Each day is a whirlwind where sticks become swords,
negotiations for screen time are serious business, and the boys find their way
into some of the wonders of Montana. Yesterday we hiked the Daisy Narrows with
Alicia and her grandson, Audun. The three boys talked all at once while playing
the same fantasy game as we walked down the trail. After lunch we dipped
feet into the icy water, making our way through the narrows. At the end the
boys built a dam across the creek, watching the water rise. How many children or
adults have done this? I know I’ve been seduced by moving water and the
building potential of rocks. The immediacy and concreteness of the task pulled
the boys from their fantasies into a world of physics and beauty. Then Cashen
called out in a sci-fi voice THE ROCK OF WISDOM as he identified the rock they
used to measure how high the water was getting behind the dam. Three
grandparents sat on the shore and laughed; maybe fantasy and reality are not so
far apart.
