8.24.2006

beautiful minutae

my neighbor and i started carpooling in the morning since our daughters attend the same school. it was my turn today, so i had the pleasure of being in a car with two giggling seven-year-olds for roughly 10 minutes. the things that amuse them are...well, amusing. today's topic turned to voodoo dolls, which evolved somehow from food fights. i just smiled wide as they imitated the ants from a bug's life, saying, "die! die! die!"

we got to school and they were getting ready to get out of the car. i turned around and told them that they were morbid. my neighbor's daughter asked, "what does that mean?" i told both of them to go look it up - it could be their new word for the day. i wonder if they'll even think twice about it.

on my way home, i took my time, trying to be more mindful of what was going on around me. i saw a cloud that looked like a heart with a crack right down the middle. as i pulled into my driveway, i saw about 20 little birds in my neighbors' dug-up flowerbed. i think they were hopping around, looking for bugs. i was struck with a sudden sadness as i wondered how much beauty i had missed out on in my 34 years of being preoccupied by things that really don't matter at all.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I always get a kick of out "A Bug's Life."

Anonymous said...

My son and I (he's 4, I'm 35) often get into rounds of yelling "you fired!" like Tuck & Roll (or whatever the name of the two pill bugs from Bug's Life are called).

Comedy Gold.

Explain "morbid" to them, and then go for bonus points by defining "moribund."

StaceyG said...

Tuck and Roll - they're my favorites!