Joy in the details

The other day, when River awoke from his nap, he was repeating over and over with great excitement, “Muchas cosas! Muchas cosas! (Many things! Many things!).” I wondered what he could be talking about, entrapped as he is in his crib.

Upon entering, I found him staring at his blankie, one I hadn’t used in quite some time. “Look mama! Muchas cosas!” he said, showing me the blanket. We looked at it and identified a diaper, a bottle, a rattle, a duck, a bear, several numbers and letters, etc.

Another day, he paused before letting me take him out of the crib because, due to the bright afternoon sunlight, he noticed the dust flying through the air.

“What’s that?”

“It’s dust.”

“There is a lot of dust,” he said, and reached out to try to catch some pieces. He was so fascinated by it, in the same way he was fascinated by the variety of objects depicted on his blanket. It brings me back to the joy of the details, to the thrill of discovery, to one of the best parts of living.