Bearly a martial artist!

[Eddy-Smiles]

Thanks Forrest.... That's the beauty of getting old... what you said...you learn that very lesson! Time has a way of mellowing us out. Like wind and water action on rock it wears a way our rough spots and smooths us over! I remember a sign that my Mom had on the wall of our livingroom back home when I was a kid... it said "We get too late smart and too soon old." So much truth to so few words.

[Eddy-Smiles]

Thanks Mark! I incorporated some of the suggestions that Gene made after looking at my last bear. I still have more work but I did feel more comfortable carving this one.

[Eddy-Smiles]

Sam.. We can only hope that will be so. There are so many distractions out in our society that pull at our kids in so many directions. A lot will depend on how much influence and support he has from his folks and as to that factor I'm completely in the dark.

[Eddy-Smiles]

Thanks Catbird but it's not I that I want him to love and respect. If you know about the martial arts or if you've seen any programs on television about them you may have noticed that martial artists do a lot of bowing to each other. But in fact they are not bowing to the person but to the belt which that person wears and all that the belt represents....the hard work to earn it... the history... the traditions....the courtesies....the martial way! I may have made an impression on this boy but it is his belt and his martial arts experience that I want him to appreciate and respect and when he does, when he gets to that point, then there is a very good chance that he will want to come back to it.

[Eddy-Smiles]

Thanks Merle... I may have reached my personal limitation of size. I found that I really had a hard time painting this little guy, especially the belt. Between my eyes crossing and my hands shaking I don't think that I'll be trying anything much smaller.