May the Horse be with You

Henry

eyes aglow

on the shores of Lake Tahoe

Sierra Nevadas

Jawas

from the Planet Tatooine

(Star Wars)

The above photo of Henry was taken around 9 p.m. in late June on the shores of Lake Tahoe. Henry is balancing on the floating rubber raft, rocking to and fro, still warm from the day's leftover heat but wary of the coolness which accompanies the emerging twilight. So he simply stands in marvelous limbo, not wanting to come inside and not wanting to leap into the water.

Henry's glowing eyes remind me of the Jawas from Star Wars Episode Roman Numeral 4, the episode where Aunt Beru serves Luke Skywalker the blue milk:

The first time I saw this movie I thought Obi Wan Kenobi kept referring to his "life savers." I wondered why the marvelous glowing laser sabers were named after a candy.

This misunderstanding was merely part of a disturbing trend. When I read Little House on the Prairie I thought Ma and Pa's names were actually pronounced "May" and "Pay." I wondered who May and Pay were, and why were they building a house out on the prairie with 3 girls? And Hermione from Harry Potter? Why would anyone name a child "Her-me-own"? And in high school I read the book depicting South Africa's woes entitled Cry, the Beloved Country. I remember raising my hand in class and asking, "I know this book is about South Africa, but where is this country Cry, and what does it have to do with the story? Why is it beloved?"

My brother, J.J., shared this predisposition, as he thought the Flintstones were the "The Montessori Family" as the introductory song went, rather than the "Modern Stone Aged Family."

Maybe I was just dense, or not paying attention. Like Luke Skywalker growing up on the farm on Tatooine, I had a lot on my mind.