In the Moment

Making a peach cobbler yesterday, I couldn't help but fondly reminisce about doing the same thing on our vacation in Texas last week. My little granddaughters, Maddie, 4, and Anne-Marie, 6, were helping me, Maddie handing me one by one the gorgeous peaches to be peeled. When they were all sliced and sweetened and put into the baking pan, I showed them how to make a lattice topping.

They watched intently as I cut the rolled-out pie crust into strips, curious about the whole process. "Over and under," I instructed, guiding little fingers that grasped the pastry strips. "In and out," I murmured, as they patiently took turns alternating the rows until a work of art gradually emerged in front of them. A little crooked, maybe, but still a work of art!

We had bought so many of the lovely peaches when we were at Sam's Club with our son Jamie that I was afraid the huge cobbler would not be eaten, but it was so delicious the pan was empty by the time we went home a few days later.

Spending time with the girls in little unguarded moments like these provided insights into their personalities and made us realize how much they had expanded in their minds and ideas since we saw them several months ago. One day we went to a children's museum with them, and thankfully, their father was along, because we couldn't have kept up with them. Climbing on towers and racing to this or that activity, they were powerhouses of energy!

In one exhibit there was a lesson on the development of a chicken. A chart with illustrations of the chick's growth from egg to hatching was on the wall, and several eggs were lying under a plastic dome on a table. Maddie was looking at them when a boy of about eight came up and proclaimed, "Those are not real eggs!" to which Maddie responded, "Yes, they are real!"

This went on for several minutes. The boy with the jet-black hair spoke very articulately and knowledgeably with a bit of a foreign accent as he maintained, "They are made out of a special material that just makes them look real!" Maddie held her ground, arguing that they were indeed real. About that time, a staff member walked up and said some had hatched recently, and these were about to hatch! I was proud of my granddaughter!

These memories warm my heart even as the baking cobbler had warmed my kitchen after I got home.