Having New Eyes...

Marcel Proust said: The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. I like that.

Being with your grandson is a lot like having new eyes. Zach is an amazing kid. When you are with him, he gives you a constant commentary on everything around him - flowers, rocks, fences, ants. It is truly like seeing through three year old eyes.

While the adults played Bang, Zach and I played hide and seek. I was carrying Halle (who suffered the running and hiding without complaint). Zach didn't care if we hid in the same place every time. Often, it was a necessity. He would start out counting slowly, but 4-10 went in a flash - and I have a feeling he had his eyes open after 2. If we found a particularly good place (like behind the shower curtain), he would use it the next time. The joy was not in finding a place the other person couldn't find, but in playing the game - even if you knew exactly where the other person was going to hide. Each time you were found it was like the first - only better as you didn't have to search so long.

After a while we went outside to throw the frisbee. Throw after throw received his commentary: That was a tricky one. Whoa. Go get it. Don't throw in the garden anymore. I can't find it. That was a good one. Oh, it went down the window. Daddy, can you get my frisbee?

At one point, the inevitable happened, the frisbee went over the fence. The three of us went through the house and out to the side yard. As we retrieved the frisbee and headed to the backyard, some little neighbor friends called to him. Without hesitation, he responded, "I'm playing with Grandma." It was cute. Content in the moment.

Perhaps that is the secret of happiness - to see everything with new eyes and be content in the moment.