Younger Than The Mountains, Growing Like A Weed

The Pony is a little hoarse. That's a punchline to a corny joke somewhere. But I am not joking. He has picked up a cough, and declares that he's just fine, but it's been going on since Sunday. I'll give him a week to ten days, then I'll take him to the vet doctor. Gotta keep him healthy. He's got some big days ahead of him.

Saturday is the ACT. That's in the morning. Then his Smartypants Team-mates will wait for him to finish, and depart for the District Academic Team Tournament. Tuesday The Pony goes to the College of #1 with the W.Y.S.E. team for a district competition. His coach told him he'd be eating lunch with his brother. Let's just say The Pony curbed his enthusiasm quite well.

The poor little fellow was certainly on his feed today. He tossed in an extra bag of Doritos for his lunch. After his academic practice, he was famished. He grabbed a handful of Starbursts from the snack file. He devoured two Grandma cookies in T-Hoe, then a baggie of Chex Mix that she brought US on Monday. While I was whipping up a supper of tortellini and salad and garlic toast, The Pony pranced around the kitchen while he was supposed to be helping. He was friskier than Juno hoping for a handful of cat kibble.

"Look, Pony. I'm making you the GOOD cheese. Sharp cheddar, fresh off the cheese grater. None of that bagged stuff tonight. Do you want tomatoes in your salad?"

"No. But since you would want me to eat my salad first, why don't I just eat it NOW, while you're cooking the pasta? Here's the dressing. Hand me the croutons." While accessorizing his salad, The Pony popped crumbled chunks of non-grated cheddar into his gaping maw. I swear I never even heard them hit the bottom of his bottomless gullet.

That salad was gone in two shakes of a lamb's tail. The Pony waited. He was like a hollow-legged millipede. Off he went with his heaping bowl of tortellini, and two of the four garlic toasts.

I think he might be entering a growth spurt.