Thursday, May 14, 2009

Questions.

Seamus has been asking a lot of questions lately - and they're not easy ones. They're not questions like: What is Yoda's home planet? or If we used all the water on earth, could we put out the sun? Nooooo. Not like that.
More like, (holding up a blue cup) Why is this blue?
What is that? Does he mean, why is it blue at a molecular level? Is it a philosophical question? Is it linguistic - why do we call everything from azure to cobalt "blue"? Does he wonder why I've randomly chosen to give him the blue cup instead of some other color? Is there a pattern? Do I have an ulterior motive? Is he asking how our eyes physiologically detect the color blue? Is he being ironic? Can a six-year-old possibly understand irony? Is he asking how and why the two of us have come to exist in the same space and time as this singular and amazing blue cup? I don't know.
So I stand in the kitchen blinking at him, and then I say something motherly, like: Do you want milk, or what?

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Do babble on in the most animated language you can muster. I love hearing from you.