How Culture is Transmitted

"What do you do?", people ask, meaning,

"What can old turkeys like you do?".

We forage for food, of course.
Teresa's Mosaic Cafe is a favorite spot,
as is Wildflower Café.
Personally, I love Mariscos Chihuahua,
and Mari likes The Wretched Onion
because they have large pancakes, but
I refuse to go there: principles, you know.

Mari likes to sew, and takes classes.
She especially like to make quilted things,
and I do not like to boast, but I
am something of a specialist in thinking
about things I really ought to do.

Jao--that is not Jao:
even a three-year-old
deserves his modesty,
although he continues
to misplace it--is learning
to . . . to. . . . He is
being potty trained.

I have given a lot of thought
to what grandparents can do
to help a three-year-old
become a decent human being
when he grows up; you know,
what I really ought to do.

I would like for Jao to remember,
someday, that we were the ones
who taught him how
to pee in the bushes.

The hard part is getting him
to understand what a bush is.

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