You
can always tell the locals children or Knippla bor from the summer guest and
the boat children. The Knippla bor (roughly
translates to Knipple living) tend to walk freely on the rocks, by the water,
sometimes…most times without shoes...never in life jackets and not usually with
their parents…Even the smallest of them…they all know the short cuts around the
island. All of the Knappla bor have a unique
dialect, it can be understood by others, with the exception of a few unique
words.
My
kids clearly are not boat people nor are they true Knippla bor…if I had to say
they more like every other year summer guests. They do have many of the qualities of a
Knippla bor. They commonly are without shoes, rarely wear life jackets and are
often permitted to run free on the island with their cousins. This probably
comes from the fact that their mother grew up here and has done a great job
teaching them the “ropes course of life” on the island; where to go, where not
to go, how to be safe…etc. Now although
they (my wife and kids) are comfortable with this arrangement, I am not
entirely. I wish I could be… I get so
scared that something will happen and one of them will get hurt. I’m not Knippla bor, I’m a summer guest. I do see that the island life so freeing,
such a great life experience…kids need to run free just not in dangerous
ways.
 |
| Time for a snack..bag of chips, random high rock..Good enough. |
I’m
not one to talk, when I was a wee little boy, I caused such stress for my parents
by doing things that brought into question if I was indeed a human with normal
human sense. Running full speed at
automatic doors at the store, betting they would open fast enough…sometimes
they did…something I've seen my middle son do.
I also used to play rope chicken…not smart…but it involves a tree with a
rope tied to it…the other end on my bike.
Let’s just say… ride as fast as you can, and break when you think you
are near the end of the rope…the one who gets closest to that point wins (my
son hasn't done this one yet, we don’t let him play with ropes…or trees for
that matter).
He
is known to do some really dangerous things.
Just yesterday he decided it was a good idea to straddle the railing on
the deck which is probably 15 to 20 feet off the ground.
 |
| The Deck from ground level |
He has admitted to sneaking outside and dance
on the slippery rocks near the water...he says the slim on the rocks makes him
dance better (no argument here).
 |
| Unashamed |
 |
| Unapologetic |
 |
| Feelin' it |
 |
| In the middle of the ferry boat! |
As much as I am terrified of him doing some
really damage to himself, I also admire his fearlessness...he will try anything
in the name a laugh or adventure. I
think he does these things because he knows he can, not because he is too in
his own head to realize what he is doing is a really bad idea.
 |
| I think...dancing out of pure joy of being Vincent |
The
worst part of this is that I now know what my parents went through with
me. It is largely the genetics of
karma. My son, my genetic spawn, is pay back for all I did to my parents.
He is capable of so much both the crazy
and great…I guess walking around on the rock and running free isn't all that
bad. I'm beginning to see that my son Vincent, as with my daughter Elsa and the "baby" Liam; they represent the best parts of my wife and I, but also those parts that aren't so awesome. It is the unique combinations of these things that make them so amazing and so much more than I could ever be.
 |
| NO IDEA! |
No comments:
Post a Comment