The simple things

When we are trying to imagine elaborate schemes and activities to make Jamie happy, it is often instructive for us to remember the pure, absolute joy that he is so often able to take in the simplest things. When we were in Frederick with Nonni and Diddy, we went for a walk of about three blocks to the playground. Jamie emerged out of the front door, looked around a little and then exclaimed, "Ooooohh, look! A parking meter!" Then looking down the street, "Ooh look! ANOTHER parking meter!" He did this for most of the walk, with undiminished enthusiasm, except when he was distracted by the only slightly less thrilling fire hydrant (which he used to pronouce, appealingly, hy-druh-yant).

Now that we are in Yavont, the details have changed but the love is the same. When we go for walks now, it's "Look! A driveway reflector!" And my favorite is the identification of certain sunken areas in the road in which the dirt is a little darker than the rest. These are each to be inspected and discussed and are called either "dirty dirt" or "dirty holes" (his pronunciation of holes, I'm afraid, renders it with a bit of an "r" sound instead of the "l" --I'll let you say it aloud). On special days the dirty holes have water in them and become muddy holes. We have to tear him away.