Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Legos

Those are tweezers. I thought they'd do the trick, as I was more familiar with them.
Turns out, pliers really worked better.

I made up names for the ditties and parts I was unfamiliar with. I found myself asking for 'that guy over there,' the #1 of the 110210, the long flatty, the short squatty, 'the sheep,' and another Zacchaeus.

(He earned his name because I kept saying, with elbow grease and a screwdriver, "Oh, come on. You get down there." Hence, Zacchaeus.)








Everything I needed to know I learned from Legos.

The projects are remarkably similar; there is much to be said for pictorial directions.

"Mommy, I think Daddy will not mind if you use his hammer."

"You know, sugar, I think Daddy would be very proud that I am using his hammer."

The Sonnet and Free Will

"How can I explain it to you? Oh, I know, in your language, you have a form of poetry called the sonnet."

"Yes, yes," Calvin said impatiently. "What's that got to do with the Happy Medium?"

"Kindly pay me the courtesy of listening to me. Mrs. Whatsit's voice was stern, and for a moment, Calvin stopped pawing the ground like a nervous colt. "It is a very strict form of poetry, is it not?"

"Yes."

"There are fourteen lines, I believe, all in iambic pentameter. That's a very strict rhythm or meter, yes?"

"Yes." Calvin nodded.

"And each line has to end with a precise rhythm pattern. And if the poet does not do it exactly this way, it is not a sonnet, is it?"

"No."

"But within this strict form the poet has complete freedom to say whatever he wants, doesn't he?"

"Yes." Calvin nodded again.

"So," Mrs. Whatsit said.

"So what?"

"Oh, do not be stupid, boy!" Mrs. Whatsit scolded. "You know perfectly well what I am driving at!"

"You mean you're comparing our lives to a sonnet? A strict form, but freedom within it?"

"Yes," Mrs. Whatsit said. "You're given the form, but you have to write the sonnet yourself. What you say is completely up to you."

***

"To speak analogously is to admit that you can't say it directly; you really can't say it at all; it's outside the realm of provable fact. But it is not a coincidence that some of the greatest poetry in the English language is in the form of the sonnet. The haiku is one of the most popular forms of poetry today: what could be more structured?"

***

"Without our structure, we would be an imprisoned, amorphous blob of flesh, incapable of response. The amoeba has a minimum of structure, but I doubt if it has much fun."

~ Madeleine L'Engle

Silence

It was several weeks - perhaps months - before I could turn on the radio.

I couldn't bear to hear songs that reminded me of places I had been; I couldn't bear to hear new songs that Robb wouldn't hear.

I have spent a lot of time in silence. It's a gentle companion with plenty of room for me.

It's the invisible guest who needs plenty of time to talk.

I used to bring the party with me; now I bring the quiet.

Sometimes it's the safest place I know.

Bigger Than The Mall

"Mommy, remember when we played horsey and Daddy let me ride on his back?"

"I sure do, kiddo. You and Daddy had lots of fun together."

"Do you think we can play that again when I get to heaven?" His face lit up over the very idea.

"I bet you will, Ty."

"Is heaven big?"

"It is. Bigger than any place we've ever been."

"Bigger than the mall?"

"Yes."

"Bigger than Disney World?"

"Even bigger than Disney World. And even more beautiful."

"And Daddy's there."

"Yep. He's there."