Sunday I embark on a truly whimsical three-day trip helping a friend help his brother get elected as selectman in their Massachusetts hometown, then golfing and oystering on Martha's Vineyard.
I'm told the oysterman with whom we're staying doesn't have the Internet.
Something I'll be thinking about while I'm gone:
The other night four-year-old daughter Scout began making proclamations:
"I don’t realize the world. I don’t understand the world."
"I think about bad things and I can't help it."
"I don’t know about this world."
At our prompting, she ticked off, as if alphabetically, a number of things that seemed to her bad, or confusing: a scary scene in The Lion King ... the story of Matilda, where the parents send their kid to live with a teacher ... people putting chairs out in the street (in Chicago, we do this to save parking spots we’ve shoveled out after blizzards).
And the neighbor Sharon’s dog Sally.
"Sally eats poop!" Scout said. "Frozen poop."
“Why do dogs eat poop?”
Comments (18)
Why does Crescenzo do haiku?
Posted by Will Daniel | April 4, 2008 7:31 AM
Posted on April 4, 2008 07:31
See, this is why I LOVE CHILDREN SO MUCH! They give us big, self-important adults, so often busy with our big, self-important issues, a much needed shot of perspective at what usually turns out to be the perfect time.
I wonder right along with Scout: Why DO dogs eat poop?
Have a great weekend David!
Posted by Kristen | April 4, 2008 7:54 AM
Posted on April 4, 2008 07:54
David, Give Scout a hug for me. As Kristen, said, children remind us what is really important in life.
Posted by Susan | April 4, 2008 8:20 AM
Posted on April 4, 2008 08:20
OK, the cynic in me can't let this go. Dogs eat poop because they're preparing for careers in corporate communications.
Greg
Posted by Greg Marsh | April 4, 2008 9:11 AM
Posted on April 4, 2008 09:11
"Why do dogs....?" leads to madness. Here's what my dog has taught me: patience and the value of living in the moment. "Why" doesn't even figure into it.
Posted by John Whiteside | April 4, 2008 9:12 AM
Posted on April 4, 2008 09:12
Did you tell Scout that adult humans pay lots of money for the privilege of eating raw oysters, head cheese, and haggis?
Posted by Jane Greer | April 4, 2008 9:16 AM
Posted on April 4, 2008 09:16
Raw oysters -- the person who first took a look at one of those and decided to pop it in his or her mouth must have been near death from starvation. They make poop seem appetizing.
Greg
Posted by Greg Marsh | April 4, 2008 9:30 AM
Posted on April 4, 2008 09:30
Greg,
Well, think about it. (I have.) Who had the bright idea of eating what comes out of a hen's butt? All I can think is they saw other animals doing it.
As for Scout's questions (4??? Wasn't she 2 a couple of weeks ago?), these two are my constant refrain:
"I don’t realize the world. I don’t understand the world."
"I think about bad things and I can't help it."
(And, being an adult, I think about the bad things that have happened to me and wonder why.)
Posted by Diane | April 4, 2008 11:48 AM
Posted on April 4, 2008 11:48
Yes, but you notice that with haggis copious amounts of alcohol are usually part of the deal.
Posted by Diane | April 4, 2008 11:51 AM
Posted on April 4, 2008 11:51
"with haggis copious amounts of alcohol are usually part of the deal"
Well, that explains one of those nasty dishes, anyway.
Greg
Posted by Greg Marsh | April 4, 2008 2:44 PM
Posted on April 4, 2008 14:44
Greg, I totally LOVE raw oysters. You must not have grown up near an ocean, otherwise you'd know how good they can be (with lots of lemon, crusty bread, and chilled chablis). I also loved your "why dogs eat poop/so they can prep for a comms career" comment. I laughed so hard at that, I woke up one of my kids. David, I totally LOVE Scout. She has her dad's flair for expression and ability to think for herself. For all our sakes, if not hers, I hope she'll grow up to be a writer, too. - Amy
Posted by Amy | April 4, 2008 9:23 PM
Posted on April 4, 2008 21:23
"It was a brave man who first ate an oyster."
—Mark Twain
(I think)
Posted by John Cowan | April 6, 2008 1:15 PM
Posted on April 6, 2008 13:15
"chilled chablis"—see, booze makes both raw oysters and haggis edible.
Posted by Diane | April 9, 2008 6:43 AM
Posted on April 9, 2008 06:43
Yeah, Diane, come to think of it, the booze does seem an integral part of the raw-oyster experience...
Posted by Amy | April 9, 2008 7:41 AM
Posted on April 9, 2008 07:41
Okay, Murray, we've been "chewing" on this one long enough. Aren't you back yet?
Posted by Eileen | April 9, 2008 11:52 AM
Posted on April 9, 2008 11:52
I'm a Maryland boy, born and bred. Love me some steamed blue crabs, and all sorts of other denizens of the deep, but raw oysters? No appeal there whatsoever. Now, if you bread 'em and fry 'em, then you're moving into the edible arena. I've always said that ANYTHING becomes palatable with a sufficient amount of breading and frying. Calamari is another perfect example. And, of course, washing them down with a beer or three only enhances the experience.
Posted by Greg Marsh | April 9, 2008 3:19 PM
Posted on April 9, 2008 15:19
Hey, David, tell Scout that dogs eat poop because they're responding to the primal need to have enough contact with germs that they don't get sick so often as today's little girls and boys who live in an antiseptic, antiobacterially-cleansed world and get way too many awful ear and throat infections as a result (did I work for Am Med Assn too long?). Also, my dog Cooey asked me to ask you to tell Scout that frozen poop IS -- well -- the popsickle of poop, as 'twere.
Posted by Liz Mitchell | April 10, 2008 3:47 AM
Posted on April 10, 2008 03:47
When my now-16-year-old son was in kindergarten, he announced that he did not want to be cool. He wanted to be like me.
Posted by Robert J Holland, ABC | April 10, 2008 1:34 PM
Posted on April 10, 2008 13:34