Zebulon

Zebulon Montgomery Pike. American Hero. At least, he's one of the choices Pinky had for an American Hero, a 5th grade rite of passage in our school district. I am soooo glad this project is nearly over. Outlines, note cards, note pages, more notes, bibliographies, rough drafts, essays, biopoems, oral presentations...aaaghhh! I can't take it any more! He handed in everything today, and tomorrow is his presentation. I read in the list of requirements a sentence that clearly said "You may dress as your hero for your oral presentation." Now, when I see the phrase "you may..." I think optional. Pinky agreed it was optional, and things have been pretty hectic around here, with me working long days and weekends since Jan 1, for quarter and year end reporting deadlines. Also trying to put together the banquet which will send Pinky from cub scouts to boy scouts, and putting together something called an Arrow of Light for that, etc. So i had pretty much decided it was a no on the Hero costume, and Pinky was okay with that, he said some other kids were not dressing up either. Then I was talking to a fellow mom-friend, who pointed out that while yes, indeed it was optional, it was also worth 10 of the 100 points. WTF? How is that optional? So, yes, we scrambled to put something together this weekend. Mr. Pike is credited with discovering Pikes Peak, so he was a mountain man, great explorer of the West. We managed to throw together some very un-1807-ish clothing into something sort of passable. Hopefully he won't be too embarassed tomorrow. Surely some of the other kids will have last-minute costumes too? I mean come on, we spent $2.00 on package of boot shoelaces to tie his pouch on, that's it. I know someone else spent $25 on a clearance (clearance? yikes!) Halloween costume for theirs. Hope the grades are not positively correlated with the amount of money mom or dad was willing to spend. So, here he is, in all his glory. I'm still not convinced he was a hero, some suspicious and unresolved accusations involving Spanish spies, and he took his men on expeditions ill-prepared for the elements they faced, but oh well. He was a braver and more adventurous soul than me, so I guess I shouldn''t criticize.