Playing racquetball with Uncle Josh.

A couple days ago Arthur suddenly realized he really wanted to play racquetball with Josh, something he had done once before a year ago. So he called Josh and left him a message. And then sat around for a few hours periodically wondering if Josh had heard the message yet. And then eventally, yes! He called and took Art off to play. And then today, a day after playing, Art sat down and wrote Josh this email:

hi josh 
kan i pla racetbul ugan? art

Once upon a time…

Here is a story Lewis told to me today.  I took it down word for word.

"Once upon a time there was a dragon and then he became a knight and then he found a feather and then he became a dragon again and then he made some soup and then the soup became an Arthur and then the Arthur became a dragon and then he rided a scooter and then he wanted to be a mountain climber and then he really was mountain climber and then he wanted LUNCH.  And then he goed back in his cave and he saw his mother and his dad and his babies.  And then he wanted to stand on something with wheels.  And then he taked a sword and a shield and then he put it in the toilet and then he flushed it and then he got all of the strings off the shield and then the strings became ice cream and then I didn't know any more to say."

This story was told in the dining room where Lewis could see the girls' ride-on scooter, a couple of dragon/knight books, some peg boards with rubber bands stretched on them and his brother.

I had a wonderful dream last week.

I woke up and turned to Jessica, “I just had an extraordinary dream.”

I was on a rocky cliff at the ocean’s edge. It was dusk. I was with friends and family and strangers. There was a growing sense of danger, a feeling that we were all going to die. Then, on the horizon, we saw a huge train speeding across the ocean at us. And with it, a tsunami. There was going to be a massive catastrophe and death was inescapable.

I was somehow aware our experience was being collectively broadcast and felt by people around the world. There was international television coverage and everyone was tuned in. They, too, knew their death was moments away. The tsunami perhaps, or something else would kill us all. There wasn’t just a fear of death–there was a certainty of it.

On the rocky cliff I watched in horror as the train plummeted towards us. The rocks were sharp and slippery, it was impossible to run. A split second before the train and tsunami hit I hurled myself into the water in an attempt to escape. As I surfaced to see what happened the tsunami had disappeared and the train had stopped nearby, gently floating. It looked like a huge toy. I could see fake animals and silly creatures in the windows. I realized I had been fooled.

All of the millions of people watching TV had the exact same experience. There was a collective realization that we had been tricked by an incredibly believable production. Tricked into believing that our death was inevitable–seconds away. But no, it was all just an illusion. Our lives were exactly as they had been before. I remember in the dream reading news coverage of far away prisoners killings themselves en masse when they thought their death was coming. But beyond that there was no outbreak of violence.

I learned that behind the ‘show’ was a brilliant director who created what was essentially a fake documentary about the end of the world. The film was designed to make people think what they were watching was live coverage of their impending doom, much like the famous War of the Worlds radio broadcast in 1938. But different in that people watching didn’t just worry something bad was happening or that they might die, the knew they would die. Millions of people felt with absolute certainty they would die within seconds, and then didn’t.

Less than an hour after the fake documentary ended its Facebook site had 52 million fans.  There was a worldwide outburst of joy, unity, gratitude. I felt a deep and real appreciation of life itself. Of just being alive. And how easy to take for granted. To become absorbed by our own individual realities. I’m consumed with my job, my family, my ego. It all seems so vitally important. But is it really? In the dream it felt like we were all brought to a collective higher consciousness. Everyone around the world, at the same time, realized that just being alive is a gift.

For some reason my brother Josh had missed the show. I remember feeling bad for him, that he had missed out on one of the most historic moments in human history. How would Al Qaeda fighters react, how would truly evil people react? Would conflict between countries, between all people end? I don’t know, but it’s a thought.

Kids museum.

My mother bought us a membership for Christmas and we’ve already gone a couple times. These are some photos from last week when we took Netta and Bailey for their first time. There’s an especially fun little room designed for toddlers to crawl and explore.

Climbing the ladder.
Art was constantly transferring his sisters from different areas to show them this or that. 

Bailey.
Lewis, building.

Zoo.

Netta and Art watching the penguins.
Bailey crawled through many tubes and logs.
Turn you back from Netta for one minute and see this.
Look closely and you can tell she’s looking not with her eyes, but with her forehead! amazing.