But the tour ended up being a huge disappointment. The guide had been instructed to give us a tour of "Swissness." That translated a discussion, with no discernible point, of what stereotypes people think of when they think of Switzerland, and then a retelling, yet again, of the most famous story in the land, that of folk hero William Tell. I've heard it so many times this year, I could tell it to you in my sleep...
Once upon a time, about 700 years ago, Switzerland was under the thumb of the Austrian Hapsburgs. The Swiss cities were run by Austrian governors, and in the small Swiss town of Altdorf, the evil Governor was named Hermann Gessler. The oppressive man, when given charge of the town, placed his hat on a pole in the middle of the village square and told the citizens, "You all are subject to me. You will bow in my presence and, in my absence, you will bow to my hat."
Now also in this country lived the honest and brave Wilhelm Tell. He had the reputation of being an extremely clever shot, and very strong besides. He and his son were passing through Altdorf, and, when they were told of Gessler's decree, William Tell scoffed. "His hat?? I may bow to the man, perhaps, but never his hat!" And so he passed by the hat with his head held high.
When Gessler heard of Tell's treachery, he ordered the peasant to be brought to the village square. "You have a reputation of being a fine marksman, Herr Tell, so I will make a deal with you. If you can shoot an apple from atop your son's head, I will let you go free. However, if you refuse to shoot, I will have how both executed, immediately."
What could he do? Tell drew two arrows from his quiver, placed one in his crossbow. The arrow flew straight and true, splitting the apple in half.
Gessler had Tell brought before him, and was about to let him free. "I have just one question for you," said Gessler, "Why did you draw two arrows?"
Tell, who was very honest (or not very bright, depending on your point of view) looked Gessler in the eye and told him "The first arrow was for the apple. And, if I had missed, the second arrow would have been for you."
Gessler, who indeed was very bright, decided he could not let such a defiant man go free, and so he ordered Tell to be taken to the dungeons of his castle, on a far shore of Lake Luzern.
In the middle of the transit, a massive storm rocked the prison ship. Fearful that the ship would capsize, Gessler ordered Tell loose from his bonds to steer the ship to safety. But Tell proved himself more clever than earlier actions would indicate: he steered the ship close to shore and then jumped overboard, swimming to his freedom.
He then hurried by foot to Gessler's castle and laid in wait: when the Governor's ship docked, Tell sniped from the shadows, finally delivering his second arrow, which pierced the Governor's heart.
And, with that act of defiance, he led the Swiss revolution against Austrian rule, which resulted in the subsequent formation of the Swiss Confederacy.
When story time was over, I took the tram to collect Joey from the child care. As he always does, when I arrived, Joey came running with a sunny smile, telling me all the things he'd done that morning: "I played cars and I played trains and I played playdo and I played outside and....and I HAPPY!"
Ella, too, reported that today was the best day ever.
I write each day so that the kids have the record of their year, and present Ella has given me permission to mention this, so that twenty-years-in-the-future Ella can enjoy being reminded...Ella's deep into her first real crush.
The other day, Ella told me, voice full of awe, "When I was in first or second grade, I'd sometimes whisper to myself that I liked this boy or that one, because I was excited about growing up, but I didn't know it could actually feel like this!" The lucky boy is a little redhead named Felix: "We both love to sing and we're both really fast runners, and he speaks a little English and I speak a little German. Mom, all I want to do is look at him and think about him." Oh, sweet girl. Do you remember what that was like?
And so that is why today was the best day. In gym class, the teacher had the kids doing obstacle courses, and getting candy as prizes for doing well. "We got three pieces of candy. Other teams won as many as five" but Ella scarcely cared. She had the divine Felix in her group, as well as another good friend, Dana.
Of course, Ella is a creature of great passion: things quickly went from wonderful to terrible when Ella noticed that the lego structure that she's been building, an intricate gothic castle with a tenuous foundation, has been cracking and breaking, and, today, it clearly had crumbled past repair. When Ella saw it, she started keening, frantically trying to piece together what couldn't be fixed.
I asked her if there was anything I could do to help. "Yes...I...I need you to take it apart!"
"Are you sure, honey?" I asked. I could have a try at putting it back together?
"No...it has to be done!" And with that she fled to the other room, crying softly, until she heard the gentle rattle of legos being tossed back into the bin. Then the keening resumed.
Who knew that lego castle euthanasia was part of the motherhood job description?
But that storm was short-lived. We had a free afternoon and Ella had very little homework. While she was getting that done, over lunch, I took this video of the boys. Alex offered to read a story to Joey, who was clearly feeling kind of punchy. I love how Alex tries to draw his brother into the story.
When Ella's math was done, I suggested we go to the zoo, the park, or the community center, but all three kids voted to swim. And somehow, after a morning at school and swimming all afternoon, Ella and Alex still had energy for the playground on the way home.
Ella and Alex both pronounced that the day had returned to "Best Ever" status. Excellent.
Love Alex's sounding out words. TOO cute! And Joey guesses the outcome of stories, too. But my! Alex's reading: excellent.
ReplyDeleteAh--they are growing up! Ups and downs, eh? Lego castles and all...