Making Memories

Sometimes it's the little things that make the best memories...

Yesterday morning we experienced a lunar eclipse. I'm not exactly what you'd call an astronomy buff, but I enjoy looking up to the heavens on a clear evening, and I appreciate celestial beauty. (<--I'm talking about you, wifey-poo!) Knowing that the eclipse isn't something you can see every day, I decided to ask the kids if they would like to see it. The little 'un jumped at the chance. The older daughter asked when it was going on, and when she found out that she'd have to get up early to see it, she kind of rolled her eyes and said "Yeah, right." The next morning the alarm went off, and I got up, walked out to the back yard, and determined that we'd have to drive out of town in order to see the moon. I went to younger daughter's room and gently woke her up. "Hey kid," I whispered, gently shaking her. She popped right up. "Yeah?" "I can't see the moon from the yard, so we'll need to go into the country to see it. You still wanna go?" "Yeah." It still surprises me how quickly and easily she wakes up in the morning. A total contrast to her big sister. Anyway, she got dressed, and off we went. We hit every red light on the way out of town, so a normally five-minute trip took us fifteen minutes. But once we were out of town, we pulled over on the side of a gravel road, climbed in the bed of the truck and just hung out.

"Those crickets are loud, daddy. Why are they so loud and annoying?" I explained how crickets are actually rubbing their legs together, and that the chirping is a mating call.

"Why is the moon red tonight?" I told her about light refraction...

"Where did you learn all this stuff?"

"Your old dad knows a lot of crazy stuff, kid. Wanna hit BK for some breakfast?"

"Yeah."