Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Sunday, April 13, 2014

War and Chocolate


How do you relax after dinner?
Okay, I admit it.
Our family is weird.
We like theatrics.
And things medieval.
Case in point:
My husband has a collection of catapults.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Catapults.
He loves them.
Oh, they're not large enough to cause havoc.
And certainly not of a size to terrorize the neighbourhood.
Although I wouldn't mention that to him. It might give him ideas.
Moving on . . .
No. His catapults are small.
Suitable for launching little, foil-wrapped chocolates.
Which he does.
Usually after family meals.
Our family is large.
And we have two tables in our dining room.
One round table, built by my Husby and seen here.
And one smaller table, also built by my Husby, which seats all of the grandchildren.
It is to this smaller table that he retreats after the meal is done.
With his grandkids, his catapults and his stockpile of chocolate balls.
Which he and his little army then proceed to fire at anyone left sitting at the main table.
Remember when I mentioned 'weird'?
That would apply here.
I should point out that the balls of chocolate don't hurt.
The little catapults barely throw them with sufficient force to get them to the other table.
Back to my story . . .
The usual targets of the invading hoards are their wife and/or mothers and/or grandmother.
Who have all learned to duck when needed.
I should also mention that, perhaps fortunately, their aim isn't great.
One day, we had just finished one of Grandpa's sumptuous feasts and he and assorted grandchildren had set up a siege at the kid's table.
Several of the moms were still sitting at the main table.
Visiting.
One of our granddaughters, five-year-old Kyra, came to tell her mother something.
Her timing was . . . unfortunate.
She had placed herself right in the line of fire.
So to speak.
A chocolate ball whizzed towards her.
With unusual, but deadly precision.
Thock!
Right in the center of her forehead.
She gasped and clapped one hand over the spot.
Everyone burst out laughing.
She wavered between laughter and tears for a few seconds.
Then her mother told her that she got to eat the offending chocolate ball.
And any thought of tears was forgotten.
She hunted for, and happily ate, the treat.
Then disappeared.
A few minutes later, she was back.
“Mom, can I have another chocolate ball?”
Her mother looked at her. “You have to let Grampa shoot one at you first.”
“Oh.”
She thought about that for a moment.
Then she put both hands, palms out, over her forehead and stood up tall. “Okay, Grampa! I'm ready!”
Bravery.
It comes in all shapes and sizes.
And ages.
But never more noticeable than in a weird family.
And after dinner.

16 comments:

  1. Catapults. My favorite is still the one used by Yosemite Sam when he played the Black Knight.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What great memories for your grandchildren. Your house sounds like so much fun!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'd let him shoot chocolate at me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You folks know how to have a good time! hee hee

    And your granddaughter learned fast :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your after dinner fun is so much better than sitting around the TV!
    We didn't have genuine catapults, our families used spoons and forks strategically balanced to flip peas around the room.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Uh-oh. Maybe I shouldn't let my Husby read this. Ideas . . . ideas . . .

      Delete
    2. Diane, your memory is like a rabbit's tail; short and fuzzy. We used to do that too. And we got caught.

      Delete
  6. So much fun! Growing up we had such a long table because of the way the dining room was layed out we had to either throw stuff or slide it down the table and hope it didn't fall off. Thanks for the post. Brought back that memory I'd forgotten!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is my favourite part about writing this blog - hearing other people's stories! Thank you for sharing! :)

      Delete

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