Adventurous boys

 
My son is off with his Boy Scout troop this morning to build a monkey bridge. If you don't know what this is, well you can join the club I just started. But my son had no time to explain and told me of the project with such an air of  je ne sais "everyone-should-know-what-a-monkey-bridge-is" that I skulked off to Google it instead of looking like a fool.

A monkey bridge is made with rope mostly, which is knotted in ways to form a hefty bit to step on and two linked handrails. It's anchored on either end by tripod-arranged logs. 
Here's a picture of a monkey bridge:

 
It looks very wobbly and Indiana Jones doesn't it? There's a lot of special knot-tying involved- which he adores. He is going to love it. Luckily I believe they are making the bridge over a small stream- not a chasm with man-eating crocodiles at the bottom!
But such thrills are what my twelve year old dreams of.  So scouting has been a wonderful thing for him so far. Camping, hiking, skiing, orienteering (I think that's what its called- figuring out how to use a compass and find your way by the stars etc.) So many great and adventurous things!

He's also been reading tons of Mythology lately- devoured the D'aulaires Greek Myths and now has moved onto their lovely renderings of the Norse myths.
He regaled me with the story about Valhalla in these (paraphrased) words:
"It's like heaven and it's where the warriors go. And the sky is this dome made of shields.  And all the warriors get together on a big field and fight and they hack off each other's limbs until the whole place is just covered with arms and legs and stuff. Then, they pick up their arms and heads and put them back on. And then they go out to eat."
Well there you have it. Heaven for my twelve year old boy is hacking your foes to pieces, then helping each other get put back together and going out to eat.

Ah if only things could really work that way...

Hope you all have a lovely weekend!