Six Decades Difference Isn't All That Much

My 3-year-old gardening partner sees the world with such fresh eyes. Yesterday he spotted a butterfly as it landed in the yard and asked me to take a photo of it.



I explained to him we might not be able to see it in the photo, due to its camouflage. Did he know what that meant? Yes: "It's the same color as the ground, Grampy."



There wasn't much I could do to improve the view but at least if you look at this long enough and don't blink, you might find the little creature.

As the day went on, I was preparing to leave when my grandson did what is age-appropriate and started acting up and breaking down.

His little sister was having a bad time, too, partly because he hit her a few times, but also because she has a cold.

He clearly was upset that I was leaving, among other things, so I hung around a bit and tried to cheer him up.

We helped his Mom get some food out for dinner -- Portabellas and Talapia and a funny kind of pasta in the shape of small balls. He stopped crying as he looked at the food.

"I love mushrooms, I love fish!" he said in his sweet soprano voice.

"I have an idea, Grand-père," he said, suddenly brightening. "Why don't you stay for dinner? You and I can cook together!"

"Well..." I hesitated. But there really is only one right answer to that kind of suggestion, even though I had been planning to leave before dinner and head home to the City.

He brightened as we got out the olive oil, cumin, pepper, salt, butter, garlic, breadcrumbs, eggs, soy sauce and other ingredients we would need to saute the fish and mushrooms.

He stood on a chair to be high enough to reach the stove top and pour, shake, flip and check the food as it cooked.

He's an especially skilled taster, as long as I make sure the sample is not too hot.

"Blow on it, Grandpa," he says, and he counts to 12. (I don't know why 12.)

The dinner turned out to be quite delicious, despite some serious concentrations of garlic here and there. Thank goodness he is half-French!

After dinner, his Papa arrived, he took a bath, and I took my exit.

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