Fourth year on Planet Earth

"Writers, like children, are not dissuaded by the uselessness of hoarded ordinaries; instead, we cultivate a collector's sense, trying to capture mundane moments on a string of words." --Lorianne DiSabato

She's a happy four today, but the first words she spoke was an anxious, "There's a cockroach on my potty!"

Ahhh, the joys and challenges of having a grandchild in the house that is more home now because she makes it so (leaves her books in her grandparents' room when she has her own mini library, parks her toys on the office desk when she has her own play area, has two rubber duckies in the grownups' bathroom, etc.).

Sometimes my best alternative to staunching the flow of child's things is to take The Wee One for walks and slow climbs, morning or afternoon or both morning and afternoon. It's my way of making her energy dissipate at some point, then she tires enough to want some quiet time. At the same time her Booboo gets some exercise.

Over a week ago, we went sunset chasing again, but we made several stops along the way because she is distracted by textured rocks, a pile of sand, the flowers of Baguio. Like they say, life is a journey, don't be in a rush to get to your destination.

Follow this leader.

Chatting with the flowers and telling them to smile for Booboo's camera

She's a bit obsessive about things (like fallen pine needles) not being in their proper place so she removes them from the rock's crevice and throws them on the ground.

What child can't resist sand? Certainly not ours!

Selecting stones from the rubble with a thought (thoughtfulness) of adding them to her Grumpa Tats' garden. I had to put my foot down because we still had a long way to go and I didn't want the stones falling on her or my exposed toes. Next time I bring a recyclable bag. Photos by Booboo Babeth

In no rush

"...We are much more than we are told. We are much more beautiful." - Eduardo Galeano, author and journalist from Uruguay

If I told this strangely solitary ant what I thought of it, would it care? Or did I get the insect's name right? It may be something else though. I didn't linger long enough to see if it was making its way back to its colony. Or if it's a real loner.

The first to recognize the ant's presence was my grandchild during an afternoon walk when the sun was kind and the fog didn't blur everything else. The Wee One does pay attention sharply to the natural world, and I have become her tag-along documentation assistant, always emerging from that walk enriched by the keenness of her observations.

She's napping as I compose this, and I wonder what new things her practiced eyes will show me later or even tomorrow. This novice that is me is in no rush.