The Epic of GilgaNap

Well. It's been a month since my last post. Between everyone getting sick, cutting teeth, and sleep training, there hasn't been a lot of time for thinking or writing. (Also, Robin is now speed crawler.)

A couple of weeks ago was Alice Louise's company's holiday party. The party was a full month after the holidays, and on a Thursday because the people that work with Alice Louise are very important and busy, so getting a majority of them together took two months and could only land on a Thursday. As a consequence of such a late holiday party, they decided to celebrate the closest holiday to the actual date, which turned out to be Cowboy Poetry Week. So all of the groups attending were asked to bring and recite a poem with a cowboy theme. Here was my entry: (Sorry if it's TL;DR)

The Long Ride of NoNap the Kid.

There once was a young cowboy named NoNap the kid.
He dressed in snap button shirts and cowhide chaps, and leather boots.
His pa gave him a bolo and belt with a big buckle.
His ma gave him a Stetson so the outfit was complete.

NoNap’s name was true, as he resisted every naptime.
His ma would put him down for siesta in his small wooden corral,
He would only fake close his eyes, counting the heartbeats,
And waiting for the echo of her footsteps to fade down the hall.

Then NoNap would grab his favorite roping lasso,
And would toss the end out of the window so high,
To where his mount, Yap was ever waiting to catch it
To hoist him up and out of his sleeping chamber to ride.

The Imperious Yap stood 15 inches to her shoulder
A black and white mutt with mighty shoulders and back.
She wore a saddle fashioned from duct tape, brown and tan crayons.
NoNap the Kid would ride her on every afternoon range.

NoNap and Yap would travel miles on the prairie,
Checking fences and minding the gathered herds of cattle and sheep.
They knew where to find that sheep that was straying.
And when they found her one yap would get her back on her way.

Sometimes they’d ride to where the prairie met the ocean,
And ride out across and on over the waves of the sea.
They’d nod at the long swimming whales and the dolphins,
And wondered where in the ocean all the sea cows could be.

On far shore they’d explore the dusty trails of elephants and warthogs,
Sometimes seeing giraffes, necks tall and tongues black.
They’d ride cross rivers teeming with crocodiles,
And marvel at the shapes of the baobab trees.

Yap liked to race with the antelope and cheetah
Who would bow to the pup with respect at her speed.
The gorillas would wave as the two rode through the jungle
The hippos they avoided, as they could be mean.

Then the day would grow late, and it was time to head westward
To where NoNap knew Ma would be setting chow down to eat,
Yap would gallop many miles in a minute,
And restore little NoNap to his place of no sleep.

And he’d open his eyes and see ma peering down,
And she’d ask, “How was the prairies and savannas of yer dreamin'?”
And NoNap would say proudly, "Didn’t nap, and I'm not even tired."
So Ma would pick him up with great big bear hug, while Pa flashed her a knowing quick wink.

That's all for today.  Hope you all are having a healthier February than us.