The surprises!

Today Pete climbed to the top of St. Paul's--something like 530 steps, many of them big and irregular. It's a tough climb; I did it a couple of months ago and didn't think Pete could handle it.

Good parent or bad parent?

Last night, after dinner, Pete told me that before going to bed, he wanted "to learn more about the history of the world." I got him to narrow the field a little bit: maybe Asia? he said. Camels? So I gave him the (long) Wikipedia entry on camels. To my surprise, he loved it and read the whole thing. ("Pop! The Romans used camels in war because they scared off horses!") So I may have just created a six-year-old Wikipedia monster.

Some bets are worth losing.

Pete, on the trimming work outside our window: "Oy! Papa! The trees are bare! . . . It's so embarrassing for that tree, I bet."

Relativism

Yes, Carolyn got to talk to Michael Palin at Pete's school. But I got to talk to students about their course selections for next semester, and who's to say that isn't just as exciting?

Some places are hard to leave

Pete, on the plane out before takeoff: "Bye, Venice! I hope we see you again!" And then he nuzzled the plane window.

Happy Halloween!

Pete's day: Venice. Train, bus, plane, shuttle bus, shuttle bus, plane, train, train. Hampstead--just in time for last ten minutes of trick-or-treating in Venetian mask.

Paris

"HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?"

--Pete, on the sparkly night-time Eiffel Tower