Adventures at Rasa Ranch #151

[Guest guest]

12/30/03

 

Timewarp. That's the best word to describe the last two weeks at Rasa

Ranch. Winter, the flu, and the holidays all hit our place at once,

keeping us hunkered down and nestled in. There's been a lot of card

playing, story reading, music listening, bread baking and soup

making, and somehow, during it all, we have lost any motivation to go

out or do anything exciting, which tells you an awful lot, given our

general definition of "exciting." However, there was one

significant event: on our computer, Jim discovered we have

Blasterball.

 

Because of Zacky's tendency to bump the elbow attached to the mouse or

to clamber right up on top of the lap of the one who is playing, he

has been "ousted" by Ananda and her dad (which means I have been,

too) as they hold tournaments that can sometimes last for hours.

Inevitably we'll hear the door of the computer room open, only

because somebody is looking for something to eat. I was beginning to

wonder if this was good for us. I mean, we've all been in our sweats

this whole time and anyway, I doubt if I could even fit into my jeans

at this point. Kids are supposed to be more active, right? And so

are their parents. And doesn't videogaming put the brain to sleep?

 

Well, yesterday, when the Blasterball fiends finally vacated the

arcade, I poked my head in there and noticed first, that it was

cold. Oh yeah, I thought, when the door is closed, the heat from the

woodstove can't get in. Maybe the cold gives them an edge in their

game. Then I saw that Ananda had set up camp in there. There was a

pillow and blanket on a perpendicular counter where she could lay

there comfortably and still see the monitor. That's it, I said to

myself. I've got to do something about this.

 

I approached Jim in order to discuss with him my concerns. "About

this Blasterball..." I began, but he stopped me in my tracks.

Excitedly he said, "Do you know what happened?" "What?" I asked.

"Ananda was lying up there watching and she said, 'Daddy, I am so

happy wight now I can hawdly believe it. I just don't know what to

do with myself!'" He said he told her that she didn't have to do

anything, that she could just enjoy it, and that she'd brought it up

three different times. "She was in bliss!" he told me.

 

I was astonished. What could I say? What did I know, anyhow? What

did I know about what's best for anybody? Finding out once again

that my old ideas just weren't holding up to real life, I was left

with a funny sense of groundlessness, unknowingness, and

surprisingly....glee.