Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape
Eight years old with flour sack cape
Tied all around his neck
He climbed up on the garage
Figurin’ what the heck
He screwed his courage up so tight
The whole thing come unwound
He got a runnin’ start and bless his heart
He headed for the ground…
Until Jamie wrote his guest post a few weeks back, it never fully occurred to me that my chosen path in life has been anything other than (slightly left of) normal. It didn’t really cross my mind that, as Jamie put it, that I was working without a net. I was honestly under the impression that, at least at the time I was making them, I was making pretty sensible decisions. That being said, most of them were made under the influence of something.
Now he’s all grown up with a flour sack cape
Tied all around his dreams
He’s full of piss and vinegar
He’s bustin’ at the seams
He licked his finger and checked the wind
It’s gonna be do or die
He wasn’t scared of nothin’, Boys
He was pretty sure he could fly
I’m not much for religion, at least the variety that gets practiced inside a church. But I’ve come to believe, in a typically convoluted manner, that something or someone wiser than me is actually running the show. As a scientist, I always look for empirical evidence to support a belief. In this case, I’ve got loads. The fact that I’m happy and healthy and running free in the Southern Hemisphere rather than in a jail or some other institution or dead is ample proof of the existence of a power greater than myself.
Old and gray with a flour sack cape
Tied all around his head
He’s still jumpin’ off the garage
And will be till he’s dead
All these years the people said
He’s actin’ like a kid
He did not know he could not fly
So he did…
And Boy Z. Some of you know that Boy Z’s birthday was a very special day for me before he was born. His arrival on that day just reaffirms the previous paragraph for me. Boy Z’s got some pretty dubious genetic gifts coming his way beyond male pattern baldness and just general funny looking-ness. Some days that worries me. But then I realize that if I made it, despite repeatedly jumping off the garage with nothing but a bit of burlap around my neck (metaphorically speaking) then there’s no reason that Boy Z won’t make it as well. I couldn’t do anything to change his choice of which path to take in life anyway. He’s going to reach an age at which I’m going to have very little influence on his choices – I’m certainly not going to be able to dress him up in matching shoes and caps for too long, for example. He’s going to do what he’s going to do and he’s going to be what he’s going to be. If I could give Boy Z a bit of advice, I would use these words, slightly modified, from Guy Clark:
Be one of those who knows that life
Is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath
And always trust your cape
———————–
This version of Guy Clarke’s “The Cape” comes from a live album done with Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt called “Together at the Bluebird Cafe”. If you’re a fan of any of these musicians then this album is an absolute must. Buy it at 
.
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There is still hope that he has inherited some of my personality traits and will live life not needing to or wanting to jump off the metaphoric roof with nothing but a cape.
Not sure I like you making my kid look like a redneck….I guess apart from the Crocs..can rednecks afford real Crocs?
I think Boy Z is pretty darn cute.
Have you been to the Bluebird Cafe? I assume they’re referring to the one in Nashville. It’s awesome. Anyone who likes music in the slightest should spend an evening there at some point.
Boy Z’s the cutest boy in Australia and the second cutest boy in the entire world. I think it’s a great and hopeful thing that someday he’ll turn those big eyes toward you and say, “Dad, I’m never wearing Crocs again. They’re a crime against nature.”
A great set of pics. I still happen to believe that daughters rule. Having two, myself.
I wish I had invented Crocks. I’d be typing this from a beach in Fiji instead of a New Jersey dining room table.
This was one of the best posts I’ve ever read, here or otherwise. I hope boy Z gets just enough of both of you to live life without a net but jump off the shorter buildings instead of the tallest.
Crocs. I absolutely hate crocs. We can afford the real thing, but I refuse to buy them. However, somehow boy Z rocks the look!
Your love for him, and the way you express it, moves me very much.
Isn’t this beautiful.
(And yes – rednecks can afford Crocs. We just happen to prefer a good pair of well worn ropers or a pair of very mucky muck boots…at least in this redneck neck of the woods.)
If he ever goes off the deep end, it’ll be because you forced him to wear Crocs at such a young age.
He sure is cute, though.
Well said Freeman and Dr. OC, yes, I think your traits will balance it out, isn’t that why we seek each other out, because on some level, genetically we ’smell’ different.
That boy Z is darn cute but I’m not sure how Izzy feels about her future huz wearing matching crocs with his dad, hmmm.
Great pics! You are such a good dad. Boy Z is very lucky. And don’t worry about what you did when you were young. I remember setting up ramps over ditches and my friends and I would try to “jump” them on our bikes. And how about tying Hot Wheels to a fishing pole, dousing it with Lysol, lighting them, and then casting them in the air so we could watch them fly by while in flame? All guys do crazy stuff and 99% of us survive it. LOL
I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas!
If it wasn’t for Society, I’d wear a cape all the time. Stupid Vampires!
Dr. O’C – I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure that we’ll be able to find out at Christmas dinner.
JChev – He is, isn’t he?
Father Muskrat – I’ve not, but will do if I ever find myself in Nashville again. It is that Bluebird, yes.
Nichole – He loves the Crocs. Insisted on wearing them to day care today. Why does everyone hate Crocs?
TUB – I’ve warned Dr. O’C that the next one better be a girl.
Angel – I mean, have you ever tried them on? I used to hate them too.
Gypsy – Cheers.
Mongola – Thanks for answering Dr. O’C’s question. Now I won’t have to survey people at Xmas dinner.
Courtney – Then I tried them on and they really are the most comfortable shoes ever. And my new red ones – come on, a certain panache. They exude confidence, because how many guys can wear shoes intended for ladies and pull it off?
Chris – Yeah, when I met Dr. O’C I knew she was good breeding stock. And matching shoes? That’s just style.
Preston – Thanks and welcome aboard. As for crazy stuff – as a boy it was fine, it was worse as a teenager and adult.
TT – Stupid vampires.
Stellar post AFM.
“He’s going to reach an age at which I’m going to have very little influence on his choices”
Don’t you believe it. It only looks that way. Everything you are doing now and in the next ten years (and beyond) will influence his choices for the rest of his life; although at some point he’ll have to stop blaming you.
No, seriously, the input you are giving him, the time you are spending, all this makes him the man that he will become.
Preston: I’m not sure that the statistics support 99% of you blokes surviving. Ask an insurance actuary.
Crocs rock. Especially red ones. I mean, a shoe you can hose down, does it get any better than that?
Oh! I just bought that CD last weekend!
We used to jump off the garage roof too. But in our case I think it was less belief in flying and more hurry to get off the roof so we wouldn’t get in trouble for being up there to begin with.
That last picture is SO cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah Arizaphale – I’m not sure I buy the 99% thing either. Well maybe, who knows? You’re probably right – the insurance people.
So this was on the odd side – I read/responded to your post, went to bed, woke up, put on my workout video, plugged the ipod on shuffle and guess what song came up very first thing (after the last couple notes of the song that had been playing last night)?
This is out of close to 1500 songs… (OKAY! I’m a newcomer to the ipod world! I’ve only had it a year! I’m one of those late-adopters – I always assume every new gadget/product is a gimmick unless it’s been around five to ten years).
Yep, this cape song snuggled right in between Kweli and The Roots, right where Guy Clark belongs, of course. Such a funny coincidence.
Dude,
That was awesome! As a father of my own little Z – a girl, however – and three other kids with billowing capes, this song made my year. I downloaded it and it’s playing now . . .
We haven’t known each other very long, but I wanted to tell you what an honor it’s been getting to know you through your blog. The best is yet to come . . .
May you and yours have a great holiday and may your new year be filled with many wondrous surprises . . .
Your dedication to the Georgia Bulldogs is another of the genetic challenges your son will face…. at least you don’t make him dress up on Missouri Tigers wear.
Your little Dawg is getting big.
Thanks for the message of the Cape. Very cool.
Ariza – Glad somebody recognizes the pragmatic benefits of Crocs!
Jill – Cool coincidence, wonder what it means.
Busy Dad – Hey, that UGA allegiance is going to serve him well… next year.
Despite your horrid taste in shoes, you are both cute as can be and this post is just as sweet.
Oh my God, I LOVE this song, and I LOVE that album. None of my friends here have even heard of it, I don’t think, so finding it here was kind of surreal.