When Kenzie was about Mason's age, she and I went down to the beach to feed the seagulls. It was a very sweet time. She had a loaf of bread, carefully tore off pieces and shared it with the eager birds. (No, this was not the time that the bird drew blood from her finger...that was later.) She was amazed by the birds, looking up, watching them hover, sharing with them. She was gentle, cautious, and studious.

That was until a little boy that we didn't know butted in. All he wanted to do was chase the birds. I remember how irritated I was at the mother. She stood there smiling as her Terror disturbed our Serenity. Kenzie kept trying to feed the birds, but they were disturbed and it became too chaotic. We left with our noses held high.

Fast forward to today. I took Mason down for coffee on the waterfront. Afterward we went for a stroll on the beach. A man came by with a bag of dog food. He poured the dog food on a picnic table and left. Strange, I thought. Then I saw the birds come from all directions. They were eager and focused on their food.

That is, until Mason saw them. He went from 0 to 60 in .5 seconds, straight toward the picnic table, screaming "chase birds, chase birds, chase birds!!!" He ran in circles, up the hill, down the hill, around the table, for at least five minutes, just enthralled in the thrill of throwing his arms in the air and running after the birds. They screamed and jumped from the table to the cabana roof, to the hill, trying to find a place where they could rest and position themselves to go in for a quick bite on the table. Mason ran after as many as he could, continually screaming "Chase. Birds." He was having the time of his life.

When the food was finally gone, Mason was completely out of breath, but totally happy. I noticed some people standing nearby, maybe wondering how I could let my little Terror disturb the nice birds. Lighten up a little, I thought!