BARKING DOG, ICE FLOES, CALIFORNIA

You just never know what's going on inside a kid's head.

The other night, while I was watching Emmy's two kiddos, we were all sitting on Clarkie's bed. He was trying to go to sleep and Mae and I were on his bed talking quietly. Actually, Mae was talking and I was rapturously listening. While she was talking, there was a "woof" heard. Here's how it went down...

MAE: What was that?

ME: That was that big dog at the bottom of the hill.

MAE: Oh! Because it sounded kind of scary. And what do you know about the ice floes melting?

ME: ?

MAE: I know they're in Antarctica and there's a problem with them melting, but what is it exactly?

ME: *pausing to shift gears from granny to environmental scientist and thinking, "I can do this, I can do this, I follow Al Gore on Twitter" .... Okay, well, there are ice floes at the Arctic and at the Antarctic. There's a problem with them melting too fast because some people think the climate is changing. But we are in California, so we don't have to worry about it right now. We're safe here.

MAE: *her face visibly relaxes* Oh. But what IS an ice floe and what happens when it melts?

ME: *grabbing a big ball* Here's the Arctic and down here's the Antarctic. Here in the middle is California. See? We're a long way away from the ice floes. They can't reach us here. Especially not tonight. Maybe you should talk to your teacher or mom and dad about them. I just know enough about them to tell you that you are really safe.

MAE: Okay. *relaxes and goes to sleep*

ME: sitting on end of bed, wide-eyed, rocking, and freaked out about the ice floes....