Dolphin, Ghost and Toilet

I imagine you might be wondering about that title. It would be a good writing exercise for you to write a short story with that title. Or an essay. Or a poem

Meanwhile, here’s the story. While I’m doing well staying put in my chair at home to get this writing done that I’ve promised myself I’d do, I do need to get up and about in the afternoon. Knowing I wanted to continue playing on Friday afternoons at the Jewish Home for the Aged and that it will feel good to keep doing Preschool Singing at school (I can imagine myself doing that at 90) and knowing that the two places are just a mile apart, I signed up to do the Preschool Sing every Friday afternoon before going on to the Home. And today was the first class.

No surprise that it was every bit as delightful as it always is. While reviewing Funga Alafia, I spoke what the gestures mean in English and then told the kids that we were going to switch to some West African languages (Hausa and Yoruba). I asked if any of them spoke any other languages and the hands shot up. “Spanish!” “Italian!” “Hawaiian!” “Japanese!” “Dolphin!”

“Wait!” I said. “What was that last language?”

“Dolphin.”

“Hmm. How do you say hello in Dolphin?”

She showed me.

Yep, I’m back with the people I love. These preschoolers are always so much more interesting than adults.

At the end of the Singing Time, as they were filing out, another boy stopped and confided to me, “I also speak Ghost and Toilet.” Luckily, there was no time to hold a conversation with him.

Maybe next week.