A Victory and A Defeat

Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat.  

~ Malcolm S. Forbes

There was a time - maybe 10 years ago and mumblety-mumble pounds ago - when, if it was his first time, I could out-climb a buff male who was half my age in our rock climbing gym.   :)

I'm afraid those days are long behind me...   

But, I did experience a small victory during my trip to Mexico last weekend.  Felipe, 12-years-old, is the best swimmer of the family and has grown complacent in his ability.  

On Sunday we were playing tag in the river, and he was possibly gloating a little bit about how no one could catch him.  In my broken Spanish I told him to enjoy the good feeling, because it was going to be brief.  

(At least, that's what I hope I said - it might have been something about my pen being on his uncle's bureau...)  

It took him a second to process this, but then he laughed at my trash talking.  (or possibly at my accent - this was unclear)  

He stopped laughing, however, a couple of seconds later, when I caught him!  

Yes, to his chagrin and my great pleasure, we both discovered that I can still out-swim a 12-year-old!  

Lest you think I am bragging, I will leave you with the story of my defeat.  I was playing a game with Giobani - a four-year-old.  I would draw a picture and he would try to guess what it was.  Then he would draw a picture and I would try to guess what it was.  

Here is his picture:  

What do you think?  Any guesses?  

A dinosaur?  

Nope, I tried that...

A giraffe?  

Nope, I tried that one too...

Turns out the long neck was a bit of a red herring.  

This is Giobani's picture of a dog.  And it is now my favorite picture of a dog in the whole world!  ;)