Latham Family Adventures: An Introduction

     It was obvious to me, quite early on, that the little Latham children were going to be adventurers. There were five of them in all, and they were spaced closely in age so that they resembled stair steps when they stood in a line from youngest to oldest. I noticed sly glances and secret nods passing between the children while they were still quite young. As they grew, the plots and schemes began to take shape in the form of wonderful, imaginative games.

      I am only the mom, an outsider of sorts, but I wish to make record of the children’s exploits. I will not attempt to put them in chronological order, but rather, to write them down as they come forward in my memory (you know, the little Lathams are almost grown now!). My hope is that these stories will bring smiles and maybe even inspire other little children to create adventures of their own.

Latham Family Adventures: The Grapevine Kingdom

     The Latham children loved the woods. There, they found many things to inspire adventure. Wildlife was plentiful. They observed snakes, deer, snapping turtles, and even a stray armadillo! But the trees and other growing things were the most magical. There were oak, walnut, sassafras, and cedar trees. Many were old and gnarled and provided wonderful hiding places and climbing toys.

     One area of the woods was a favorite among the little Lathams. The Grapevine Kingdom. Here, was a patch of trees covered with grapevines. The vines seemed to rise unsupported from the ground. They curled and twisted their way to the lowest branches of the trees. Such a beautiful, tangled maze was woven as the vines intersected the branches and trunks. Where I saw a masterpiece of natural beauty, the Little Lathams saw the world’s best jungle gym.

     The vines, some of them three inches in diameter, were perfect for swinging. The children clamored over them searching for the ideal swing. Many of the vines weren’t secure enough or flexible enough. It took many tries and a quantity of bumps and bruises before finding the best vine swings. Then the rest of the afternoon was spent in Grapevine Kingdom. The children laughed and screamed. They took turns swinging till their hands were raw.

     A day at the park, filled with fancy play equipment, couldn’t compete with the fun they had in the woods. I know because I saw their faces when they came tearing down the path that first day. They were sweaty and covered with scratches. They were all talking at the same time.

     “Mom, you won’t believe the grapevines!”

     “We’re swinging on them!”

     “It’s a Grapevine Kingdom!!”

Latham Family Adventures: The Farm

     The Little Lathams loved running and playing all over our 20 acres of Ozark country. In the process, they found a few spots that were just so amazing! One of these places was quite a distance from our house. We came across it while on a family hike exploring the property.
    
      We were deep in the woods. It was dark and cool there, even in the heat of summer. The trees and vines were beautiful and mysterious. The kids scampered about hopping up on stumps and fallen trees. They called to each other pointing out forest treasures and  the occasional wild critter. Then suddenly, we stepped from one magical world into another. A small clearing opened up before us.
     
     We hadn’t noticed, but our hike had been taking us up a gentle slope so that we ended up on  the top of a hill. The children fell silent as they stepped into the sunshine and looked around. Then the spell was broken as they scattered to explore the place. It was a pretty meadow, circular in shape and sprinkled with wild flowers. The interesting part for the Little Lathams was the area around the edge of the clearing where the trees grew thin.  It looked as if giants had played a game of dodge ball and left rocks strewn about as evidence.  Some were as big as boulders, embedded in the ground and surrounded by smaller rocks forming little nooks and hiding places. The kids loved it and didn’t want to leave that afternoon.
    
     They went back the next day and many days after. They began calling their special place “The Farm”. Finally, one day, I was invited on a hike up to see what they had been doing. As we neared the clearing, I saw what looked like a miniature homestead. The children had built rock walls, a foot high, marking off different areas of the farm. There was the outline of a cottage, garden, and various out buildings. As they took me on a tour, I was amazed to see all the details the farm hands had included.  A stove in the kitchen, stacked fire wood, a chicken coop (complete with nesting boxes) and even garden tools were all there!

     Nestled in the dappled shade, it looked homey and inviting. Everything was fashioned from materials found there in the clearing. The colors and shapes blended naturally to make the Farm look as if it were part of the landscape. The children used sticks, branches, vines, dirt and so many of those amazing Ozark rocks.  

      Gardeners and farmers in our part of the world cursed the rocks each spring, as a new crop rose from the earth to be toted away before planting could take place. But on this day, I was grateful for those rocks and the little hands that used them to make something so beautiful.

   

Latham Family Adventures: Library Excursion

    Ah, a day at the library! And I do mean a day! After all, a 45 minute drive to the nearest library, with five children packed in the van, made for a pretty grand outing. As soon as the Little Lathams walked through the doors of the library, they scattered to different corners of the stacks. Some went straight to the fairy tales, another to the chapter books and yet another went in search of non-fiction. He was in need of instructions for something such as how to do magic tricks or how build a live animal trap. The possibilities were endless! There were new authors to look for, the next volume in a beloved series, or some new interest that needed exploring. We always had list in hand.

      Then there was the treasure-hunt aspect of the library trip. This entailed just wandering the rows, stopping to look at illustrations that caught the eye or an exciting title, all the while hoping to come across some new gem. The search was quite time-consuming, as the Little Lathams took the selection of their books very seriously. The children always left with arms full and spirits high in anticipation of what was waiting inside the covers of those beloved volumes.

      The ride home was silent, everyone busily flipping pages and trying to decide which book to read first. That is, unless we happened to find a CD of a wonderful book read aloud. When this was the case, the children sat listening, each with a stack of precious books on his lap, engrossed in a story which made the long drive home seem like seconds.

      Many  pieces of clean laundry remained unfolded and many projects were unfinished during the first few days following a trip to the library. The books had to be explored and at least one of the stories we planned to read aloud together had to be started. And the adventures which resulted from the reading of the books … let’s just say life at our house wouldn’t have been the same without those trips to the library.
 
   

 

Latham Family Adventures: The Giant Bride

     The dress-up box started out small. The Little Lathams were young when they began collecting various items to use for costumes. It didn’t take long before the box spilled over with hats, capes, gloves, shoes; just about anything that could be used to transform a kid into someone or something else.

 
     Many times, the wearing of a costume was impromptu, spur of the moment. Somebody needed to wear wings while he jumped from the top of the swing set, for example. But other times, a very detailed scenario was being acted out. When this was the case, the costume was of upmost importance. A big part of the fun was in the preparation. And many times, the dressing up took longer than the game itself.

     One day, a fancy bridal gown made its way to the dress-up box. Thus began a string of weddings at our house. Whenever the little Latham girls could beg, coax, or bribe their brothers to participate, there would be a wedding. Usually, festivities would include music, flower petals strew all over the living room floor, and a beautiful little bride, her ornate gown trailing six feet behind her. The boys donned their gentleman coats and suffered through a very short wedding.

     Then came a period of time when the bridal gown didn’t show up for a while. I’m guessing the boys had their fill of nuptial fun and were interested in more manly activities. That is why I was slightly surprised one afternoon when I heard that there was to be a wedding. The announcement was preceded by a good 45 minute session of giggling and snorting coming from behind a closed bedroom door. I stepped back to watch the flower girls throw some fluffy white stuff around on the carpet, then turned to see what would happen next. My mouth dropped open when I saw the bride! Coming through the door in the beautiful white dress was the littlest Latham boy! And he was six feet tall! And he was acting a little drunk, stumbling and bumping into things! The entire wedding party was laughing hysterically when the bride crumpled to the floor. The crash revealed another little Latham, under the silk and lace who had been walking blindly with his brother on his shoulders!

     Luckily, I had a camera handy. I was able to snap a photo. I have it to this day. It's tucked away from the hands of anyone who may want to rid the world of evidence of that very funny, giant, boy bride!

   

 

 

Latham Family Adventures: Poor People

     The Little Lathams were fascinated by the idea of being “poor”. Being too young to realize the heartbreak of true poverty, they based their ideas on the stories we read together. Many folk and fairy tales feature clever characters that must rely solely on wit and ingenuity to survive. These characters not only seemed to have a multitude of adventures, but many times they turned out to be the heroes of the stories.

     So was the mind-set when the children set out to play a game they called “Poor People”. Barefoot and dressed in raggedy clothes, the only thing they took was a basket or bag for gathering. They left me with some advice, “Be careful what you leave outside…there might be poor people around who would take things from your yard.” “Yeah, like lemonade!”  

    Off they went to fend for themselves. It was a scraggly group sneaking around in the garden. They gathered green beans from the vine, onions and anything else that looked ripe enough to eat! (They consumed more vegetables as poor people than they did at the dinner table!). Sooner or later the poor people ended up at the huge patch of wild blackberries at the edge of the property. There, they feasted until their fingers were stained purple.

     Next, they decided it was getting dark. The poor people would have to bed down for the night. They chose a spot under the trees and curled up, five in a row.  They pretended to sleep through a long night (about 10 minutes).  

    At some point in the day, I rambled outside with a jug of lemonade and some cups. I settled at the picnic table for a while, and then suddenly realized that I had left something in the house. I ran back in completely forgetting about my lemonade! It didn’t take long before five dirty faces peered around the tree trunks along the edge of the woods. Two of the motley figures dashed into the yard.  They made off with the goods and disappeared back into the trees with the others cheering them on.

      Hansel and Gretel would be proud!

 

Latham Family Adventures: Back to the Keep!

     One autumn at the Latham place, we were visited by some enormous logging trucks.  The trucks went in and out of our woods, taking away some of the old trees. When the work was done, there were huge gaping tire tracks left in the soft ground. Eyesore, you ask? Not for the Little Lathams!

     It just so happened, that the children and I had been reading together a lot that fall.  Our favorite topic was the Middle Ages. We read every book on medieval knights, castles, and weapons that we could find. The Little Lathams took one look at the sloppy mess in our front yard and knew just what to do. They donned helmets and armor (as well as they could fashion from cardboard and old costumes) and headed outside.

     Once outside our door, the hands of time turned back to the year 1200 A.D.  The ground was lumpy and the trenches filled with water from a fall rain. A game began to take shape.  

     I saw the knights gather near the castle wall. Perhaps they were discussing battle strategies. The knights then ventured outside the castle walls to engage the approaching (and apparently invisible) enemy. The skirmish raged a short while, then things began to look bad for our noble warriors. The leader decided it was time for retreat. “Back to the Keep!” he would shout at the top of his lungs!

     At the sound of the cry, I turned to look out of the window and saw an amazing sight.  A mad scramble took place as the knights charged back toward the castle. They clambered up the mounds of earth and catapulted themselves over the moat. After much splashing and sloshing, our champions were all safe inside the keep. They would rest a bit, brag about their exploits and head out to fight again.

     The Little Latham knights were as brave as any we had read about in our books. And they never gave up defending the castle – for at least 50 battles they fought that day. Each one ended with the serious command “Back to the Keep!”…followed by cheers and laughter!

Latham Family Adventures: All Things Baseball

     When the oldest Latham boy turned ten years old, he joined a little league baseball team. Up to that point, his baseball training wasn’t very formal. He and his siblings were introduced to the game by their dad. Being a ball player and avid fan of the game, Dad wanted them to learn all about it. He taught them the basic skills needed to hit the ball, catch, and throw. That was the beginning of many sessions of batting practice and fielding grounders.
     All the Little Lathams loved the time spent playing ball with Dad, but some of them (the boys in particular) took the game one step further. As long as they had a ball and something that resembled a bat, they were ready to play. And they were good at incorporating baseball into other games they played on a daily basis!
     For example, jumping on the trampoline. It was no longer enough to bounce and flip around. They created a game that involved someone on the ground throwing pop flies to the person on the tramp. The fielder was required to make the fanciest catch possible. This hopefully involved nabbing the ball in mid-flight, landing with a roll of some kind and not breaking any bones.
      Another activity turned baseball-ish was a summertime favorite. The slip-n-slide! A long sheet of plastic was placed in the grass. Next, a garden hose poured a stream of water from one end. This made a wonderfully sloppy base path. Three players were required to play this game. Luckily, we had three Little Latham guys. Player One pretended to catch a pop fly. Player Two tagged up at third and ran toward home on the sip-n-slide.  And Player Three was the catcher. This last fellow tried to tag the runner after receiving a blistering throw from Player One. Of course, the runner slid the entire length of the plastic sheet, face first through the water. And of course, there was always some kind amazing tag out at the plate!
     They had a blast and played for hours keeping scores and statistics. Now I watch them play ball in high school and college. Judging from the bumps and bruises they bring home, I’d say those “fancy catches” were much easier back when they were Little Lathams playing on their trampoline!

 

Latham Family Adventures: Ozark Pioneers

      The Little Lathams spent hours and hours listening to stories being read aloud to them by their father and me. This was the primary source of education when they were young! Consequently, their play often imitated the stories they heard.
     One particular area of study centered on the early years of our fine nation. The kids loved hearing about the Native Americans and their way of life, as well as the adventurous folks who settled here with their families. The idea of exploring and taming a new land intrigued the Little Lathams and they had many games which allowed them to become pioneers on our 20 acres of Ozark wilderness.
     They loved to trek about the woods. They even created their own covered wagon. Using long slender branches, they formed a ballooning archway and mounted it to their old American Flyer. Then they covered it with a sheet. It actually looked authentic from a distance. The only trouble was, there was only room for one pioneer to ride at a time. And that meant someone else had to pull the wagon...
     And pioneer children had to play, so the Little Lathams were anxious to try out games and entertainment they read about in books such as Little House on the Prairie. It seems that children of that time had great fun doing something they called tree-topping. This activity consisted of locating a young, pliable tree. We had plenty of these on our property. Next, the top of the tree is bent over toward the ground and tightly gripped by a child standing next to the tree. Each Latham took his turn to be the tree-topper. Now it is time for the fun. Still hanging on to the branch, the child begins jumping. If the tree has a flexible nature and if the child is the ideal weight, a really funny thing happens! The child is able to jump very high with the help of the branch which is trying to return to its upright position. With each jump, the child goes a little higher and even feels like he is flying for a moment. I'll admit, some of the Little Lathams didn't go more than three or four feet off of the ground, but still they shrieked with delight.  One did manage to fly ten feet up in the air holding tightly to the branch. He must have had the right combination of tree and weight. Or it could be that the Little Latham I refer to was just a particularly bouncy boy!
    

Latham Family Adventures: The Chipmunk Tree

     Sometimes a name just sticks.  This was the case with a huge tree in our back yard. The first time the Little Lathams played on it, they pretended to be chipmunks. Thus the name: Chipmunk Tree.

     The Chipmunk Tree, I think, was an oak. It had a long straight trunk, five feet in diameter. Big, thick branches shot out in all directions, but none had leaves on them. You see, this beloved tree was lying on the ground, having been blown over in a long ago storm. The trunk was embedded in the dirt and seemed to belong right there where it fell. It’s final resting place. We didn’t even consider trying to move it or burn it or chop it up. It belonged to the land.

     The children loved that tree. It was big enough to hold all five of them and they spent hours climbing the branches and walking along the trunk balancing carefully.  It was no easy trick for the young chipmunks to navigate the rough surface of the tree. Sometimes they seemed more monkey than chipmunk! 

     Each of the children had a comfortable perch on which to sit and hold chipmunk conversations.  And they were often busy collecting little chipmunk treasures to hide in the nooks and crannies of the bark.Once or twice, I witnessed the younger chipmunks being a bit pesky as they sat on their perches throwing acorns at the others. 

     Through the years, the Chipmunk Tree served many roles. From  pirate ship to  picnic bench and everything in between. I was often reminded of Silverstein's Giving Tree as I watched the kids playing. For no matter what was  asked of the Chipmunk Tree...it delivered!

Latham Family Adventures: Grass Houses

     I’ll remind you here, reader, that we Lathams weren’t exactly country folk before we moved to the country! Our land was beautiful. It was mostly wooded, but a few acres were open pasture. Some people would have thought of using the pasture for livestock. Not us. We immediately set up a backstop in one corner for baseball and softball games. The rest of the field was left as a giant, meadowy playground for the kids.

     This pasture was where the Little Lathams played a game which they called Grass Houses. I remember the day they invented the game. It was springtime. I was mowing along our driveway beside the pasture. The grass in the field was new, but it was already 18 inches tall. On a whim, I pushed the mower into the tall growth. It was quite easy to cut. I knew the children liked to pick flowers and explore in the field, so it seemed like a good idea to make a path. I set out through the field. I made a few curving, crisscrossing trails and came out the other side.

     The children loved the maze. They ran laughing and chasing one another. Then things grew quiet. I looked out and saw that they had spread out in different directions across the field. Heads down, they were each working on something. That’s when I saw that they had raided our supply of picnic blankets. Each child used an old wool blanket to flatten the grass to make a place to sit. These little cleared spots became their houses. They were spaced out along the pathways. There weren’t any furnishings in the grass houses. The fun came with travelling around the trails to visit one another. As the days passed, the game evolved. Sometimes a picnic lunch was in order. Other times, the game turned exciting when there was a monster or bad guy loose! Then, the kids ran screaming to each other’s houses for safety.

     As spring turned to summer, the field kept growing and I kept the pathway mowed. This made the grass houses even better. I could barely see the tops of the kids’ heads as they played in the field. They were completely hidden when they sat on their blankets surrounded by the tall grass walls.

     All in all, it was a fun game. And,yes, there were times when I wished we had more farming experience. But if we had to do it over, I’d choose baseball games and grass houses in that field over a few head of cattle any day!

Latham Family Adventures: Dancing in the Moonlight

     There is something magical about night time when you live in the country. I realized this when our family moved a few miles outside of town. The nights weren’t the same I knew growing up in the suburbs of a big city. The darkness was different. It was velvety, black, country darkness. The sky was dotted with a million stars. The bright moon made shadowy patterns on the ground.

     The Little Lathams were like all children in that they loved to be outside after dark. This was allowed most often when family and friends gathered. The adults enjoyed the visit so much they ignored the clock. Hiding and chasing games normally played during the day had an increased element of fun in the dark. 

    When the children had tired themselves out with running games, someone would suggest dancing in the moonlight. It was my job to provide music. The children gathered and begin to dance. They swirled and twirled. They joined hands and locked elbows. Sometimes they choreographed medieval looking line dances to do over and over again. This activity was usually limited to the girls, but I do remember boys occasionally joining in the fun. They would spin until they fell laughing in the grass collecting chigger bites.

      I like to recall one fall night in particular. It was a night our family attended an annual harvest party with friends. The kids all wore costumes. There was a common theme among the girls that year. Fairies, princesses and fancy ladies were in high attendance.

      Toward the end of the night, things began to wind down. Little ones were showing signs of weariness. I realized we had forgotten our tradition of dancing in the moonlight. As I stood on the porch of the house, I saw several of the girls making their way down a gentle hill. They were in groups of two or three walking towards the bon fire. I decided to turn on the music, hoping to get their attention. When the sound reached their ears, not one of them looked back to see where the music had originated. They didn’t even look at one another. They all just lifted their arms and began dancing.

     Suddenly, a group of tired looking little girls was transformed. They became naiads, dryads, and pixies. The hillside was covered with floating, twirling figures. The fire glowed behind them making their costumes shimmer.

    I looked around to see if anyone else was watching. I was alone. I was the only witness to this beautiful sight. A little Vivaldi, a little gossamer, and little girls dancing in the moonlight…I have no doubt there is something magical about night time in the country!

Latham Family Adventures: The Secret Garden

     It was autumn when our family moved to a new home on 20 acres in the country. After settling in, the first order of business was planning a garden. An area was chosen, fenced in and prepared for planting in the spring. While this work was happening, the little Lathams had their own idea about a garden…a secret garden. They began by clearing a trail into the woods. They raked and scraped and pulled up the growth. Finally, there was a twisty little path leading to a small clearing in the trees.

    The children came to me for help choosing plants for this shady area. Luckily, a friend had recently thinned her garden and offered to give us flower bulbs of all varieties. The Latham kids each chose an area of the garden and began planting. They moved rocks to make borders and placed logs to be used for benches.

    Early the next spring, things began happening. The children were happily surprised to find their bulbs sprouting and blooming. It was beautiful to see those flashes of bright color interrupting the dark green of the woods. More plants were added throughout the spring. One Little Latham planted a fairy ring of purple cone flowers. Some native wonders were discovered by the gardeners, too. They found tiny wild strawberries, goose berry bushes, and blankets of purple violets.

      The path was well worn by the passing of many little feet, but the rest of the garden was a little wild. This made it even more mysterious. It seemed as if the flowers had sprung up on their own amidst the grape vines and poison ivy. It was cool there, even on the hottest summer days.

     This secret garden was the backdrop for many games and adventures. It was truly hidden. If a visitor came to the place; he never knew the garden existed. That is, until he was invited in…

Latham Family Adventures: The Matryoshka Game

     Some of the Latham Family Adventures did not involve all five of the children actively participating. Such was the case with the Matryoshka Game. Not that the boys wouldn’t have gladly played along, the girls just couldn’t allow it!

        A set of Russian nesting dolls, called Matryoshkas, was given to each girl when she was quite young. The girls loved the bright colors, tiny details, and the way the dolls nested together so perfectly. New sets of Matryoshkas showed up at our house as Christmas and birthday gifts, each unique and beautiful. As the collections grew, so did the idea of the Matryoshka Game. These beauties were not meant to sit on display somewhere! They were meant to come to life!

     The game had two parts. First, was the construction of a world in which the Matryoshkas would live. Our many books provided the basis for the houses. They were stacked at different levels to delineate the rooms and used as stairs and dividers. Colored glass jars and bottles became lamps and furniture. Brightly patterned scarves from the dress-up box provided carpets and draperies. Almost anything could be used to embellish the Matryoshka houses as long as it was colorful and exotic.

     The finished product was huge. It covered the entire floor of a good-sized bedroom. And it took hours to complete. Each doll family needed its own house which included cradles for the tiny ones and bedrooms for all the others. As the girls set up the houses, they were also developing scenarios for the various families. This is when part two of the game began.

     I never knew what went on in the lives of the Matryoshkas, but it must have been interesting. I could hear talking, crying, and laughing coming from the room during the game. The boys begged to come in just to watch from the top bunk bed. The girls took pity and let them in with the requirement that they not interfere with the game. Sometimes they were even granted one set of dolls to share and some odds and ends with which to build their own house in a corner.

     The game usually lasted about three days. At this time the girls would get tired of tip toeing through the room to get to their beds and the houses would start to look a little shabby. The Matryoshka Game only happened once a month or so. After all, it was a huge undertaking and clean-up was equally huge. But every few weeks, I expected to find the little Lathams lost in that world for a while. That happy, busy, beautiful world of Matryoshkas.

Latham Family Adventures: The Big Pit

      Maintaining property in town requires that one follow certain rules pertaining to the appearance of the home and lawn. When the Latham family moved to 20 acres of cow field in the middle of nowhere, we celebrated the absence of such rules.

    Case in point: the children informed me one day that they were planning to dig outside in the yard. We had no manicured lawn to worry about, and no power lines or plumbing buried behind the house. So, my only request was that they move a little distance from the back door so we could still go in and out. They chose a spot on the back side of a gentle rise about twenty feet from the door. I peeked through the window to see them discussing which two would take the first shift digging as we only had two decent shovels. They got busy, and I turned back to my housework.

     Each time I walked by the window that afternoon I glanced out and was astonished to find the children persevering with this project. Sweaty and dirty, some were digging, others moving buckets of dirt and all staring down at the ground, a point I couldn’t see from the house. The ridge blocked my view, but I was fairly certain the tops of their heads were sinking lower. That hole was getting deep.   

   The digging of such a hole, or Big Pit, as it came to be named, may not seem like an adventure. The pit itself played a role in several other adventures that I’ll not mention now, but the digging…yes, the digging was quite something. Unlike some forms of work (i.e. housework) in which it seems progress is never made, a hole can be measured. This is what kept the kids excited, and digging for several weeks. When friends came over, the little Lathams would run to meet them asking if they wanted to help dig the Big Pit. They always did. Especially the friends who lived in town.

     It was a happy day when the children realized that The Big Pit was deep enough and wide enough to hold two of them. They could stand inside and not be seen at all from ground level. The Big Pit was suddenly a hobbit house, a tiger trap, a beggar’s cave…who knows? The digging was done for now, Let the games begin!

Latham Family Adventures: The Hammock Circle

     It all started one fall morning in the kitchen with the sweet, inquiring face of one little Latham smiling up at me. His request was simple enough. He needed a bed sheet. One he could use outside. I pointed to the linen closet and told him to choose an old one. He ran out with the sheet and I continued washing dishes thinking the kids must be tent-building outside. Ten minutes later, another little Latham shot through the door asking if he too might have an old sheet. Luckily, I hoarded such things, always wanting to be prepared for the next sewing or craft project. Number two ran out, passing the other three in the doorway who had come with similar requests. It seemed strange that they needed so many sheets to build a tent, but I knew better than to ask questions. I granted their request… but started to worry about my sheets.

     After finishing the kitchen clean-up some twenty minutes later, I decided it was time to see what fun the little Lathams were having. I walked outside, glad for a reason to sample the day.  Just beyond the perimeter of our back yard was a persimmon grove. The persimmon trees were skinny, tall, and spaced closely together. I was zigzagging through these trees, when my ears caught the sound of laughter. I finally spotted the five children and stopped a few yards away to observe what was happening.

      I saw that the sheets were hung as hammocks, about four feet from the ground, one for each child. The trees provided posts and the hammocks were placed end to end to form a circle. At first I thought the kids were just enjoying the breezy day, swinging and talking together. Then I realized they were playing some sort of game, moving from hammock to hammock. Apparently, there was some penalty for touching the ground because they did whatever was needed to stay in the hammocks. The bigger Lathams sometimes helped the little ones make it across the gap to the next hammock. And some were even diving, somersaulting into the safety of the next sheet. I decided not to disturb the game, no longer concerned with rescuing my sheets. The group seemed cozy and happy playing and talking together.

      I allowed them to leave the hammocks up for months. The game grew and changed and the sheets became permanently knotted on the trees…but who cares about a bunch of old sheets anyway?