imaginary world as their own in a matter of seconds.
I guess that is what I miss, the instant adventure. You never know what the next moment might hold. A lot of people have always described me as being very spontaneous. I guess I have always just seen myself as holding on to something that I don't want to let go of from my childhood. Missy has gotten pretty used to the spur of the moment hunting and fishing trips, small unplanned adventures that hold a world of possibility and wonder!

Here is to the little boy still left in all of us:
Slaying the dragons,
Flying through space,
Shooting the bad guys,
and just simply playing in the mud