I was asked by the American side of this blog what cheeky meant. On a past blog post, I listed Ben’s gift of words from his classmates and the majority ruled that Ben was cheeky and they liked it. It is an Australian term, which is why only the Americans asked what it meant.
Let me now give you a mental picture of cheeky…of Ben.
Our family of five filed into the second row of church this morning, our favorite place to sit. Our beloved Pastor began giving an introduction to the morning, beautiful and very welcoming. “We are glad you have chosen to worship with us this morning at Claremont Baptist Church”, he said…
Mary lead the way into our row, then David, then Ben, then me and last was Dave. “We hope you feel at home in our midst”, he said, “and we look forward to meeting you”…
We all took our seats. ”Please do join us for morning tea after the service”, he invited…
Mary decided that she wanted to sit in my lap so she stood up and moved over to me. As the Pastor continued with his gracious greeting, Ben tossed a small flower bud into my lap that he had picked up on the walk in to church. It was not yet opened, but some foliage around it was protruding out, looking like eight long spider legs…and red at that, resembling the dreadful red back spider that I detest down under. The body of this red back flower, resembled a grass hopper which doesn’t threaten my physical health like the red back spider, but injures my emotional health just the same because of the speed in which they jump and hit me in the face or get caught in my hair.
Right as Mary was sitting, Ben took the opportunity to look at me and say, ”Mommy I think there is a bug in your lap”.
It all happened very fast. Just as he said that, my mind registered that I had seen something in my peripheral vision that looked like a red back grasshopper. I propelled Mary up to the worship band and made some kind of panicked noise all the while Ben was snickering his little guts out.
The Pastor thought that I suddenly had a Pentecostal moment and was moved by the Spirit to wave my hands and speak in tounges.
No…I was just dealing with my life.
Now you know the defination of cheeky…and you know Ben Fielder.
Dave has Ben just where he wants him
Today we enjoyed the three day weekend by driving 200km north to Namburg National Park to view the Pinnacles.
When I was attending The University of Texas, one of my roommates and I began the process of looking for another apartment because our lease was expiring. Jenny had made an appointment for both of us to have a look at this place that seemed promising. We arrived at the complex and the first thing I noticed was the great security wall that surrounded the place. We rang for the agent and she came to the gate and we entered. What we found inside explained why there was such a wall surrounding the place…it was a nudist community. Being stupid and embarrassed and not wanting to look like the fools that we were, we continued through the sales pitch as we walked through the complex. Perhaps it was the sunny, spring-like day or maybe it’s just the nature of nudists, but they were all out socializing standing around as if everything were normal. In the middle of this rectangle shaped complex was a recreation area. Sand volleyball was underway, the grill was fired up and sizzling some goods and the pool was drawing a few in. There were young people and there were senior citizens…quite senior in fact. And I saw them all naked…all the while I was trying not to look like someone who didn’t know about the nakedness…you know, like it was normal. Upon exiting nudist nation, Jenny and I laughed and laughed at our faux pas and found a more suitable place to live.
I remember thinking that nudist colonies were only in Europe. Who knows where I got that idea.
Today, I decided to take a walk on the beach to get a little exercise. I enjoy going down to Cottesloe beach and walking barefoot. It’s really a treat. This time, I parked farther north and I saw a stretch of beach that I had not recalled being on before. I walked down through the dunes, being quite careful and on the look out for snakes…dugites in particular. As soon as I arrived onto the beach itself, I saw a handful of children playing in the sand and they were surrounded by several adults…normal scene. I continued my walk for about 5 minutes or so and came closer to some ladies frolicking in the water. At some point, I actually thought, “wow, that is an unusual bathing suit”…then wondering perhaps if my rapidly failing eyesight was rapidly failing even more. Unfortunately though, it became quite clear to me that the reason the bathing suit was so unusual was because there was no bathing suit. Not a stitch. They were nude. And so were the many others. All on this same beach where I was endeavoring to burn some calories. Instead, I was burning red with embarrassment as I was deciding what to do…do I continue on and hopefully walk out of this little section of the beach or do I turn around signaling to everyone that I am the one who mistakenly wandered into this predicament and now embarrassed trying to get out while not looking at anything. I looked ahead and saw clear beaches and thought, “I can move past these birthday suits and on to that clear and quiet “strip” of beach”…pardon the pun. I couldn’t figure out a way how to get back up to the street anyway, as there was a barbed wire fence up close to the dunes and following this stretch of the beach…something I thought was a bit peculiar. So I kept walking. The purists were now behind me.
I just can’t get the picture out of my head of the very obese nude man sunbathing.
Well, I marched on. I began approaching this tall pole in the sand with a sign at the top and a red flag waving. Ironic…as there had been red flags going up left and right in my mind on this interesting little walk. I couldn’t make out what was written on the sign though, as I stated before, due to my failing eyesight. (apparently eyesight AND wisdom take a nose dive as you age.) I took a few more steps and then stopped to get a clear reading as I sensed I should not go farther. I slowly made out the wording and it said, “Entering into live artillery, do not proceed when red flag is up”.
“I am in hell”, I thought.
This explains the barbed wire fence on this part of the beach…something that I have not seen anywhere else in peaceful Perth. It quickly became very clear. The fence at the top of the dune was marking the ongoing area of the Campbell Barracks, which is home of The Australian Special Air Service Regiment. The motto of the regiment, by the way, is ‘Who dares wins’ and it is widely regarded as an elite infantry unit.
And there I was…standing right at the edge of entering live fire of this elite infantry unit, as the red flag was most certainly waving.
I turned to head out of the fire and back into pan as now I had to go back through the bare beach. And I stopped dead in my tracks…almost nose to nose with a naked man wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his neck much like a super hero. He smiled a very friendly smile and said, “The flag is up. You shouldn’t walk any farther that way. You don’t want to get shot, do you?”
“I do”, I thought.
I smiled my big Texas smile and am standing there looking like you do when you are trying very hard not to look at something that you don’t want to look at. You know…when your eyes get real big and you fixate them on a focal point to help you not look anywhere else. It’s pathetic. I was stunned. I said to my stripped down super hero, “I just figured that sign out, thank you” and I marched off. I put my head down like Clyde the glide Drexler and pressed on back to my entry point. I walked up the steps to the street, I exhaled, and was relieved that my experience was now over.
There was a little cafe at the top and I glanced that way thinking maybe I should go have a cuppa to calm my nerves. It was called the Naked Fig Cafe. I did not dare go in.
THE VILLAIN
THE VICTIM
We’ve been home long enough for Ben to have an altercation with his fan…and see the fan win. He came to me with a geyser of blood and at first glance, I wasn’t sure what would be there once I got it all cleaned up. Fortunately for us both, it was just a mean cut, but unfortunately for Ben, it had to be stitched up. Our first visit to Princess Margaret Children’s Hospital was wonderful and after a xray and some stitches, Ben was put back together again. My guess is that next time Ben moves him fan, he will turn it off first!
We’re delighted to have Pa visiting. He is delighted to be off the airplane!
A few months ago, our dear Pastor asked David if he would preach on an upcoming Sunday.
The link to the church’s website and to his sermon is as follows: http://www.claremontbaptistchurch.com/podcasts.html
It is under David’s name and is worth listening to…especially if you have ever wondered just how much our Father in Heaven pursues you!
Enjoy!!!!
Today I was standing in line at UWA to purchase regulation swim suits for my swimming cherubs. In front of me was a mom and her two children and she was doing the same. Her son was probably 8 and her daughter was about 5 or 6. They were standing with her all very close to each other. The little girl had a bowl of chips sitting on the bar style counter. If the bowl was not made of durable glass, then it was a very durable and heavy plastic. I know this because the two kids began horsing around and tussling a bit and the bowl of chips fell and the bowl itself unfortunately landed right on top of older brother’s foot. I know exactly how bad that hurts…you know when something heavy falls from far enough and lands square on a smaller toe and sends shooting pain reverberating throughout the whole body. It’s shocking. Well, older brother began wincing and soon after crying. He was writhing in pain, sort of doubled over. I really felt for him. Mom kept on with her transaction either not knowing what had happened or just ignoring it (hoping it would go away). Sister then began picking up her beloved chips to salvage what had not gotten wet from the swim center floor. Unfortunately for her, some of the dry chips were in close proximity to brother bear…injured and ignored brother bear. Upon standing up from the gathering stooper, brother bear grabbed her tight with his hands clenched around both of her arms. After dispensing the sibling squeeze, he then began digging in with ALL TEN of his fingernails. There was rage on his face. Darling and not so innocent sister with blood-red arms, began wailing and was soon released into the embrace of exhausted mum. Mum began gathering the one-sided story from wounded sister and her exasperation began building. She was still in the middle of her transaction, feeling I know, the pressure of unfinished work at the counter as well as a growing queue behind her.
6 years ago when my cherubs were 1, 2 and 3, I would have silently criticized her, I am ashamed to say.
Today I stood there and got the giggles, I am still ashamed to say, because I was thinking , “Whew…it’s good not to be alone in this world”.
Bowl-eligible at last!
