5.01.2007

Different but the same

When I was about 10, we took a vacation to San Francisco. I remember eating a lot of really good sourdough bread, walking a lot, doing homework while they watched some epic Western mini-series, and most of all, Alcatraz. We took the tour (which unfortunately was NOT led by Vickie).

My parents stuck close to the group, while I wandered around in awe at the criminals who'd been there. At one point the guide asked why they only had HOT water showers in Alcatraz. After a while, no one answered, so I raised my hand. "Because if the showers were cold, it would make it easier for an escapee to adjust to the cold water around the island."

As we headed back to the hotel, my mom said "Did you hear that kid answer the question about the showers? What a know it all."

Today, we all took a walk around the neigborhood. We got to the pond, and the kids were looking at the bugs skitter across the top of the water. "Do you think there are any crocodiles in there?" I asked.

"Dad, Crocodiles live in salt water. You are thinking of alligators" says my 4 year old. Now, I have absolutely no idea if that's true. To be honest, my head is so over-filled with Dinosaur knowledge I couldn't even hope to retain anything else. When our kids get into a topic, they really get into a topic. They're learning all about the periods and eras and .... well, they know a bunch of stuff.

I can remember a thought I had in 5th grade. I was looking a book of ancient animals, and I thought "Wow the sabretooth tiger is cool, it has BIG TEETH." My kid knows what a sauropod is, and what a coelyphisis is.

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My job has been taking all my focus for the last month. It's not that I don't have anything to say, it's just that I can't focus on anything other than work for too long. If I wake up in the middle of the night, I'll start thinking about some work issue for a half an hour before I can go back to sleep.

This lack of focus has distracted me from the fact that all the sudden, I'm really actually very old. On Sunday, I will be 38. In a week or so, I will have been married for 15 years. And then I have my 20th HS reunion in a couple months. Not to mention the gray hair, the fact that I have an office.

The good news is that I'm really no more mature than I was about 10 years ago. I have a bobble head doll of a guy who has a chain saw for his hand, and a spider man action figure on my desk.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That amswer at Alkatrez was very smart!!!

Anonymous said...

OOOps, I meant "answer"

Muskyboy said...

Action figure = Doll.

edP said...

You are not old.

AND ASH IS NOT A DOLL!