The Corps of Discovery

I read a while ago that the famous exploration westward after Napoleon sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States early in the nineteenth century, led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, called itself the "Corps of Discovery."

I was thinking about how this applied to us as my grandson Noah and I embarked on our own journey of discovery in my stationary car (its newness to Noah and the many gadgets inside make the normal locomotion associated with a car a secondary consideration), a walk around the neighborhood to witness the controlled destruction of Coolidge Ave., and scouting for animal lawn ornaments.

At my age, I've experienced much of what I wanted to experience, and a few things that I hadn't wanted, so that although I'm not jaundiced, daily surprises are fewer for me. But when I'm with Noah, discoveries abound.

There's a double benefit for me: I look at the most ordinary things through new eyes, and I am able to take my experience and teach him something. And the reward is, well, consistently amazing. He has a memory that is unmatched, and we can refer back to something that happened even months ago and he remembers.

Our fun and friend relationship as he moved toward the toddler stage began with drumming with our hands; any hard surface would do. The first time I pounded out a quick rhythm, his face lit up as if he'd just discovered the Louisiana Territory. We still drum together, facing each other, on the phone with each other, and he always lights up.

And I am proud and pleased to have briefly entertained this kid filled with gobs of potential, who will someday so far surpass what I've accomplished in my life, that I'm proud simply to have made his acquaintance and to spend a little time with him. And I think the feeling is mutual.

If he's initially wary of something like airplanes flying through the sky, we work on it until his curiosity and sense of adventure win him over, and we explore airplanes.

Yesterday as we watched the road destruction on Coolidge Ave., I pointed to a porta-potty that the construction workers used, and explained it to him. Later at home, when we talked about with Amma, I mentioned that he pointed it out to me after seeing it for the first time a half-hour earlier.

Amma asked him what color it was. Strange question, but she's been working with him on his colors for a few weeks now. He said "pink," and I thought, bad guess, but nice try, kid. And then I recalled that the facility was a light red shade, what some might characterize as the color pink. Color me impressed. I still think it was a lucky guess, but you never can tell with this kid.

A couple weeks ago, I thought about telling him about the Ford Oval logo on all Ford vehicles. I pointed first to my Taurus, and then to his Dad's Taurus. There's an oval on the front and the back of the car, and he walked to the back of the car to show me the other logo. Later, inside the car, he pointed to the Ford oval in the middle of the steering wheel. I had not noticed it until he pointed it out to me.

On the way home after babysitting, we passed a Ford dealership with a tall sign featuring the Ford oval that Amma pointed out to me. And I thought, wow, would Noah be impressed. And then I thought, shoot, imagine taking him to a Ford dealership!

Dozens of cars and trucks to sit in, a shiny dealership showroom to walk around, salespeople to talk with, engines to admire. The Corps of Discovery has a plan for next week.