Just before we went to Oregon, the monkeys and I spent some time at Science World, where they’re featuring the science of sport.

At one station, Monkey Boy and I watched a screen, trying to act as judges for gymnastics and diving moves. The screen showed us two figures doing complicated dives, and ask us to rank them. The dives looked exactly the same. But then the computer slowed down the motion, and showed us what trained diving judges saw — a bent ankle here, a curved leg there. Judges have trained themselves to see specific traits.

On our vacation last week, we took a full-day jet-boat ride up the Rogue River. Not only was the scenery amazing, our driver also had super-spidey senses for wildlife. We saw eagles, osprey, vultures, river otters, deer, seals… This guy had obviously trained some specific powers of observation.

Then, in the middle of the ride, as we drifted through dark blue water reflecting the evergreens above, Monkey Boy turned to me and said, “Mommy, the water looks just like Minecraft.”

Ah, yes. We are finely attuned beings in this family.