2013: emergent plans

Among the many quotable chestnuts associated with the composer John Cage is this reasonable observation: "It is not futile to do what we do. We wake up with energy and we do something. And we make, of course, failures and we make mistakes, but we sometimes get glimpses of what we might do next."

Cleo, I think, would agree - at least, at certain moments. Today, when we picked her up at school, one of her teachers warmly pointed to a new poster on the door. On it were a series of resolutions and plans for 2013: one for each of the Yellowbirds, who had apparently thought at length about what they were going to do now that they were turning 4. Forrest, I noticed, plans to grow up. Another was more modest: "I'm going to hang out," announced Nia. And Cleo? "I'm going to learn," she had said, "how to build a tall building."

Okay... but, it appears, not in the immediate future. On the way home from school, I asked her what she might like to do with L. and me tomorrow, on our free day. "Well," said Cleo. "I don't really have any plans for tomorrow yet."

Sometimes we get glimpses of what we might do next. But sometimes there's simply no saying.