recognizing talent

i've been hacking away on a manuscript all day, but periodically checking results from the rochester christmas tournament.

it turned out to be a long day for our mounds view lads, with only captains piersak and balzer bringing home any medals. still, they should all feel good about lining up against the fearsome tournament competition. fine wrestlers from virginia, iowa, and the dakotas all squared off against the best of our minnesota teams.

it probably wasn't until last year's rochester tournament that i realized that tor was a waaaay better athlete than his dad. he wasn't expected to do much, but the big sophomore was undefeated on day 1 and held his own against some tough late-round competition. it was thrilling for me, as i knew that i would've flopped over like a fish against the competition he was facing. as soon as i got used to the whole wrestling-dad thing, of course, he decided it was time to try something new.

i was looking forward to rochester this year, but the lad has had enough. tor still got some play in this year's tournament profiles, but i think he's officially retired. judging from the way he works me over, though, i think he would have done really well. we went at it pretty good tonight, mostly at my instigation. i'm trying to figure out whether my brittle ol' ribs are broken or just bruised.

he's a tough kid, but he's got some nurturing qualities. i bugged him for not cleaning up the dirty sweats in his room this morning, saying "jeez, tor, it smells like something died in there." he paused before responding, "yeah dad, i think puff is dead."

oh.

so, let me get this straight. his pet and constant companion of eight years actually died and i was joking about smelling football sweats that had been stuffed in a locker since summer two-a-days. perfect. i'm guessing this action makes me an immediate finalist for the insensitive parent of the year award.

now that i think about it, puff the bearded dragon couldn't have asked for a better dad than tor. he fed her many generations of crickets over the years, cleaned her glass cage, and gave her just the right amount of food, light, heat, and attention. she passed away last night after a long and, one hopes, happy life.

so, when the lad ran off to a sadie hawkins dance tonight, i tried to clean up and take care of puff. last year, tor showed me that he could take care of some pretty tough wrestlers. this year he showed me that he could take good care of a pretty fragile living thing. down the road, both capacities should serve him well.