A Dappled Octopus With Lips But No Teeth

I walked a path through the woods last week and the sunlight filtered down, colander-like through the leaves. I thought about how whenever I hear the word "dappled" I think of a path just like that. Even if the word is used in a totally different context, I just juxtapose my image over the context to create a new picture.

I think it's fairly common to associate words with certain pictures. When I told a couple of friends that Grant's teacher was "supple" (I meant subtle) I could tell by their faces that they had a definite word picture for that word and it was clashing with the word "teacher".

So it really shouldn't have come as a shock when I discovered that Rose has her own word pictures for life. We were left alone for long hours when Dave took the older kids skiing last Wednesday. We sat out on lawn chairs and looked at the mountain and talked of "shoes and ships and sealing wax; cabbages and kings."

Finally she said, "I used to be on the Debil's team, but I'm on God's team now."
I inhaled, ready to instruct along the lines of, "all have sinned and fall short..."
But she interrupted, "I think Rowan and some of my friends are still on the Debil's team though."
"You know Rosy..."
"Yeah, the Debil used to be a beautiful Angel," (that wasn't what I was going to say). "But now he's an octopus."
"He's an octopus?" I was sincerely wishing I was on a ski slope right about then.
"Yeah a blue octopus. That's how I picture him."
Oh. How she pictures him. I get it.

So I now have a new word picture and it's both supple and subtle and....blue.

Grant also has word pictures apparently. He came in to our room to tell us good morning on Saturday. I got a big kiss and some sweet words and then he started to walk out.
Dave, feeling slighted, said, "Grant don't you love me?"
Grant replied, "Of course I do, you make the money."
Dave, "So you just see dollar signs when you look at me!"
Grant, "Yep, and when I look at Mommy I see lips and love!"

This my friends, is good to know. It's a relief to know he doesn't think of me as a blue octopus or something equally disturbing.

In other random news that has nothing to do with word pictures, I have a pile of teeth on my dresser.
Rowan lost one, two days later on Easter morning Grant lost 2, and the next day Rose lost her other front tooth. The kids look like I've been knocking them around and the tooth fairy is officially stressed out. (The phrase "pile of teeth" and "stressed out tooth fairy" actually do elicit fairly poignant word pictures after all).

Anyway, here are some pictures that don't need words.

With teeth.

One gone.

Both top teeth gone..........