Eleven Giant Cows

by Aidan Cove

Eleven giant cows ran into a den

One never came out and then there were ten.

Ten giant cows pulled a line

One snapped it and then there were nine. 

Nine giant cows tried to fit through a gate

One was too fat and then there were eight. 

Eight giant cows went to 7-Eleven 

One bought beer and got drunk and then there were seven. 

Seven giant cows jumped over sticks 

One fell and exploded and then there were six. 

Six giant cows went to a tree with a bee hive 

One was stung and then there were five. 

Five giant cows stomped on a door

One fell off and then there were four. 

Four giant cows slept under a tree 

One never woke up and then there were three. 

Three giant cows went to the zoo 

One liked the big fat gorilla and then there were two. 

Two giant cows went looking for a planet called Gunne 

One found it and then there was one.

One giant cow which is me... who told this big fat story.

Aidan Wuz Here!

If one stops paying attention, one could miss some of the magical and carefully orchestrated transformations Aidan makes to the world around us.

Last week, I finally got around to packing away the rest of the Christmas decorations. As anticipated, Aidan noticed the change the minute he came in the door from school. He stood back from the mantelpiece, sizing up a strategy, then proceeded to pluck things from here and there to assemble his shrine.

When I left him, he was repositioning the mast on the sailboat he had made for Skye as a Christmas gift.

Then I got busy with corralling kids, breaking up fights, tidying up, preparing and serving dinner, working on the computer and preparing for my practice review. When, around midnight, I finally looked up from my busyness, I was greeted by a peaceful and heart-warming scene above the fireplace.

Aidan had arranged a photo of himself with Jazz, perched atop a terra cotta flower pot he has painted for her. A pine cone adds a bit of style and the candle brings aesthetics to the collection. To the left is the sweet pink ceramic urn which contains the ashes of our beloved pet. It gets even richer when he describes it, as for him, everything has meaning. The candle represents the flame. Aidan wants to grow a flower in Jazz' flower pot, then set it alight when it is done flowering. He plans to find a special final resting place for Jazz and Garf (our ginger tabby who passed away in 2010) in our garden in the spring. He seems to have an intuitive honouring of ceremony and an attuned sense of what would be appropriate.

And Aidan has insisted on including my childhood pet cat, Furina, in our family of cats. He gave Furina special mention in the shrine. At her feet lays the cat I formed out of modelling clay when we visited the Creativity Museum in San Francisco together last October. Aidan knows Furina was special to me. He loves to hear stories of the crazy things she got up to, when I was growing up. And he especially loves the story of how I convinced my dad to let me keep her when I was only 4 years old.

Beside the photo of Furina, is a picture frame from Yellowstone National Park. Aidan removed the printed paper from the frame and neatly placed it in front. Beside the frame is a little ornament of different types of paddling boats - something Aidan got from Deep Cove Daze last summer. He lined up everything, just so.

Horton Entend un Zou!

Aidan and I are reading French books together every night now. For now, it's mostly me reading to him. So that we have enough selection to avoid too much repetition, I asked Aidan to select 5 books from the public library to bring home.

His first selection was, "Horton Entend un Zou!" (interestingly, the cover image from the library record is different ... "Horton Entend un Qui!" ... I suppose the translator had more fun rhyming with "Zou" than with "Qui.")

This is a dearly-loved book in its English form, in our home. I wasn't expecting much from the French translation, but I have to give it an enthusiastic two thumbs up!

This classic has been masterfully translated into French, flowing and rhyming in charming Seuss fashion. Aidan recognized some of his most recent vocabulary words in the text, and I'm amazed at how quickly I can read this book aloud, without stumbling over words! I love the reading of it almost as much as "Fox in Socks!"

A Pen Pal

Today, Aidan wrote a letter to a pen pal from France. At least, Aidan believes his pen pal lives either in France or Martinique (which is also part of France). According to a list that Aidan brought home with him, his pen pal could be from France, Martinique, Guadeloupe or Quebec.

It would be so cool if Lucas is actually from Martinique, because that was one of our favourite stops on our sailing adventure last year.

This is Aidan's letter:

Dear Lucas

Where do you live? Martinique or France?

My hobbies are playing video games and playing LEGO.

I play basketball.

My favourite authors are Roald Dahl, William Joyce, Laura Geringer and Louis Sachar.

Last year, my family went sailing in Martinique and Guadeloupe. In Martinique, we anchored in Le Marin, Ste-Anne, Fort-de-France and St-Pierre.

I love the baguettes!

From: Aidan

Quote of the day

"Mom, did you know that sometimes the thing that's closest to you could also be the farthest away?"

To demonstrate, he walked into the kitchen and pointed his finger to the cupboard doorknob. "See?"

I responded, "Oh, because you couldn't go any farther (than the doorknob)?"

"No," he said as he gestured in a large circular motion with his other arm, "If you went all the way around the world that way, the doorknob would be the farthest thing from me."