Nicholas is kind of my godson, too, by proxy, but a few years younger. One day I was walking him down the driveway to the car — I think he was about five. At the time I didn’t realize that some kids don’t develop a sense of humor right away, it can take a few years for that part of their brain to get organized. Just to be friendly, thinking a godmother ought to make some sort of an effort, but feeling a little awkward and therefore trying to be amusing, I asked Nick if he’d named all his teeth yet.
When I was a kid in California, driving behavior was legendarily civilized. Children were safe in crosswalks from Mexico to Oregon, and people whose turn-signal bulbs had burned out opened their windows even in the rain to use their hands. My relatives in Massachusetts talked about this with awe.
This CD includes 20 of the 50 essays in the book, recorded by Molly.