according to three-year-olds

"when noah was on the ark, he was safe, because who was taking care of him?"

"his wife." 

why not?

recently at borders, i was skimming a novel i'd just picked up when a man sat down in the chair across from mine.  i happened to look up and make eye contact; he took this as an opening and struck up a conversation.  it went something like this: 

him: what are you reading?

me: Lunch in Paris.  [pause] about a girl who has lunch in paris, and ends up falling in love and living there. 

him: so why aren't you going out and living it instead of just reading about it?!?

me: well... i have to get up and go to work in the morning. 

he continued by telling me that he is an artist who travels the world, giving painting demonstrations, making money, and having fun.  

so... what brings you to winston??

a mistake. 

oh, right, got it. 

we briefly touched on a random assortment of topics, including the materialism of the american culture (we are living like caged birds, he says), the bible, and the photos taken on the moon, but always returning to his preferred way of life.  

in the span of 45 minutes, he hinted repeatedly, in no uncertain terms, that i should follow suit.

he told me he's planning a trip to egypt to paint the pyramids (the dates aren't set yet). 

as Christ said, follow me, and leave everything behind.

i'm sorry, that's creepy.  and ... no. 

after he left, i went home, and the next morning, i got up and went to work.  i spent the evening with family and with friends.  

i do love travelling, but i also love being here. 

life lessons: for the birds

the weekend's warmer weather has me feeling like spring may have sprung, and i've been inspired to be out and about in the yard more than usual.  while refilling the bird feeder, i discovered: 

plastic bird feeders?  never a good idea.  

***

and thanks to my roomie who surprised me with this picture on my camera!

life lessons: always peel the orange

yesterday afternoon, as my charge and i were enjoying our snacks, she became very interested in my orange, which i was happy to share.  rather than peel the orange, i'd begun to slice it in thin semi-circles.  i showed her how to eat it by biting into the fruit and pulling it away from the rind.
unfortunately, she didn't understand.  instead, she put the whole slice, rind and all, into her mouth and started chewing.  i didn't know what to do.  i figured that she'd spit it out, especially since she tends to be picky about what she eats, and rind isn't exactly edible.  i tried to explain; i tried to get her to spit it out.  i kept hoping; she kept chewing.  then, she swallowed.  she'd eaten the rind.
she reached over for more.
i peeled the rest of that orange.