AT G'S HOUSE: November 2015

Children are brave--listen to them--as long as they are ‘in charge’ of what might be scary to them.
For years, Noah has enjoyed climbing Pudding Hill at G’s house and pretending to be a wild animal. It might be a daddy deer, or a fawn, or something more predatory…like a bear.
Today it was the dreaded ‘Football Wolf’—an elusive and rare beast.
“Granny, do you remember when we used to play wild animals”? he asked as we visited Pudding Hill for the first time in a long while. I did, and I was afraid he was going to say... without saying...“Its over.”
But no, not yet.
Playing wild animals on Pudding Hill has always been a scripted endeavor. G strolls around at the bottom of the hill pretending to be clueless about the savage beast or whatever lurking at the top. It goes something like this, and today Laurel and G were both part of the scenario.
G: “Oh, I’m just walking along on this beautiful day. I don’t think there is anything scary around here.”
Noah: (Making animal scratching noises at the top of the hill and appearing above the mound) “Snort” or “Roar” or “Howl” (as appropriate).
G: “Oh no! It looks like a _____” (fill in the blank; today a Football Wolf).
Noah: (Appears or disappears at the top, poses, and sometimes charges down the hill toward his prey.)
G: (As the prey) “We’d better run away! Here it comes!” (or maybe, “Oh, look! It’s a baby deer. Let’s feed it.” Etc. etc.)
G was happy the time for the appearing of wild animals on Pudding Hill was not over.