The Mind of a 3 Year Old

How does the mind of a 3 year old work? Last night we had dinner ‘in family’ which we do at least a couple of nights per week and increasingly more often as the kids get older. Vaishali prepared B. coli (my term of art for that foul weed), spaghetti with sauce and a variety of meats. She baked sweet Italian, hot Italian and turkey sausage as well as some turkey cutlet. When dishing-out the dinner, all the girls were required to have spaghetti and B. coli but could have the meat of their choice—most common being the sweet Italian sausage. Jemma was the last to be served meat. “What kind of sausage would you like,” asked the attentive mother? “I want the dessert sausage,” Jemma replied. The carebear clock ticked a couple of seconds, and I realized first what the 3 year old meant: “She means the sweet Italian sausage Waish,” I informed my wife. The little girl figured that if it is called “sweet”, then it must actually be sweet and since desserts are always sweet it is therefore a dessert sausage. Well, why not? We explained to her that it is only called “sweet” because it is not spicy like the “hot” sausage—which is still spicy even when eaten cold. dbp

Biased or incompetent?

The bible says, “…seek and thou shall find.” I have little doubt that this saying is true, in that to find something you first must be looking for it. It does not necessarily hold however that one will find every thing sought-after. Perhaps this little gem of obviousness should be conveyed to the Washington Post: In a story from yesterday by Dana Milbank and Walter Pincus Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, October 25, 2005; A03

Wilson's central assertion -- disputing President Bush's 2003 State of the Union claim that Iraq was seeking nuclear material in Niger -- has been validated by postwar weapons inspections.

It is hard to imagine how postwar inspections can show that Iraq had not sought uranium from Niger, only that Iraq apparently did not acquire any. A further minor gripe: President Bush said in his famous 12 words that Iraq sought uranium from Africa. For sure, Niger does reside in Africa, but there are lots of other countries in Africa and Mr. Wilson only visited Niger. It thus seems that even if he ruled out the possibility of Iraq looking at Niger as a source of yellowcake, he has hardly proven anything about the veracity of Mr. Bush. Update: Sigh, the media will never get this story right. Here is commentary from April 26 2007 Opinion Journal

The Associated Press casually slips a falsehood into a story about congressional efforts to investigate the administration: By 21-10, the House oversight committee voted to issue a subpoena to Rice to compel her story on the Bush administration's claim, now discredited, that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa. The New York Times, in a story posted on its Web site yesterday, similarly referred to the claim as "discredited," but this reference later was edited out. Reuters refers to the "administration's warnings, later proven false, that Iraq had sought uranium from Niger for nuclear arms." In fact, the claim has not been disproved or discredited at all, as the nonpartisan Factcheck.org explained in 2004: After nearly a six-month investigation, a special panel reported to the British Parliament July 14 that British intelligence had indeed concluded back in 2002 that Saddam Hussein was seeking to buy uranium. The review panel was headed by Lord Butler of Brockwell, who had been a cabinet secretary under five different Prime Ministers and who is currently master of University College, Oxford. The Butler report said British intelligence had "credible" information--from several sources--that a 1999 visit by Iraqi officials to Niger was for the purpose of buying uranium: Butler Report: It is accepted by all parties that Iraqi officials visited Niger in 1999. The British Government had intelligence from several different sources indicating that this visit was for the purpose of acquiring uranium. Since uranium constitutes almost three-quarters of Niger's exports, the intelligence was credible. The Butler Report affirmed what the British government had said about the Niger uranium story back in 2003, and specifically endorsed what [President] Bush said [in that year's State of the Union Address] as well. The erstwhile Iraqi regime's quest for uranium appears to have been in vain. But the claim that Iraq didn't seek uranium is simply false. News organizations that repeat it are serving, wittingly or unwittingly, as propaganda outlets for those who oppose the U.S. war effort.

Day 6: We Go to Riverfront Park

Riverfront Park, the site of the 1974 World's Fair hasn't changed in any way that I can tell since the late 1970's. The park is a great place to relax on any day, but a sunny Summer weekday when there are no crowds is best. Just large perfect lawns and lots of river frontage. The Spokane River divides into two channels and three of the four banks are inside the park.

Ecology was the theme of the 1974 World's Fair.

A mountain sheep welcomes us. I remember this out of the way sculpture from back when I passed by this spot in 1974--while the World's Fair was going on. I also had my tonsils removed that summer. I only remember that it was that summer since there were fireworks every night at the Fair's closing time and I remember seeing these from Sacred Heart Hospital while I was there.

Crossing into the park

Mom and the girls pause on the bridge ovet the raging Spokane River. It was a good thing we took the picture on the way into the park: A gust of wind blew Surenna's hat off on the way back and it landed on the river bed.

Dahlia makes a new friend.

Dahlia seems to be able to find and treasure a feather no matter where we go.

Run Surenna! Run Jemma! The scary steel girl fitness monster is gonna get you! 

You can't go to Spokane's Riverfront Park and NOT go on The Looff Carousel! I managed to get a ring every time around, except for the time when the brass ring was in place!

The popcorn we got at the carosel was perfect for feeding to the ducks, geese and sea gulls. 

More feeding the foul creatures... 

Playing on the giant Radio Flyer 

Jemma! Hang in there! 

The girls were tired of playing and having their pictiures taken--they want to go home and swim. 

Day 5: We go Huckleberry Picking in Montana

We left Jemma with her Grandma and set-out early for the two hour drive to Montana. This Western slope of the Rocky Mountains location had been where my Dad had been going for the last few years, so we would not be going to any place I had been before. Two hours may seem like a short time to get from Washington to Montana: (For those who are geography-challenged, these two states don't touch each other.) Spokane is only about 30 miles from the Idaho border, Idaho is pretty narrow in it's northern-most part and we went the whole way on I90. The reason we cannot go to the same place every year for huckleberry picking is that there is only a few year's window of high productivity for any given place. The bushes are everywhere up in the mountains but don't bear many berries unless they get lots of sunshine. If an area gets logged-off then there is plenty of sunshine for a few years until the next crop of fir trees start to take over. Huckleberries, both the bush and the fruit, appear much like blueberries and are probably related to one another. There are pretty big differences between them though: As one might expect the wild huckleberries are smaller and harder to harvest than domestic blueberries. Also, the kind of huckleberries we pick only grow up high in the mountains (there are red ones which grow at sea-level, but they are not as sweet or tasty). The flavor of huckleberries is much like that of blueberries--only much more intense. Huckleberries are purple/blue all the way through, unlike blueberries which are green on the inside. Two hours each way seemed at the time like a lot to bear for the pleasure of 3 hours of picking, but in retrospect it was well worth it. Of all the things we did on this trip, Surenna and Dahlia remember this outing as the highlight of the visit out West. When I was growing up, we went picking just about every Summer, but we all saw it as a welcome and enjoyable outing to go on. It was always much cooler up in the mountains and there was always a great view, plus the scent of the alpine meadows was invigorating. The girls loved it for all those reasons and it was their first time, so there was a novelty factor too.

Our girls are enjoying the outing, They have picked a few berries already and they like it. 

We just knew that picking berries would appeal to Dahlia's earthy nature. 

Dahlia dillegently harvests her berries. 

Taking their lunch-break from the hard work of huckleberry picking. 

The towers must be around a hundred feet tall, but the hillside is so steep that you are closer to the top of the tower from this vantage point than to the base of it. 

We didn't pick right under these powerlines, but we were close enough to hear their constant crackle and hum.