Kenzism - The Beluga Whales

The Beluga Whales migrate right up off the Turnigain Arm here in Alaska each September. There is a beautiful place to see the whales from called Beluga Point that is only about thirty minutes from our home here in Anchorage. We have driven by and stopped several times in hopes to see them and we lucked out this last September while we were on our way to the Wildlife Conservation Center for a family outing.

At that time MaKenzie was just staring joy school. She pointed to a sign as we pulled into Beluga Point and asked us what it said. The sign stated that it was against the law to cross the railroad tracks to cross over to the rocks for a better view of the whales. Well, this sign was of little concern to everyone there at the moment because there were a few groups of beluga whales surfacing all over the place. Unfortunately for us Kenzie was learning all about the joy of keeping the rules in her joy school class. When we talked about whether or not we should cross the railroad with everyone else Kenzie shared how even if everyone else is doing it that she learned how it is important to still keep the rules. What could we do? Had I not read the sign out load to her when we pulled in I probably would not have hesitated to join the rest of the crowd for a closer look . . . but all things considered we decided it was best to enjoy the whales from where we stood. And boy did that make a long lasting impression on the child.

About five weeks later we were enjoying one of the last possible park days Alaska had to offer us. We walked to a park close by and there was a bench that had been completely disassembled by some prankster/vandals of some sort. They had unscrewed all the wooden bench planks and rearranged them into a teepee like structure. The girls wanted to go and play and check it out but I had to call them off as the whole thing looked like it could crush them with one good bump. As we walked away from the park that day Kenzie shared the following with me:

"When those mean guys (referring to whoever had taken the bench to pieces) get to heaven maybe they will tell Jesus what they did."

And then she continued as if it was all just one thought . . .

"Remember when we saw the lou-gla (beluga) whales and we followed the sign. It was the rule and when I get to heaven I will tell Jesus how I followed the sign at the lou-gla whales"

I don't know why this little conversation tickled my funny bone, but it just felt like it completely came out of nowhere and yet offered me a whole lot of insight into my four-year-olds brain.

For one, I couldn't recall saying anything that would indicate that whoever had taken the bench apart was "mean" - but that is what it all equated to in her brain. She has simply asked why she couldn't play near the teepee and I had told her that someone had done a "no-no" by taking the bench apart and that it was not very safe. Secondly, the fact that her transition from the "mean guys" to our "lou-gla" whale outing were all one phrase in her mind was equally amusing to me. You probably just had to be there to appreciate it . . . but I got a giggle or two out of our little exchange that day.