Me, I Like Rocks

Me, I like rocks.

That's what I was thinking as I looked at a picture of my son from his trip to Japan.  He was standing with another person from his high school and two girls from Japan.  They were all laughing and smiling.  Mark-he is a people person.

He said as much when a friend asked him what was his favorite part of his trip to Japan.  He replied the day they visited local high schools and spent the day with other students. (You see he went on a trip with his high school to sing at the World's fair in sort of an exchange program with Cupertino's sister city, Toyokawa.)  When he said that it was when I realized he enjoyed being with people-more than performing, more than seeing temples and caves, and more than sites.  Mark is a people person.

Me, I like rocks.

I have always liked looking at rocks; to climb to the top of a good-sized boulder and to conquer it.  Or to look at a cliff side and see what God has made.  I always liked living in Utah because of the rocks.  But life took me to California where there are less rocks, and I don't get to see them as often.

But we're different, my son and I.  I wonder if my other children are like Mark, or like me.  Natalia (my oldest daughter, Mark is my second) she likes books, and kids.  I guess I need to ask her which she likes more.  She is going to school studying to be and Elementary School teacher.  Maybe her love of kids wins out.

Jeremy, my son after Mark, I would always have said he likes sports.  Now though, he is in sort of a blaugh stage and I'm not sure if that's true anymore.  I could say he likes girls.  His life seems to revolve around them.  He is happiest when he has a girlfriend, and miserable when a relationship breaks up.  We have gone through some rough times with him over relationships ending.  But then this last relationship wasn't so bad.  He is 16 now and maybe he is maturing.

Charity, is my 14-year-old daughter.  She likes singing, and dancing, and acting and performing.  She loves those things and yet she gets stage fright from time to time.  I remember when she tried out for a play.  She practiced and practiced her song-but when she auditioned she couldn't remember a things.  Her brain just went blank.  I was the hardest thing to watch.  We had forgotten to take the music and she was going to sing to a tape.  The director asked her to sing "Happy Birthday" and she couldn't even remember that.  That was not her best moment.

But since then she has had many chances to perform and is more comfortable with things now.

Miranda my 12-year-old daughter likes to dance.  She also likes dolls, but I think she is starting to grow out of that stage.  She use to spend hours and hours playing dolls.  She also had way too many.  Of course they would make a big mess with them.  One thing Miranda doesn't like is picking up.  There were often dolls left out her and there and nobody liked to share a room with her as a result.  I guess it's easier to play dolls from where you left off the day before, rather than having to start over from the start every time.

Caleb, he's my youngest and he is 10. I think he just loves life.  He seems to be able to have a good time any old place.   But he likes to be busy doing something.  He plays hard.  He does sports hard.  And then he remembers hard.  He is always talking about his run in flag football where he ran the entire length of the field for a touchdown after almost being trapped in the end zone for a safety.  I was coaching and had a close look at the play as he sprinted around the left end and just barely missed having his flag pulled.  He had to loop back into the end zone to get around one defender.  After he got around the end he was off, cutting back and forth down the field giving everyone on the other team a couple chances to grab his flag, but he was always a step ahead of them.  He finally broke into the clear and sprinted the last half of the field to the touchdown.  That was a fun play.

My wife, Sheri, likes to read.  She likes a clean house.  She likes a made bed.  She likes friendships.  She likes walks.  She likes pretty things to put around the house and make it looked somewhat organized.  But to be honest, I really don't know what really causes my wife to burn inside.  I guess she loves the kids.  She at least spends all her time with them-camping, Great Americaning, watching movies, cleaning etc.

But me, I like rocks.  Well maybe I like more than rocks.  I like my family, that's for sure.  I guess if I had to pick between my family and rocks, I would take my family.  I really can live without rocks.