Family Feathers

    My son has been helping me create a video for a going away party at work.  He has crazy, good editing skills and my job is to sit in the background, providing snacks and chilled drinks while he works his madness with the photos I have provided.  He zips through screens, clicking and copying and selecting computer options I didn't even know exist.  While choosing the font for the narrative, we ran across an old friend... the "Wingdings" font of Microsoft Word.  I've never really understood what this series of odd symbols was used for.  While it has been rumored to hide anti-semitic messages and 911 references, I highly doubt that anyone is going to take the time to type out a cryptic message of terror in Microsoft word using wingdings and curly font. That being said, I have been guilty of using a few symbols in my text messages of fear sent to my children when they don't answer their cell phones.  "Call Your Mother NOW" is usually followed with a f

   While traditional navigation methods include the use of a sextant, compass and chronometer, I've discovered that children have a different view of the world and use the tools available to them to learn their way home.  From an early age, my daughter could look up from her car seat and see only the tops of highway signs as we traveled all over the country.  She learned to recognize them and associated them with places we would go.  As we would near the interstate exit leading to our house, she could see the incredibly tall McDonald's sign that shone like a beacon from two exits away.  The tiny princess in the convertible rear facing car seat would see the familiar yellow glow of the sign as we passed and immediately ask if we were back in our land.   I suppose our trips to the grocery store or across the country felt more like a journey across feudal lands to a child. When you are two, the world revolves around you and in the typical egocentric style of a monarch, the signs