Ethan, over the past several years, has created a very rich “other identity” as Smith. He has been Smith of Smith’s Flower Shop, King Smith of Smithland, Smith the Miner (he even has his own stationery for Smith’s Mining Company), Smith the bike racer for Team Tropicana and then Team Beluga Whale.
As this “other identity” has matured, he also has created another world — Smithland (see King of Smithland, above). Smithland is located near Asia, connected by a bridge that only some people can cross. (We have speculated that the Big Bang caused by the volcanic eruption that cracked the Earth’s crust back in prehistoric times may have split the dimensions and the bridge may actually be a wormhole between the dimension we live in here on Earth, and the dimension Smithland is in.)
Smithland City, the capital of Smithland, is a thriving metropolis, although recently it was attacked by enemies and has been burning out of control. Fortunately, Greenville — the city to the north of which Ethan is mayor — had just built a number of new eco-apartments that were still empty, so they were able to accommodate the refugees who wanted to go north. Most people went south, though, because that’s where the more inhabited part of Smithland is.
Smithland has it’s own language, which Ethan sometimes writes out for us. I have a lovely rendering of its flag, and several maps showing the two peninsulas and the location of the major cities and industries. Most of the “action” takes place on the lower peninsula because the upper is more mountainous. (It sits on the San Andreas fault line, and has frequent volcanic activity. However, it also is the most beautiful part of Smithland, and some of the animals that have evolved to survive the volcanoes are the most amazing creatures ever seen. You need to visit in the spring or fall, because those are the quiet seasons.)
For my birthday last week, Ethan decided (two days before hand) to create a Restaurants of Upper Smithland monopoly game for me. (We’re obsessed with Monopoly thanks to the Muppets Monopoly the kids got me for Christmas.) So in two short days, he created the board; all of the properties; assigned values, rents and mortgage rates to each; wrote chance cards; and made money. And it works. We’ve played several times now and had a lot of fun.
I’ll post some pictures as soon as I can find the camera.
As this “other identity” has matured, he also has created another world — Smithland (see King of Smithland, above). Smithland is located near Asia, connected by a bridge that only some people can cross. (We have speculated that the Big Bang caused by the volcanic eruption that cracked the Earth’s crust back in prehistoric times may have split the dimensions and the bridge may actually be a wormhole between the dimension we live in here on Earth, and the dimension Smithland is in.)
Smithland City, the capital of Smithland, is a thriving metropolis, although recently it was attacked by enemies and has been burning out of control. Fortunately, Greenville — the city to the north of which Ethan is mayor — had just built a number of new eco-apartments that were still empty, so they were able to accommodate the refugees who wanted to go north. Most people went south, though, because that’s where the more inhabited part of Smithland is.
Smithland has it’s own language, which Ethan sometimes writes out for us. I have a lovely rendering of its flag, and several maps showing the two peninsulas and the location of the major cities and industries. Most of the “action” takes place on the lower peninsula because the upper is more mountainous. (It sits on the San Andreas fault line, and has frequent volcanic activity. However, it also is the most beautiful part of Smithland, and some of the animals that have evolved to survive the volcanoes are the most amazing creatures ever seen. You need to visit in the spring or fall, because those are the quiet seasons.)
For my birthday last week, Ethan decided (two days before hand) to create a Restaurants of Upper Smithland monopoly game for me. (We’re obsessed with Monopoly thanks to the Muppets Monopoly the kids got me for Christmas.) So in two short days, he created the board; all of the properties; assigned values, rents and mortgage rates to each; wrote chance cards; and made money. And it works. We’ve played several times now and had a lot of fun.
I’ll post some pictures as soon as I can find the camera.
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1 comment:
I am SO HAPPY to have been introduced to Smith several times (and in several guises). Now I hope to get to play monopoly too! WHAT A KID!
I can't wait to see how God directs his paths - who he will become!
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