It started innocently enough. A typical distant-family-shows-up visit with the young kids staring at the loud intruders warily. But sitting on the floor helped, as did playing with the puppets and rolling the green ball, which Miles enjoyed immensely. And there was the talking globe where Hagan pointed out India to me. (A fascinating random choice of country to point out, methinks.)
So there we are sitting on the carpet putting the last of the puzzle pieces together and reminding each other that Richmond is the capital of Virginia, when Hagan walks up and plants himself in front of me. He looks me in the eyes and begins to recite … he begins to call out … he names the major moons of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Ganymede…, one in rapid succession after the other. Then having evidently caught himself, he returns to the inner solar system and calls out Phoebe and Deimos. “Mars,” his dad points out. “Of course, Mars!” I say. Then Hagan continues. Without catching a breath, Hagan flys quickly by Saturn, calling out Enceladus, and on to Uranus’ Oberon, Titania, Ariel. And then to Triton. “Of course, Neptune!” I say. “Ah yes, Neptune,” his dad says.
An astronomer in the making.