Last night was grey and blustery. My husband spent the evening driving around the Chicago suburbs en route to interview David Halberstam, so AJ and I were left to our own devices. It seemed like a good night to be cozy, so AJ sacked out on the family room floor in his new sleeping bag (we had picked it up yesterday afternoon in anticipation of Wednesday, when he is supposed to bring one to school for an indoor camping trip), and watched the Walt Disney version of Robin Hood.

As a kid I had a thing for Robin Hood. The first version I knew was the one with Erroll Flynn/Basil Rathbone/Olivia de Haviland � still the best. But this was a close second.

When I was between the ages of 5 and 8, we used to spend our vacations at a neighbor�s cabin in New Hampshire. The house was at the top of steep hill and was built up on stilts. A bluff fell away on one side, so you could walk right under the house. My brother and I used to pretend that that was the dungeon. We used to wander all over the seemingly endless woods around the house catching salamanders and fencing with swords improvised from sticks. One day, while exploring, we found a small clearing with what appeared to be the remains of the foundation of a small cabin. We made that Robin Hood�s headquarters and spent much of our vacation there, building furniture out of found objects.

The area we live in and even our house has always reminded me a little bit of those long ago holidays spent swashbuckling in the woods. I guess I�ve always hoped AJ would follow suit, and it appears he might be interested in doing so. AJ will watch this movie as many times as I let him.

But for now, my little swashbuckler is content to hypothesize about his adventures. He refused to leave his sleeping bag until I told him he could sleep in it. He carried it carefully upstairs and I helped him spread it out on his bed.

�Mommy, do you know what I�m going to dream about?�

�What?�

�I�m going to dream I�m having a sleepover with Robin Hood.�

�That sounds like a good dream.�

�I can�t wait.�

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