It may seem as if I have only one son, named Jake, seeing as how he is the only one I have written about so far. However, I have two other sons, Callahan and Zane. Today I am writing about Callahan.

First of all, Callahan’s name comes from Spider Robinson ‘s book, Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon. In it, Mike Callahan owns a saloon that even I would visit, maybe even have a drink again, if it really existed. Mike is a time traveler, back here to save the world. Jake’s name came from the book too. He is Mike’s bartender, the story’s narrator actually. Read the book and you’ll understand.

Callahan is ten years old now. He’s in the fourth grade and doing well. He’s not the straight A student that Jake is, but he doesn’t have Muscular Dystrophy either. Instead he has been diagnosed with what they call an attention deficit. His brain moves too fast for him sometimes. In spite of this, he’s very bright, gifted really.

He’s a gifted artist. A drawing of his has been selected to be one of thirty-five others that will represent Colorado Elementary School art. It will be shown in Washington DC at the Department of Education, sometime in early May.

Callahan is in an after school program called OWL (or Open World Learning.) In it, he is learning sophisticated ways to use and enjoy computers in the company of some of the brightest boys and girls in his school.

Callahan is also a Karate student. He has his purple belt and will try out for the brown this summer. I remember the first time he was tested, for the yellow belt. He was the only one being tested for yellow, and he stood up there in front of all those formidable judges and did it. He started out strong and clear but then lost his place in the middle of his kata and faltered. But when the head judge told him to take it from a certain place, he did so! He didn’t lose his head. And he received his yellow belt.

He’s also getting more and more into skateboarding. He’s in a skateboard club at the Y. They all meet after school on Mondays, and, once a month, they get in the Y’s bus and visit another skate park in the area. It’s great for Callahan. He gets a lot of male energy.
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But that’s not all there is to Callahan.

He and I hike a fair amount. He can keep up with me on our long hikes together. We spend most of our time hiking down here in the foothills above Boulder. We have been up to Blue Lake and other higher places. This year we are going to hike up Glacier Gorge in the Rocky Mountain Park. I love that place. He and I are also going backpacking together, just the two of us, sometime this summer. If we get to California, I’ll take him (and everyone else too) to my old camp at Dinky Creek.

When Callahan and I hike together, we usually hike for awhile, an hour or so, and then find a place to sit and enjoy the day. One of our favorite places, the one we usually visit at the end of a foothills hike, has a pond with cattails and frogs and a big old momma tree. Most of the time, Callahan doesn’t want to leave until it is dark. He really likes being out in the woods. He calms down for one thing. And he likes to explore. His main interest is in bugs and insects, and he usually finds something special to bring home. He’s a natural naturalist.

At home, he is definitely the big brother, perhaps a bit too bossy at times though. Maybe he got that from Aspen and me. He’s also beginning to help out more around the house. When Aspen was gone for three days last weekend, he really helped.

Emotionally, he quite volatile. He is learning to manage his emotions but they are very strong sometimes, whether they are positive or negative in nature. When he’s sad, the space around him seems darker, more dismal. When he is happy, the sun seems to bless us all. He’s also very imaginative. Working for him, it helps him to be very creative. Working against him, it keeps him up at night sometimes, hearing strange noises in the house.

Physically, he is healthy, although he often complains of aches and pains. He is very sensitive, almost overly sensitive, to what is going on with his body. Aspen is like this too. He’s strong and centered though, and finds it easy to be in his body. This makes it easier for him, if he’s active physically, to turn off or at least slow down his overactive head.

Callahan, being our first, has taught us and is still teaching us how to be better parents. Because of him, we have become better at it with each of our sons.

It will be very interesting, watching him grow into manhood. As I said about Jake, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.