June 4

Of late, Abby's been very interested in digging for and collecting rocks. She spent several days pursuing her new hobby during recess at school, and honestly, I liked hearing about her newest finds at pick-up. I've mentioned it before, but she can be melancholic, so I like to encourage her to pursue activities that make her smile and bring out her sweet, inquisitive, excited side. Unfortunately, the fun ended not long ago when a yard duty told her to stop it because she'd wind up getting dirty. But this evening, while out from under the thumb of the concerned (and dirt-phobic) mystery adult, she happily resumed her interest during our after-dinner girls' walk.

After stopping four or five times to watch her carefully pry stones from the virtually rock-solid, drought-affected earth, I finally asked her why she felt compelled to dig out the buried ones; why not just take the ones that were already loose?

She looked up at me calmly, and squinting in the fading sunlight, she replied 'because the ones that are hard to get to are the most beautiful ones of all.'

My kids so often leave me feeling both speechless and humbled these days that two hours after the fact, I'm still not sure what to say about that response. It's a blessing that she recognizes the beauty of hard work and the rewards that often accompany a good effort.

And of course, on a much more basic level, it's a blessing that she's happy to feel the earth and be satisfied by something as mundane as digging up rocks. As I've said many times before, it's the little things. To be able to derive enjoyment from something so simple is priceless.