I made a list this morning of places I might take my kids today if I was a better mom -- the Exploratorium, Zeum, Fairyland. But then, I drifted into my office (there's a bad undertow near that door) and started pushing through a hundred emails that need attention. The next thing I knew, thanks to one of those email blasts certain friends send every so often, I was on National Geographic's site and calling out "Girls! Come here! Look!"

Here's one of the shots that blew us away.



"What are those?" Claire asked.

"Eggs," I said, almost in a whisper.

"Will they all become babies?" Georgia asked.

Before a discussion could develop, Claire said "Click the octopus!" 15 minutes later, we were still clicking. A sea anemone. A peacock. A thorny devil lizard in Australia.

Then we got to this one. Which was sort of how I was feeling after walking through all those images with my kids leaning into my shoulders, like it's big world and I'd like to carry them through it for a while and co-exist in that place of wonder where there is no age and nothing has been disturbed and language is not only insufficient but also unnecessary.



And for the rest of the day, and maybe the rest of my life, I will be wondering if all that beauty is God or nature, and if it really matters anyway.