A day with my knight

Back in the days of jousting for love, and plunder of kingdom, young aspiring wanna-be knights would select a knight they respected, they looked up to. And they would spend almost every waking moment learning everything they could about knighthood from their mentor.

They would learn how to shoe a horse properly, how to take care of one's lance (?), and how to polish suits of armor. If the trainee knight showed promise, the knight would teach him how to joust and be a proper knight.

My knight is a woman knight, and while this may have been relatively unheard of back in the days of round tables and what have you - Joan of Arc doesn't count, she was French - it appears to be more acceptable these days. That is, if we still had knights. My knight happens to work in advertising. And what a jouster she is. She stands tall, metal armor blindingly bright, lance in one hand, spear in the other, she mounts her stallion and makes me proud. Okay, let me rephrase that last bit. There's no mounting going on here.

I digress. There aren't that many women knights in the advertising kingdom, on neither this side of the ocean, nor that. That's because all the big men knights are afraid the women knights might find out just how tiny things are under suits of armor. That's why I chose a woman knight mentor. She's fearless. She's talented. She has the driest sense of humor I have ever come across, oh and she mentors me, albeit from one kingdom to another. And despite what Neil French once said at an ill-fated speech given to ad folks in a kingdom tarpaulin in Ye Olde Toronto, this one has shutzpah.

All the other knights in yonder kingdom respect her, because stepping out into the male-dominated jousting pit every day takes courage, stamina, determination, and my mentor has those all. She guides me. She chides me. She tssk tssk's me from time to time, but she is always there to answer a question, offer a comment on how to improve my technique.

She's wonderful. She's also 25,000 miles away. And we have only met once. But communication technology being a little more advanced than they used to be in yonder days, we stay in touch regularly. But still, I hope to see my knight some day.