Jeff pulled a copy of the “Castles of Bavaria, Germany” this morning. I am not sure what got into him but in the twins’ room where we camped out at 6:00 a.m., he started flipping through its pages, which immediately, grabbed Nicholas’ attention.
“That’s Neuschwanstein castle. Mom and I went there and it was amazing,” he told Nicholas.
Our wide-eyed son stared at the pictures for about five seconds then turned to look at this dad. I can hear him asking, “What’s a castle, Daddy? Do they have food?”
I listened as Jeff flipped through the thin publication and noticed Antoinette, who was chewing on the comforter, crawling to the part of the room where “Dada” and her twin brother were comfortably seated.
Just when she reached her destination, Nicholas grabbed the book and tried to eat it. “No boy, books are not for eating; they are for reading,” said Jeff. Nicholas once again stared. Again, I imagined him saying, “But Dad, they’re good. Especially shiny paper.”
Jeff pointed to a painting of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, the man who went on castle-building spree. Neuschwanstein was never completed and stands as a testament of the royalty’s unfinished dream. Jeff then pointed to a smaller, yellow castle named Hohenschwangau where Ludwig II spent years as a young boy. This yellow castle was built by his father, Maximilian II of Bavaria.
Antoinette smiled. That kind of smile showing of two-front teeth that lit up the entire room on a gloomy Saturday morning in Guangzhou.
I glanced at my husband and kids and I feel good. Life is good.
***
T30WC or The 30-minute Writing Challenge is a writing exercise born out of this blogger’s need to maintain a habit of writing. Subjects of each writing challenge is just about anything but should ONLY be written within 30 minutes.
