Patricia Harrelson

Andrea sent this email about 5 year old Huckleberry:

so tonight and last night i put huck to bed. his meandering
conversation was so amazing to me on both nights that i spent the
whole time making mental notes and committed to write it all down the second i left the room. here are the bits i remember.

somewhere in a long conversation about fencing:

h: i am scared of sword fights.
a: yeah but sword fights are a sport now; they wear shields and
masks. no one is killed.

which led somehow to bullet-proof vests and me explaining that really only police or people in war wear them.

h: do i know any one who is in war?
a: grandpa (shannon) was in a war.
h: i think what would be safest for the world would be if there were
no weapons.
a: there is a country called japan, you know like in “my neighbor totoro,” where the dads take deep baths with the kids and the people all have black hair and eat sushi for breakfast and roll out mats to sleep on at night, you know…japan? the people there all decided that they wouldn’t have any weapons.
h: i think everyone in sonora should move to japan.

h: if you kill someone, you go to jail forever, that’s fair. if someone kills your dad, it is fair to kill their dad because you don’t have a dad forever and they should also not have a dad forever.

h: you told me last year that santa is pretend, but all the kids tell me he’s actually real.

h: santa is a city gnome.

h: dad told me cannibals are not pretend. (thanks pippi longstocking).

h: if you need a son, or if you need another daughter, you could always grow one in your belly if you want.

i recommend to all people that they put huck to bed soon to get in on this.