Magnolia sang the whole time on the flight. We recently learned some
Bob Dylan songs back home. She likes to change the words to "Blowin' in
the Wind." Her version goes something like this: "How many roads must Rhue (our cat) walk down, before you can call her a cat . . . " It's
the never-ending version. She can substitute in everyone she knows. And
those are her favorite kind of songs, the ones where she can include
every name she can think of in the lyrics. She sang loud. She sang
proud. I think I could see some passengers' eyes rolling after ten
minutes, but there was no way in hell I was going to tell her to stop
singing. Because that would mean the whining and crying would start. I
tried to teach her what "inside singing" should sound like. But, come
on, she's seen us sing inside a number of times. And there is
no whispering involved when we sing. So those people had to deal with a
a helium version of Dylan for a portion of their plane ride. Big deal.
We thought it was funny. We are annoying parents.
In Dallas, we stayed with a friend Jason grew up with. His family
has a huge swing set, tons of toys, princess dress-up clothes, smoked
food and a nice house. They also have a mini four-wheeler, which their
kids actually ride it in their fenced-in backyard, with helmets. The
best part, though, was the Texas heat: when we walked off the plane, it
felt like we were going on a spring break vacation. You could even
smell flowers.
The oldest child there took Magnolia under her wing and they pretended to be sisters
the whole weekend. The little boy, who changed his clothes every five
minutes, drank syrup from the fridge and had more energy than anyone
I'd ever met, filled Maggie's head with all sorts of new ideas. We
really loved having her around two little ones, albeit a brother and
sister who have night and day personalities. We debated adopting a
six-year-old girl after spending the weekend there. I forgot that kids
can go play in a totally different part of the house, while the adults
sit around and talk. The idea of another child is starting to settle
with me more now. However, touring with two kids? Impossible, I think.
Although I know Kristen Hersch does it. And I know Low does it. But I
wonder how hard it is.
Next time: We play our first acoustic show!
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