Physics vs. The Physical

My sister-in-law maintains that my side of our extended family is "a family of Talkers," Amy's side of the family is a "family of Doers." They run marathons, do charity walks and runs, they like skiing, they play and watch sports - even on Thanksgiving. We talk about religion and politics and travel and all the abidingly eccentric people we know - especially on Thanksgiving. Whether this duality is really on target is another question, but the truly astonishing thing, to me, is that most Americans would consider "doers" somehow better off than "talkers"... In any case, Ian and Daniel have much of both sides of the family going on. Where they come together is in technology (a big part of Amy's family), which is both intellectual and practical, and which is Ian's forte even at the tender age of seven.

Well today, "Doer" Amy was determined that all three children and their "Talker" Daddy should spend a requisite 60 minutes frolicking in the New England snow and soaking in Vitamin-Whatever from the sun before the Y Chromosomes would be permitted to go to the cinema to view "The Chronicles of Narnia" [Excellent movie!], this latter project being a most "Talker" of activities... What impressed me though, was the actual activities pursued on this sporty little outing. Aside from Ian's perfunctory attempts at sledding on the ever-so-slightly-inclined edge of our back yard, and a fair bit of ridership by all three children with Daddy as beast-of-burden, one of the main activities was Legos. The boys took their Legos outside and continued with their normal Lego activity, with the only difference being that their projects were now embedded in a snowy landscape, rather than the standard foundation of dining room table or family room floor. Needless to say, Ian compelled me to take several pictures of their Lego building, and a toy car, in their temporary, frosty habitat. There were also some attempts at crafting objects out of snow, although nothing nearly as brawny as a snowman.

It's like the timeless observation that if you give little girls toy guns, they'll cradle them to sleep, and if you give little boys dolls, they'll point them at each other at close range and "open fire". Similarly, if you dress up engineers - even five- and seven-year-old engineers - in snow pants and warm jackets and mittens and push them out into a yard of snow, they'll continue their engineering projects in their new "field" of endeavor.

(December 24, 2010)