On the Road Again

As I sit enjoying the luxury of the William Penn Omni Hotel lobby in downtown Pittsburgh I can almost imagine Eloise skipping by, frantically followed by hotel managers and nanny. But it definitely is not quite pink enough to suit that fantasy.

Why am I now in downtown Pittsburgh, you may say? This afternoon a young man that I have watched grow from infancy is marrying a Pittsburgh gal. The big doings are here and we are happy to celebrate with our wonderful friends, Brian and Cathy Thomas, as Zeb marries the girl of his dreams. Fun. Young. And hard to believe that all these kids are this old!!

Merrick was dropped off en route at some friends' house. There he will join Jake, a seven year old, in creating a fantasy world of their own. He was somewhat excited, to say the least. As we traveled (our friends live in the Rochester area) I pointed out the landscape and mentioned that Jake lived in such a pretty area. "Yes," he agreed. "But I hope he doesn't live on a farm."

"Oh, and why is that?" I posed the question, determined to coax him into verbalizing his feelings. That can be so hard for kids and I thought this would be a good opportunity to expand his abilities. As expected, he hemmed and hawed. (Is that how you spell that? What a strange phrase!!) So I prompted again, "Merrick, tell me why you said that. What were you thinking?"

"Well, first of all, I don't really like the smell of farms." Pause.

"And it's hard to catch the animals. They always get away again." Pause again.

"And one last thought," he said with confidence. "People on farms don't have many screens... You know, computers and TVs and stuff."

Well, so much for wondering if he could verbalize his feelings and thoughts. No trouble there. Nope. He's thinking, for sure...