Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

That’s what I keep telling myself, folks. It doesn’t make Sunday’s projected high of 106 more palatable, necessarily, but I’m trying to count my blessings!

On the other hand, it is perfect weather to send kids to the pool when you’re trying to finish the audio version of the book you want to give your son for his birthday, and that’s exactly what I did yesterday. My 16-year-old supervised my littles, together with my youngest’s bestie, and a friend of hers met them there (we gave him a ride home). I dropped them off and settled in with a puzzle and the last 40% of Steve Sheinkin’s Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team, and while I picked them up before I finished it, I polished off the last bit while chopping veggies for dinner.

It was fascinating.

I suppose football fans would know a decent amount of the information in Sheinkin’s book, but it was pretty much news to me. (Except, sadly, the part about boarding schools intentionally separating Native Americans from their heritage. That I knew.) From the disturbing number of deaths that took place in college football games to the rule shifting over time, Undefeated is a treasure trove of history that doesn’t get talked about much. I had no idea that Jim Thorpe was in the Olympics, let alone what happened afterward. Honestly, I feel like everybody in this country ought to read this book, but that goes double for football fans and those specially interested in Native American history. Thorpe’s story deserves to be known.

That said, my son is a football but not so much a reading fan, so I’ll keep you posted on how THAT goes. Wish us luck!