Thinking about The Ghost Eye Tree

My three-year-old Moses asked me about the Ghost Eye Tree,
a spooky tree from one of his favorite books.
"Mom, why doesn't the Ghost Eye Tree have any leaves?" Moses asked.

We walk around the neighborhood almost every day, and we talk about different trees.
Because they are spooky and remind him of the Ghost Eye Tree,
Moses is particularly interested in trees with no leaves.
He knows that some trees lose their leaves because of a fungus,
or maybe an insect invasion, or maybe because the tree was hatracked,
meaning improperly pruned by cutting straight across the top of the truck.

So, when he asked me why the Ghost Eye Tree had no leaves,
I knew that he was looking for a very specific answer:
"First of all, when a tree loses its leaves, and it's cold out and windy,
people think that a tree looks very spooky.
So, spooky stories usually take place in the Fall.
The Ghost Eye Tree has no leaves because the story takes place in the Fall.
You see, Fall is really called Autumn,
but most people call it Fall because that's when the leaves fall off the trees."

And Moses replied, with his hands growing up out of his body for emphasis:
"Yeah, and that's when the tree grows yellow eyes."

I like the way he thinks!

Lunch with Moses, Two Years Old

I had lunch with my two-year-old son, Moses,

a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat,

and this is what he thought about and talked about while we ate.

Moses: I never saw a peanut butter waterfall before.

Mom: I never did either. I bet it would be slow and sticky.

Moses: 'ticky.

Mom: Yes. Very.

Moses: I would put my finger in it.

Mom: You would stick to it.

Moses: I would be 'tuck.