Talking with Ambrose lately has become a series (barrage? attack?) of questions--primarily, "Why? WHY? WHY?!!!". Oftentimes his questions are nearly impossible to answer, especially given their incessant nature and strong demand for an immediate response. I find it totally endearing and simultaneously feel as though he is tying knots in my brain each time we talk. Anyway, in hopes of not forgetting these strangely charming & fatiguing chats, I've posted one. This is a very real, standard, and unedited conversation that I had with Ambrose while out on a walk a little while ago. We had just passed a woman who was carrying a large bag of clothes. Ambrose: Mama, what is that lady carrying? Me: Oh, it looks like a big bag of clothes. A: What clothes? Who's clothes are they? What is she going to to do with them? M: They're her clothes. Maybe she's taking them home to put them away. A: Is she going to wash them? M: I don't know, maybe. A: Is she going to wash them because they're dirty? M: Perhaps. I really don't know what she's going to do with them, Ambrose. A: Are they dirty because someone put them in the mud? Who put them in the mud? M: I don't think anyone put them in the mud. But maybe. You never know. A: Why did they put them in the mud? M: I don't think anyone put the clothes in the mud, Ambrose. A: Why did they put them in the mud? WHY? WHY, MAMA?!!! M: I don't know, Ambrose. I don't think the clothes are muddy. A: Who's clothes are those? Can we go straight? Can I go see those muddy clothes? M: No, we can't go see them. We're going this way, to our house. A: Ohhh, but I wanted to see them! What is that noise I hear? Can you tell me? M: Birds. A: What are they doing? M: Chirping, or singing. A: Why are they doing that? Are they dancing, too? Do birds like to eat snakes? M: No, birds don't eat snakes. Birds eat bugs and seeds and berries. A: Why? M: Because that's the food God made for them. A: Why? M: Just is. A: Can you tell me why? Why, Mama? WHY?!!! M: What? I don't know--that's just the food God made for them to eat. That's all. A: Can you tell me why? M: I just did tell you why. God made birds to eat bugs and seeds and berries so that they don't have to be hungry. A: But why? It goes on, but I'm sure you can imagine the rest. It's another gorgeous day here, but snow is in the forecast for tomorrow.