TRADIN' PLACES

Grandma Sancha is down loading the wagon. We will be leaving Never, Never Land before long. This befuddled old laborer is sitting here in a chair trying to remember all the rules. It is very difficult to imagine a knight’s squire in such a predicament. Due to a jousting injury suffered at a very early age, it was necessary to remove most of Grandpa Sancho’s upper leg and replace it with metal parts. Having seen A Knight’s Tale, this befuddled old laborer understands the need to sometimes tie parts of the body back together with metal, etc. He didn’t understand about putting the metal inside the body.

The Bible, that ancient book of extremely important religious and moral teachings and values, says somewhere . . .and a little child will lead them. Now this old man has been around a long time and realizes this was a much earlier prediction of the coming of the Christ Child who would be born in Bethlehem of Judea, a little over 20 centuries ago. Sancho Grandpa and Don Andrew both love Jesus. Right now this old laborer is awaiting a picture our young knight has prepared for his loyal squire. Grandpa Sancho feels the picture will help him understand the Bible story much better from a child’s eyes.

What this ancient one has not figured out is how to break the news to Don Andrew that it will be some time before we can crusade against the enemies we know about, those that lurk in bushes, trees, poles and, last but not least, windmills. We must keep this old laborer together because these trips to Never, Never Land get worse with the aging process. The medical practitioners must also need more boats and planes as we look at the expenses of this two week journey.
The befuddled one must be very careful not to alarm our young knight. Don Andrew has many purposes in life and such great talent and ability, we must not trouble this 3½ year old warrior with many worries and problems. At the same time Grandpa Sancho cannot turn his foot to the left or to the right, or move his foot to the left or to the right, or inflect his body past 80º, nor can he have over 50% weight-bearing on the newly pieced together leg.

The medical practitioner pronounced a life sentence on Grandpa Sancho just yesterday. This befuddled one became almost distressed when the medical practitioner was asked how long most of these restrictions to perfect squire hood would last. As he looked at this old man he simple said, For life! Then he turned to leave. There was one more question, but he just spoke as he rode out of sight, along with his entourage of fellow practitioners of that field, For life! How can this knight’s squire break such untimely news to Don Andrew, and hope Don Andrew doesn’t run over his old squire’s foot for at least several months. We must break the news very gently because this young knight is a very sensitive individual and cannot easily see his ancient old squire in pain. It’s just that simple, or should I say, bewildering.