Grandma Henke

This is actually something I learned March 24, 2006. It is graduating from my journal to my blog because it introduces you to two clearly brilliant children.

       It is such a good thing that Chloe (oh excuse me, she has asked to be called Colenso) and Steele were to walk to my house from school today at 2:30. I learned some very amazing discoveries from these two brilliant minds that are only ages 5 1/2 and (almost) 7! When they didn?t show up on time, I got into my car to go searching; a couple of blocks away I saw them walking, heads close together and staring at something in Steele?s open hand. When I pulled up they were eager to share what they had found and give me a lesson on ?Rock Bugs; the meanest and the most ferociousest of all the bugs in the world today, and you just never know when they are around because they look exactly like regular rocks?. I didn?t know such a bug existed!

I was also unaware these ferocious bugs can grow to be any size. The one they found (in plain sight), while they were walking home from school, was ?a baby one; about the size and shape of a jelly bean ? but ? the bigger they get the meaner they are ? and they can get as big as mansions ? or even bigger than mansions sometimes?. I took another look at this baby rock bug they were in such awe over and they were right ? it did look exactly like a regular rock. And what makes them so mean and ferocious is that ?they huck rocks really fast out of their bodies ? any part of their body, the sides, or the top or the back or anywhere ? and in fact, even a rock out of the size of the one this size ? can kill you, Grandma?. (This last part was said in a whisper.) And even in a softer whisper came, ?and the ones from the gigantic ones are like huge boulders!? I whispered back, ?Well, how in the world did you find out about these Rock Bugs? I know I have never heard of them before and feel very lucky to still be alive.?

Steele said, ?Chloe learned about them in school today and when I was in Kindergarten I learned about them too.? I told them I was quite impressed and asked, ?Chloe, what exactly did your teacher say about them? Did she have one at school?? Her teacher did have one at school, but Chloe breathlessly told me that her teacher didn?t actually know as much about them as Steele did. I asked Chloe if what her teacher had showed her was called a ?fossil ? and she said ?YES! That IS what my teacher called it!? ?Aha!? I thought with relief! I attempted to explain what a fossil was ? but the kids were so excited about their Rock Bug I just didn?t have the heart to burst their bubbles. I told them to be careful where they left their little Bug because I already had a very sore shoulder and I surely didn?t want a surprise attack on it. They left it in the ashtray of my car ? I hope it doesn?t explode!

Out of curiosity, I asked Steele what he had learned today at school. He said he learned about the world and how huge it is. He explained that his teacher said it was as big as at least 20,000 mansions. I was impressed, since I had never thought of the world in comparison to 20,000 mansions. I asked him how big the mansions would have to be, and he told me they are at least as big as the mountains and some of them are even ?huger? than that. Steele is a walking encyclopedia.

We went to McDonald?s and got us some lunch and then went to the ?Purple Park? in Ivins for a picnic. It was fun to see them playing with the other kids at the playground and it wasn?t long before Steele was explaining the wonders of nature to a little boy about 5 years old who was following him around and apparently amazed at his knowledge. Chloe came running up to Steele and I from the swings to show me a little red rock and said, ?Grandma look at this!? and held it up to the sun so I could see it sparkle. I started to explained to her that it was ?called sandstone and was made up of lots of little particles of sand that ??, and Steele interrupted me and said, ?Grandma, that?s not exactly how it happens.?

He explained, ?See that Red Mountain? It wasn?t always a Red Mountain like it is now. It used to be just sand and was a desert like the hottest desert there ever was. Then one day there was a big wind and it swooshed all the red sand up in the form of the Red Mountain and held it there ? and then fortunately (and he did use the word fortunately) it happened to rain a mixture of water and chemicals that stuck all the sand together permanently like you see it today.? I said, ?Steele, I am speechless!? He said, ?Thank you, Grandma? and ran off to the slides.

At 4:00, I got them together and explained it was time for them to go home and you should have seen their two little sad faces. ?We don?t want to go home! We don?t want to go home! We want to go to your house!? I thought to myself, ?How wonderful it is to be so loved?, and they added, ?You have an Xbox and a Computer!? Thank goodness we are up to date on our technology! As we were getting out of the car at my house I said, ?Colenso, (I TRY to remember to call her Colenso but it is hard having known her as Chloe for 5 ? years) will you gather up that garbage for me?? She said, ?Grandma, thank you for calling me Colenso. You are the only one who remembers. I even forget myself!?