I saw it!  In the blink of an eye I witnessed a “miracle” of language.  Seated at the table for the evening meal, my grand daughter was in a fickle mood in relation to the food on her plate.  Children are often uncertain about whether to consume the food selections made for them by a parent.  After all, they are not yet the well trained, socially conditioned adults they are certain to become.  I am never tempted to  play with my  food, reluctant to eat what is before me.  If I am hungry, I will dutifully consume what happens to be on the menu for the meal.

Our grand daughter, diffident to consume the chicken tenders on her plate, looked at the adults seated with her at the table, waiting to hear what might be said, or done.  She has shown a taste for chicken nuggets before.  My wife said, “grandma is going to eat your chicken nuggets.”  The almost two year old looked at me so I said to her, “…and grandpa is going to eat your chicken nuggets.”  Then I saw a shadow of confusion come to her face.  She looked at her mother appealing with concerned voice for help.  Then her face brightened, she recognized the irony on our faces, the meaning conveyed by our body language.  No movement was taking place toward the pieces of chicken on her plate.  A knowing smile slowly appeared on her face.  The statements of seeming threat to the food on her plate, had a different meaning entirely!  She recognized the joke perhaps for the first time.  Her 2nd birthday is tomorrow, November 5th.

Language, the hallmark of “higher” level mammals offers a breathtaking spectrum of communication possibilities.  I am reluctant to celebrate language unconditionally, — the beauty of Shakespeare, of poetry, and the professional uses of precise language from philosophy to the sciences.  Language can be used for diabolical purposes.  A former president voted out of office comes to mind, his racist, and malevolent laced rhetoric inflamed his cohort of believers.  Language is the pivot point for the expression of good and of evil.

Is not the ironic, the paradoxical use of language, the joke, — the ideal illustration of our human experience?

Let us enjoy a good laugh together!

Here is a haunting melody from 1977 to get us through the day:  Closer To the Heart by Rush

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oem46aJgUg

Closer To The Heart

By Rush

And the men who hold high places
Must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality
Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart

The blacksmith and the artist
Reflect it in their art
They forge their creativity
Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart

Philosophers and ploughmen
Each must know his part
To sow a new mentality
Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart

You can be the captain
I will draw the chart
Sailing into destiny
Closer to the heart

Composed by Neil Elwood Peart, Peter H Talbot , Geddy Lee Weinrib, Alex Zivojinovich