Jessica and the Acorns

October 22, l997

When my granddaughter, Jessica, was about l5 months old she and I took a leisurely walk through the neighborhood. I call it leisurely because I was retired and had plenty of time with nowhere to go for the whole afternoon. J ess had nowhere to go either. Jess was slowly pushing her carriage into the neighbor’s driveway and over the lawns. She was in no hurry. She had plenty of time. As we ambled down the road we made sure we took the time to socialize with all the dogs who came to greet us. If they took the time to bark and sniff us it seemed only polite for us to take the time to talk with them and to pet them. .We had plenty of time. The dogs seemed to be a lot friendlier when we did. Jess loved to pet the dogs. A few neighbors invited us into their yard and seemed very happy to show us their gardens, their bird houses and any pets they had.

As Jess and I moved away from the houses on the street we became aware of the animals in the woods and bushes. I showed Jess the non-stop activity of a family of ants on a tree who seemed to be transporting food for the winter. Jess watched intently as the ants raced up and down the tree. For Jess this was not watching television. This was the real thing. Jess put her finger in the path of the ants and watched in amazement as the ants climbed over her finger . Jess loved the ants.

We still had plenty of time so we wandered down the street where we saw a group of crows in the trees who seemed to be watching us. Jess and I watched and listened as the noisy crows went about their business of eating and talking. Next, we watched squirrels leaping from branch to branch and listened for the birds hiding in the bushes. Jess seemed to be rea lly enjoying herself.

We made our turn and began to wander toward Jess’s house. Jess walked onto another lawn and found an old oak tree with hundreds of acorns under it. She sat down and began to investigate. Soon she found that the broken acorns fit the end of her finger like a ring. With the new ring on her finger she decided it was time to move on so we began our way home. But she changed her mind and returned to the oak tree and the acorns. I was in no hurry so I sat down and watched as she began to try on her new rings. After a little bit Jess was up again and heading for home again. But I guess she was not quite ready to go. She turned around and rejoined the acorns. We both sat quietly. No one was talking. Once in a while Jess would look at me and smile and show me her fingers with the acorns.

As Jess was playing with the acorns I began to smile to myself. I began to think back to the time when I was a busy parent with three young and busy sons. We all had so many places we had to be and so many things we had to do. I coundn’t remember hanging out with them individually with nothing to do and nowhere to go. We always seemed to be behind schedule and in such a rush to keep up. What was it that was so important? This was such a pleasure. Why didn’t we spend more time like this? No schedule. No tickets. No lines to wait in. No traffic. No parking. No money. No crowds. No noise. No hassle. Just the two of use hanging out. Enjoying some quiet time together.

Well, eventually Jess and I did return home. Jess’s Mom , Susan, asked Jess if she had a good time. Jess didn’t say anything. She just smiled and showed Mom her new ring. Then Jess smiled at me and I knew we both had a great time. For busy parents with busy kids in a very busy world is it possible to find quiet, hanging -out time together?