{"id":263,"date":"2007-04-03T09:05:39","date_gmt":"2007-04-03T13:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.summerofjim.com\/2007\/04\/03\/the-four-dwarfs-and-passover\/"},"modified":"2007-04-03T09:07:03","modified_gmt":"2007-04-03T13:07:03","slug":"the-four-dwarfs-and-passover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=263","title":{"rendered":"The Four Dwarfs and Passover"},"content":{"rendered":"

I couldn\u2019t wait to get into bed on the nights\u00a0after my Mom had changed the linen.\u00a0 Nothing is better than fresh sheets.\u00a0 I cherished it as much as the nights that my Dad would brush my hair after my night time bath.\u00a0 If my Mom pulled bathing chores, she would have a business-like <\/em>approach to the brushing of my hair.\u00a0 My Dad?\u00a0 He would take his time, slowly brushing my hair with a gentleness and care\u2026perhaps unsure what a girl would think was important.\u00a0 He would blow dry small portions, always checking the dryness. <\/p>\n

When he was satisfied that my hair was well dry, I\u2019d rush to my room, put on a fresh nightgown and dive in.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t wait to enter those cold clean sheets. And that is what it was like.\u00a0 Just like diving into a pool on an early June day.\u00a0 Something that tingled and made your body come alive.<\/p>\n

I would bury myself in.\u00a0 Kicking my feet.\u00a0 I am sure that it would look like I was treading water.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 I was merely trying to create warmth in the nether reaches of my nest.<\/em>\u00a0 I would stretch my nightgown down, twisting and turning\u2026 scratching and pawing at the sheets willing that they surrender their comfort.<\/p>\n

Settled, I would reach for a book to occupy me \u2018til Dad would come in.\u00a0 I would look at something that would in no way interfere with what we would \u201cread\u201d together.<\/p>\n

It would always be the same.\u00a0 I would hear a knock\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you ready for me, Bird<\/em>?\u201d he would ask.<\/p>\n

And I would giggle, kick my feet in the covers and scrunch up with my pillow, \u201cyes, I\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dad would come in, four or five books under arm, \u201cWell\u2026 let\u2019s see.\u00a0 What would you like to hear tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n

I would kick my feet, not sure whether I had knocked all the cold from the bed, and bring the covers up to my nose\u2026 and I would giggle, \u201cI don\u2019t know… you choose!\u201d\u00a0 And I would giggle and kick my feet again\u2026 my hair is beautiful, I\u2019m wearing my favorite nightgown with lavender flowers, Mom has made a fresh bed.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWell, then\u2026 let\u2019s see here.\u201d\u00a0 And he would search thru his books on hand, \u201cI think a good story for tonight might be The Four Dwarfs and Passover.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

I would bicycle my feet, re-position my nightgown, re-draw my covers up to my nose\u2026 and then inch them down so I could say, \u201cI thought there were seven dwarfs.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell Bird\u2026 you are just going to have to listen to the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

I loved my Dad\u2019s voice.\u00a0 It was soothing. It was reassuring.\u00a0 It was warm and safe.\u00a0 As warm as my blankets, as safe as a castle keep.\u00a0 And to hear his words was enveloping\u2026 something that secured me.\u00a0 I would be lulled, like music to a savage beast.\u00a0\u00a0 Oh, sure\u2026 I spent my day at school or in play running about\u2026 and I guess I could have fallen asleep no matter how you slice the pie.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

There are actors who have that \u201ctalent\u201d\u2026 the ability to project strength and compassion thru their voice alone \u2013 Morgan Freeman comes to mind\u2026 But for me, hearing Dad\u2019s voice was like a sedative\u2026 it put me to ease.\u00a0 I could listen to my Dad giving a weather report.\u00a0 And for sure at the end of a busy day of study and play I welcomed that sound as any that I have heard.<\/p>\n

Oh, to listen to his voice.<\/p>\n

I would cycle my legs once or twice, turn on to my right side and bring the covers to my chin.<\/p>\n

Dad would turn off the main light in my room.\u00a0 Sit at the base of my bed, with only the lamp from my desk for light.\u00a0 He would open to a page.<\/p>\n

Never mind that the four dwarfs<\/em> turned into the Hiryu, the Soryu, the Kaga and the Akagi\u2026 the four aircraft carriers that we sunk at the Battle of Midway.<\/p>\n

Never mind that he never really read <\/em>from the book.<\/p>\n

And never mind that The Fat Cheese and the French Fry <\/em>turned into the Battle of Agincourt, or that The<\/em> Feast of Alice <\/em>turned into the Congress of Vienna, or that The Tower of Jell-O and Pirate King<\/em> turned into the defeat of Chinese Gordon at Khartoum and that The Day the Honey Bear Lost His Pants <\/em>became the Japanese Battle Fleet crossing the Russian Fleet’s “T” at Tushima Strait.<\/p>\n

My Dad would simply open a book and begin with a description of the pitching sea, the sky and the smell of the sea breeze… and I would be taken for a journey on his soothing voice… to places I could only dream about.<\/p>\n

He could take the wind beating against the window pane in my room to describe the sound of the arrow flight the English long-bowmen sent into the ranks of the terrified French soldiers of King Charles VI.<\/p>\n

He would always find a way to include me in his story.\u00a0 I would be seated next to Prince Metternich as we had dinner with Talleyrand, Wellington and Nesselrode as we tried to bring order to war ravaged Europe.\u00a0 “You would have been dressed in your finest,” he would have said to me, and I would have been carried off to my dreams on thoughts of thick tables, and chandeliered rooms with grand paintings\u00a0& tapestries.<\/p>\n

When my eyes became heavy I would just hear the melody of his words & phrases… and I would be taken to my day’s rest and tucked in for the night.\u00a0 Dad would close his book, kiss me on the forehead and say, “Dream of an\u00a0exciting world, Bird<\/em>… it lays before your feet.”<\/p>\n

He would turn off my desk lamp… and he would be gone.<\/p>\n

It is Spring now and I am preparing to take my 11th Grade Modern European History Class to the Pacific.\u00a0\u00a0Even though it’s a lecture I have given year after year, I still like to review my notes.\u00a0 Six months after the Japanese sank our Battleship Fleet at Pearl, a numerically inferior American Task Force met and decisively defeated the Japanese\u00a0Carrier Fleet at Midway.\u00a0 It was a Battle of critical importance, maybe the most important of the War.\u00a0 It stopped the Japanese in their tracks and permitted Roosevelt to pursue his policy of Germany first.<\/p>\n

I glance at the title of my lecture and smile… \u00a0Four Dwarfs and Passover.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I couldn\u2019t wait to get into bed on the nights\u00a0after my Mom had changed the linen.\u00a0 Nothing is better than fresh sheets.\u00a0 I cherished it as much as the nights that my Dad would brush my hair after my night … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories-brief-tales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=263"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}