Forest For The Trees - The Wisdom Of A 4 Year Old

[jse]

Our gardener's little girl is one of those curious children who send parents crazy with a loop of never-ending questions.  You know, like "which is bigger, your house or the King's palace?  The King's palace or Bangkok?   Bangkok or Thailand?  Thailand or the USA?  What is bigger than USA?  And bigger that the Earth?  Bigger than the solar system?  Than the galaxy?"... and so on.

This afternoon she played the usual game on her unsuspecting victim:

her:  "Hey mistaaah... how many trees (do) you have?"
 me:  "This garden has 32 trees"

her:  "Is 32 trees same like a forest?"
 me:  "hmmm... not sure"

her:  "Where does (the) forest stop?" (pointing to our local forest)
 me:  "Maybe by the canal road at the bottom of the mountain"

her:  "Mistah, what about one tree just (a) lille' bit (an arm span) past the canal road, is it still in the forest, or is it (a) lonely tree?"
 me:  "Not lonely - it's still part of the forest"

her:  "what about another tree little bit more away (past the edge of the forest), is it still in the forest or is it lonely tree?" (5m, 50m, 200m and so on past past the "edge" of the forest, until 5km later we have arrived at our garden)
 me:  "not lonely - they are all part of the forest"

her:  (pausing her questions, looking as if in deep contemplation)
 me:  (Damn... that sick feeling one gets when beginning to regret ever opening the mouth)

her:  "so, every tree belongs to the forest?"
 me:  "Yes"

her:  "How many forests in the whoooole world?"
 me, replying without much thought:   "One"

She gave me her little smile, and then went off to play with my dogs.

How many questions do we have?  How many answers do we need?
"Seek, and you shall not  find" - Peter Russell

Edited February 5, 2017 by jse