Sperm and bowhead.

These were the names Xir gave to two Lego men he used to play with (Sperm and Bowhead are both varieties of whale, apparently.) This led to fun situations like Xir yelling out on the playground "MAMA! GET OVER HERE QUICK! I LOST SPERM IN THE SAND!"

He was reminiscing about good ol' Sperm on the bus today, much to the disgruntlement of the lady sitting across from us. This gave me a chance to practice: don't take it personally. don't make assumptions. the world is ending so it doesn't really matter.

We were riding to the Fowler museum. At 10:00 a.m. it had occurred to me that whenever interesting events or outings for the boys crop up, I do a quick cost/benefit analysis (lunches to pack, stuff to schlep, probability of meltdowns) and usually end up demurring. That isn't fair. After all, these are their LIVES. So off to the museum we went.

I thought that Nick Cave's Soundsuits would be of interest, but they elicited just one comment: "do you think it's a real bear under those sweaters?" The exhibit that fascinated Xir was the collection of stone-age artifacts. He has been angling for an obsidian knife for quite a while now and approached one of the guards to ask whether there were any items made of obsidian to be found in the museum. He chose the right guard! This fellow's eyes widened as he pulled a cloth from his pocket. It contained an amythest, black tourmaline, and a garnet: minerals we now know LOTS about. (Black tourmaline, according to the John the Guard, helps to defray the negative effects of cell phone usage. I'll never have to worry about THAT, seeing as how my cellphone doesn't work within a 1/2 mile radius of my house.) This man saw a potential acolyte and he was recruiting, hardcore, for the next generation of rock enthusiasts. He and Xir talked for at least 15 minutes. At one point Xir told him, with great earnestness, "well I am not going to collect rocks when I am a man. When I am a man I am going to help the Earth. But not just the Earth. The humans on the Earth, too." This inspired John the Guard to make Xir a gift of his amythest. Xir was suitably awed.

We left the museum and Xir held his new crystal up to the sun. I waited...

"Mama! Do you think I could make a knife out of this?"

Yep. There it was.

We watched a couple of dancers twisting themselves up and down a scarf they'd suspended from a tree. We rolled down a hill or two. We learned that it is not okay to spear one's brother with an amethyst ("But mom, John said this crystal had good energy so it was like I was giving good energy to him!") And I learned that outings, despite all the initial energy outlay, are well worth it. As long as I remember to keep the pace slow, and don't expect to accomplish anything, the day unfolds with a beauty very different from that I experienced on Friday. But it is beauty, nonetheless. And a beauty that touches three lives, not just one.