Approximate date: April 1991
Main Characters: David and Rob (age 3)
Introduction. Drew Hart, a young man who assisted me with real estate brokerage, brought a spear to Rob from the Zulu Mardi Gras Parade in New Orleans. The spear was four or five feet long with feathers and a rubber arrowhead. Rob loved it and went around having great fun killing all sorts of wild animals with it (at least in his powerfully imaginative mind.)
Late one afternoon, I was sitting out on the swing under the oak tree in the front yard. Rob was stalking around with his spear hunting and killing animals. I said, “Rob do you see that water buffalo over there?” He said “Oh yes, I see it!” He then snuck up to it, reared back and threw his spear. He let me know that he had stabbed the buffalo in his heart and killed him. I said, “Okay, but now you have to skin him.” (Because I have always told Rob that if you kill something you then have to skin it, clean it, cook it, and eat it. Rob said, “Dad, there are so many animals around. Can I just skin him for now and we’ll come back and cook him and eat him later?” I said “Fine, just skin him and put him over there.” As soon as he finished with the buffalo, he told me, “Now there’s a big elephant over there I’m going to go get him.” So, Rob went over to where the elephant was, stood up on his tip toes, reared back with his spear and “Yack!” he got him right in the throat. The elephant fell down with a “Boom!” and Rob went over and he stood on top of him and he pulled on his spear and until he got it out of the now dead elephant. I said, “Rob, it’s ok to Just cut his throat right now instead of skinning him.” “Thanks Dad” and after quickly slitting the elephant’s throat with the spear, he went searching for a hippopotamus. I shouted, “Rob! Look over there by the jeep.” “What is it, Dad?” I said, “It’s a leopard, a really big leopard that is crouched down.” So, Rob crouched down and like a cat started slipping up on the leopard. I said, “Now Rob, you be careful because leopards are really mean.” He took about two more steps and then he stopped, turned around, and looked back at me. “Daddy, he really is big. Will you take this one for me?”
Rob at age 3