Liam's Monday

First, this: he steps out the door this morning, glances down, and freezes.

"I think," he says, "that that's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." He races to get a book to save it forever. I take a picture. He closes the book then tells me everything he knows about the lamination process. "We could make it a Christmas tree ornament--we could make a hundred of them!" I admit it's a cool notion.

Then the annual Halloween parade at school. Two kids out of the entire lot of hundreds had made their own costumes. The rest of us blew $40+ apiece and bought into the commercial scene. I'd like to promise that next year will be different, but what are the chances?

The parents all looked alike, too--all but one set: a retired Army guy and his wife. He was in a cheap suit--you don't see a lot of cheap suits around here--and she was decked out in all sorts of pumpkin/witch paraphernalia, including skull-and-crossbones tights and blinking jewelry. They waved madly and hollered their son's name when he passed by, and he glanced at them and turned away. I like them both very much. Like their kids, too--even the little shit who wouldn't own them in public.