Categories: uncategorized
Date: 12 July 2005 20:57:07
Smudgelet has decided to try to master the art of leapfrog.
Now, the trouble with leapfrog is that, if you want to be able to do it, you actually have to believe with all your heart and soul that you can do it. You have to push all thought of failure totally out of your conscience, you have to have a confident run up and a determined leap and you certainly don't have to harbour any secret doubts which can lead to hesitation or an attempt at self protection in a very vulnerable part of the body. Which, of course, is a real drawback because if you do fail, you certainly have that fact rammed home to you in a very forceful fashion, especially if you're a boy. A sense of self-preservation has been the source of disappointment in the leapfrogging stakes many a time for young Smudgelet.. especially having already witnessed Tiddles pay the price of a moment's hesitation in the approach.
Today was wonderful, though, as for the first time he ran full tilt at the bollard which marked the beginning of the grassy path through the recreation ground. A near-perfect approach, a confident launch and....... well, there he sat, perched on top of the bollard like a pencil cap on a pencil, laughing at his semi-success. And then it happened. His bottom slipped gently forward off the top of the bollard and he put his hands down to the ground to stop himself landing with a crack on his head. And there he stayed. Hands on the ground, head between his hands, legs each side of the bollard grasping tightly with his knees to prevent himself slipping any further, and totally unable to move apart from an unsuppressible giggling which wobbled him up and down and threatened to dislodge him with every chuckle. He looked for all the world as though he were participating in a wheelbarrow race.
Bit like life, really.