Some younger cousins of mine were recently doing handstands and it got me to thinking back to when I was younger.

When The Empire Strikes back came out I lived in Fairbanks Alaska. My father was in the USAF and we were stationed at Eielson Air Force Base.

I had a small group of friends there and we were all into Star Wars! When Empire was released we learned more about the Jedi way of life. We learned that Jedi train in swamps with small big eared green creatures who were so small you could carry them on your back! Most of us had also aquired lightsabers by this time and we started our own Jedi order.

To join you had to simply pass the Jedi training test which included several difficult tasks for any 8 year old. First you had to carrying another member around the room on your back. Next up was the test for jumping skill. You had to jump from the couch to the loveseat, over what seemed like a 20 ft gap! Then by vaulting over the ironing board onto the couch you showed you were a master at tumbling. The final test included walking on your hands from one side of the room to the other. This seemed to take several trys for everyone but I'm sure we all passed with flying colors!

Despite the Jedi trials many a lightsaber battle went down. Many limbs were lost but in the end we all had fun pretending to be in that Galaxy Far Far Away...