How well it is I remember my own christening even though it was so many years ago. I had no idea boys now talked so freely of such things. In my own case we were not at the swimming bath but instead in the oak grove just beyond the cricket pitch. We were all there and as we baptized one another as only vibrant young men can we gave each new names. I can still remember that day, the dappled warm sunlight, companionship like that of the classical warriors of Greece, true brotherhood it was. We each took on new names- Admiral Nelson- one eyed and stern, Chinese- the last man standing in Khartoum, Lawerence, of course Lawerence- all revealed that while we may have thought of ourseleves as men we still had the interests of boys. Their were others as well. The Dowager Empress- little mean and unflappable, Watt- the little steam engine, and Cromwell with his roundhead up high. Of course there were the boys we all knew would turn out bad- demanding names like Augustus or Wellington as they conquered the smallest lads over and over again. My thoughts of course stay with my dearest mates Mowgli, dear Mowgli lost to us (as if by fortune) to the charms of a girl from Pondicherry, and poor brave Byron lost to the jungles of Malaya as his grandfather had been lost to Flanders. Lads listen to the advice of an old man and enjoy these days of baptism and christening with your mates for the world of pinched faced little wives, Pakistani son-in-laws, and above all, horrid discretion, is what awaits just outside your oak grove.
4 Comments:
At 5:56 PM, May 06, 2006,
Anonymous said…
How well it is I remember my own christening even though it was so many years ago. I had no idea boys now talked so freely of such things. In my own case we were not at the swimming bath but instead in the oak grove just beyond the cricket pitch. We were all there and as we baptized one another as only vibrant young men can we gave each new names. I can still remember that day, the dappled warm sunlight, companionship like that of the classical warriors of Greece, true brotherhood it was. We each took on new names- Admiral Nelson- one eyed and stern, Chinese- the last man standing in Khartoum, Lawerence, of course Lawerence- all revealed that while we may have thought of ourseleves as men we still had the interests of boys. Their were others as well. The Dowager Empress- little mean and unflappable, Watt- the little steam engine, and Cromwell with his roundhead up high. Of course there were the boys we all knew would turn out bad- demanding names like Augustus or Wellington as they conquered the smallest lads over and over again. My thoughts of course stay with my dearest mates Mowgli, dear Mowgli lost to us (as if by fortune) to the charms of a girl from Pondicherry, and poor brave Byron lost to the jungles of Malaya as his grandfather had been lost to Flanders.
Lads listen to the advice of an old man and enjoy these days of baptism and christening with your mates for the world of pinched faced little wives, Pakistani son-in-laws, and above all, horrid discretion, is what awaits just outside your oak grove.
At 11:11 PM, May 06, 2006,
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
At 12:51 AM, May 07, 2006,
Andrew said…
Well I don't see how that's relevant, but okay!
At 2:38 AM, May 08, 2006,
Anonymous said…
Viva la Bloodninja!dfk
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