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dragonlady7Took yesterday off work to go to the county fair with Dude's nephew and mother. Dude's mom doesn't ride on rides, it's like a facet of her personality that she Does Not Enjoy that sort of thing, and so taking an 11-year-old on a roller coaster is something she's got to enlist help to do.
(Said child's mother was a complete junkie for rides. My dude, her little brother, was terribly wimpy about them, and she bullied him into riding them sometimes but mostly it wound up being her and Dude's late dad riding the double ferris wheel until they puked, while lil' Dude and his mom went and got snacks and maybe he rode the carousel by himself.)
So Dude got his hair cut short a while back, and ever since then has had to confront the fact that he resembles his father strikingly, which somehow with long hair he did not, so noticeably anyway. His nephew's resemblance to his own baby and kid photos has been much remarked-upon (the nephew would sometimes get confused. "Grammy, this picture is me but I don't remember doing this." "Oh, that's because it's not a photo of you.") and it was deeply uncanny how similar they looked to one another at the same age. Well, now, with short hair in similar haircuts, and both wearing sunglasses yesterday, it was eerie again-- they look very similar to one another now.
Dude admitted it was really strange for him, because while all the women of his mother's family have strong resemblances-- his mom, his mom's sister, his own sister, his mom's sister's daughters, all look enough like one another for people to pick it out. "You must be related to X, you look like her, even though we've never met, I know who you are."
(I get that sort of thing a lot.)
But Dude had no brothers, and his dad had no brothers, and so his cousins on that side only sort of resemble him. (He has discovered to his great relief that he inherited his father's hairline, which is just like his cousins' on that side-- not his mother's father's, which old wives' tales always predict-- his mother's father had the monk-style baldness, but his father's people keep their thick hair and just grow extra forehead over the years, which is what he's doing. Better a fivehead than the combover, he figures.)
This is a lot of parentheses, sorry. Anyhow, here's some photos.
from the back, and
in profile
Of course we went through the 4-H barns.
Nephew doesn't know what 4-H is. He's from suburban San Diego. Why would he know? I showed him how to pet livestock, which he'd never done-- a cow, in this case-- approached from the side with a fence between us, held my hand out, let it sniff me, gently stroked its nose, petted its neck. He'd never done that and was blown away.
He was excited about the chickens. I need to get him a visit to the farm somehow. He's taken all these classes in Entrepreneurship-- someone decided 10-year-olds need to be taught how to write up a business plan. And yet, he's never touched a chicken, or seen a sheep up close. I mean... different lives, I guess.
This is a Cochin hen, and they are near-perfect Orbs.
And I rode the double ferris wheel with him, and so in this video I make some whistling tea-kettle noises and laugh a lot.
(Said child's mother was a complete junkie for rides. My dude, her little brother, was terribly wimpy about them, and she bullied him into riding them sometimes but mostly it wound up being her and Dude's late dad riding the double ferris wheel until they puked, while lil' Dude and his mom went and got snacks and maybe he rode the carousel by himself.)
So Dude got his hair cut short a while back, and ever since then has had to confront the fact that he resembles his father strikingly, which somehow with long hair he did not, so noticeably anyway. His nephew's resemblance to his own baby and kid photos has been much remarked-upon (the nephew would sometimes get confused. "Grammy, this picture is me but I don't remember doing this." "Oh, that's because it's not a photo of you.") and it was deeply uncanny how similar they looked to one another at the same age. Well, now, with short hair in similar haircuts, and both wearing sunglasses yesterday, it was eerie again-- they look very similar to one another now.
Dude admitted it was really strange for him, because while all the women of his mother's family have strong resemblances-- his mom, his mom's sister, his own sister, his mom's sister's daughters, all look enough like one another for people to pick it out. "You must be related to X, you look like her, even though we've never met, I know who you are."
(I get that sort of thing a lot.)
But Dude had no brothers, and his dad had no brothers, and so his cousins on that side only sort of resemble him. (He has discovered to his great relief that he inherited his father's hairline, which is just like his cousins' on that side-- not his mother's father's, which old wives' tales always predict-- his mother's father had the monk-style baldness, but his father's people keep their thick hair and just grow extra forehead over the years, which is what he's doing. Better a fivehead than the combover, he figures.)
This is a lot of parentheses, sorry. Anyhow, here's some photos.
from the back, and
in profile
Of course we went through the 4-H barns.
Nephew doesn't know what 4-H is. He's from suburban San Diego. Why would he know? I showed him how to pet livestock, which he'd never done-- a cow, in this case-- approached from the side with a fence between us, held my hand out, let it sniff me, gently stroked its nose, petted its neck. He'd never done that and was blown away.
He was excited about the chickens. I need to get him a visit to the farm somehow. He's taken all these classes in Entrepreneurship-- someone decided 10-year-olds need to be taught how to write up a business plan. And yet, he's never touched a chicken, or seen a sheep up close. I mean... different lives, I guess.
This is a Cochin hen, and they are near-perfect Orbs.
And I rode the double ferris wheel with him, and so in this video I make some whistling tea-kettle noises and laugh a lot.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-16 01:28 am (UTC)I lived in suburban San Diego until the family moved to Kansas when I was nearly 10. I knew what 4-H was when confronted with it, somehow. Quite possibly due to all the reading I did as a small person. Dunno. Then again, it was the 70s when I was in school, so...
no subject
Date: 2019-08-16 05:30 pm (UTC)The double ferris wheel was actually kind of one of my favorites when I was a kid. I was excited they had one.
no subject
Date: 2019-08-17 01:58 pm (UTC)As for ferris wheels, I've never ridden a double one. And I don't think I've been on many. Mainly because I'm afraid of heights. Generally. I have a complicated relationship with heights. But ferris wheels are *out*. The idea of riding one scares the crap out of me in a bad way. (and yet, I'll ride the crazy roller coasters... because they've got nice sturdy harnesses to hold your ass down).