At Least Grapes

Toxicity is not what you want to think about when you become a parent, but it is worth thinking about. I’ve heard reasonable doctors argue persuasively that buying organic produce won’t hurt you but won’t hurt you that much, either. On the other hand, yesterday I bought a bunch of grapes. The skin on the first grape, which I tested at the store, made my mouth pucker – either from the pesticide, or dust, or both. Nonetheless, it was a good grape, for a good price, and I bought the two-pound bunch. I always wash the fruit I eat carefully, but, knowing that I would feed some of the grapes to baby, I washed the fruit three times. The iffy taste on the skin was gone by the time I offered her a quarter of a grape and, as I thought she would, she wanted as many more pieces of grape as possible, as soon as possible. Mostly, I enjoyed feeding her the tender pieces of sweet fruit, but the worries about pesticides never completely went away. Looks as though the wife and I will be digging deep to buy organic – at least grapes, at least for now.

Softly Now

I went out to listen to a friend of mine play music tonight. He was, as always, witty and musically subtle, and he was joined by a musical partner and good friend of his. With the two of them playing, the show got even better. Still, there was some darkness in some of the lyrics and the crowd at the venue that left me a little rattled. I stopped at the supermarket on the way home to stock up on groceries, and when I made it home I walked toward the front door and heard “Da-Da! Da-Da!” come through the entry-way glass. Baby, stamping her feet and wearing only a diaper, was all but levitating as I opened the door. She began her chant once more: “Da-Da! Da-Da!” After I picked her up and hugged her to my shoulder, the same song came to me, much more softly now. “Dah-Dah. Dah-Dah.”