The Alex and Amelia Mysteries

Alex sat in the recliner that faced the dining room. Having eaten his dinner, he now watched as his little sister experienced the wonder of freshly steam broccoli.

He also marveled at the strength of her throwing arm with said broccoli.

Watching her made him think of his first big case. It was hard for him to imagine that it had been only a year ago. Mom and Dad had gone to the hospital to see about doing something regarding mom’s weight gain. She’d been packing on the pounds, especially in the stomach area, for several months, and it was looking pretty serious. She’d been having trouble getting around and looked at the stairs going up like they were eight inch monsters she needed to crush to get to bed at night.

Alex had sampled the food, as he’d heard that eating too much makes people put on a lot of weight, but it didn’t have the same effect on him or dad. He started to worry that something might be wrong with Mom.

Nanna and Grandpa came to stay with Alex for a few days, which made things even more mysterious. It wasn’t like mom and dad to stay away overnight. Alex knew there was only one things to do: mount a search and rescue operation.

Alex made his way to the kitchen, and began stockpiling food stuffs for the long search. Unfortunately, the only thing he could reach was the salt and pepper. Next he went down to pack some clothes, but he could only reach the lower drawers, which had his pajamas, and he knew he wasn’t allowed outside wearing only pajamas.

After several hours, he looked at his pile of supplies: a pepper grinder, three chips found beneath a sofa cushion, a pair of pajama bottoms, a sock, and his toy piano, and concluded this would have to do. But, as he went to find a bag to carry his supplies, Nanna and Grandpa came and put him in the car.

To his surprise, they took him to the hospital, and mom and dad were still there! Mom had lost a lot of weight. Apparently, they found a baby inside her! Alex looked at the small figure as dad was holding her. He knelt down and showed the two to each other.

“Alex,” dad said, “Meet Amelia. Your little sister, and partner in crime.”

Alex looked at his dad, a little bewildered. Crime? Dad just didn’t understand. Alex didn’t commit crimes, he solved mysteries. He looked at his new little sister and smiled. At last, a partner to help him…

A shriek of glee from Amelia snapped him back to the present. Something new had appeared on her tray. Alex dropped down to look more closely. It looked like a cheerio, but there was something else spread on top of it that smelled sweet.

But before he could finish his examination, Amelia grabbed the cheerio and popped it in her mouth. They didn’t find out what it was, but Amelia knew it was delicious!

Case: UNSOLVED

Dusk

This is a story I told Amelia as she drank her bottle of warm milk just before she went to bed.

This is the quiet time.

All day the people have been pulling strands and strings, guiding their day this way and that. They make each day their own, not controlling, but influencing the day with their pulls. Some grab on to as much as they can and pull as hard as they can. Others find single strands and give light tugs.

But at the end of the day, the smart ones let go.

And as they let go, the day begins to unravel. The strands twist and wriggle free and the tapestry of the day falls apart. And as it does, the light gives way to dark, the blue gives way to black, the sun gives way to the moon, and the sky gives way to the stars.

This is the quiet time.

The air is heavier here in the quiet time, for it is filled with dreams. Breath in deeply, inhale the dreams. Take them into you and let them course through your veins. Milk feeds the body, but dreams feed the soul.

This is the quiet time. Let go of the day, breath in the night, and sleep tight.

Education vs. infrastructure

Hypothetical: You come stumble into a developing nation just hit with a disaster. The plight of the people moves you to act. You have millions of dollars and time at your disposal. What do you do?

A particular planet money podcast, referenced once already in a previous post, has had me thinking a lot about this sort of scenario. “Education is key to bringing these people to a greater level of independence and prosperity.” I would argue that is not sufficient enough to be true.

What good is calculus to a girl who hauls water for six hours a day for her family?

The education, one might argue, would allow her to leave and move on to bigger and better things, but would she be able to leave as long as the family depends on her for getting the water?

The Planet Money episode I refer to centers around one man’s attempt to build a school for a town in Haiti devastated by the earthquake. Originally, listeners raised about $3000 for the town to build it’s own school, but that money was used up before a foundation was fully laid. A volunteer with a long career in construction and planning then tried his hand. Ultimately, the school was built, but it took longer, cost more, and was tremendously scaled back from the original, but still modest beginnings.

People developed the use of roads and trade long before literacy became commonplace. Is it foolish to prioritize education over infrastructure? One of the main reasons the school took so long and had to have it’s scope of work reduced is that there was not sufficient industry to supply them with raw materials, nor roads to transport those materials to them.

There is the obvious trap that this is a guy living in a developed nation discussing solutions for developing nations, generalizing over a complex set of situations unique to each country. But, even industrial revolutions tend to happen before education becomes a priority.

There is also a need for balance, you can’t  focus solely on education or infrastructure, which is really what I worry is going on now. I also don’t think this contradicts my previous views on mission trips (though I had to stop and work on that for a bit). The best kind of trip involves education of the people going, while they help rebuild.