Day's Diary

January 18, 2007 ~ Boys Will Be Boys

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The couple who works for me and who lives in the little house behind mine, Ephraim and Ella, have two sons, Hope and Victory. Hope is eight and he is all boy. He has several young friends about his age who come every afternoon after school is out to play in my back yard. These fellows are sons of the theological students here. They are all boy and that doesn’t matter what country the boy lives in. They love to play tag and hide and seek and to find new and exciting things to do. I knew the birds of Zomba were in danger last Friday when all four of these fellows came down the road in front of my house with home made sling shots, one each. They were testing them and taking aim at everything in their line of sight that moved. They disappeared behind the house and soon I heard Hope being called. It was that tone of voice that needs no translation. “Come here immediately!” And Hope came running. I didn’t need to know the words, the finger shaking and the tone of Ella’s voice made it clear that there would be no more sling shot for Hope.

Today, the target of their attention was the mango tree at the end of the yard. The mangos are not fully ripe yet, but that did not stop the fearsome four. They found a long pole and began swinging at the mangos that were just out of reach, prodding and striking until four had fallen. Then came the challenge of getting the less than ripe mango open. Banging it on the concrete porch seemed to do the trick, and soon all were delightedly sucking on mango, until the bitter tang of unripe mango got to their taste buds. Each in his turn made that tortured face of a bad taste in one’s mouth. Then the mangos became projectiles for the neighbor’s fence. And the boys were off to find new adventures. The fruit may be different, but the appetites for testing and trying are they same in eight year old boys the world around.