fatdavid8

Apologies all around, once again, as I am still sans computer and must mooch off M.F. and her laptop, hence the dearth of journal updates. In order to tide us all over, let's have just a short anecdote before M.F.'s battery runs down:

A few weekends ago, a junior colleague, J.C., invited the MausFrau and me, our friend and colleague Mayday, her dour husband, and their two sons, the Buddha-boys (with their gi-normous noggins, they're more like Easter-Island-boys, but that's not as much fun to say) over to have dinner with her, her husband, and their fraternal-twin sprogs, Voluble Ben and Anna the Silent.

The dinner went swimmingly, and the children played well together, with a minimum of crying and/or biting. During dessert, J.C. showed us pictures of her wee ones, from their current age (three) back to their infancy, and Voluble Ben provided running commentary and explanations of dubious accuracy for the content of the photos. Anna the Silent mostly lived up to her name and just watched.

However, toward the end of the photo-album, J.C. found a picture of the two tots in their first crib, and the following exchange resulted:

Voluble Ben (pointing): "That one's me. I was a baby then."

J.C.: "Actually, that one's Anna. You're the baby on the left with its mouth open." (broad wink for the adult audience).

Voluble Ben (pointing): "Oh, yeah. That one there is me. I was a baby then."

We all pondered the picture of the two tots in their crib for a moment, reflecting upon whatever it is one reflects upon at such moments. Then Anna the Silent spoke up: "Mommy? Why did you keep us in a cage?"

Why indeed, dear girl, why indeed!