“Absolutely. You want to help me make it?”
“Yes!”
I find a piece of blank paper in a drawer in the kitchen—printer paper, crisp and white—and a pen, and we sit down at the kitchen table together. Emma’s got her camera next to her, and she’s looking at me expectantly, waiting for instructions.
“Okay,” I say, pen poised over the paper. “What kinds of things should we look for?”
Emma thinks about this very seriously, her chin in her hand. “A dog!”
“Perfect.” I write it down in big letters so she can read it later, or at least recognize the words. “What kind of dog?”
“Any dog. But it’s extra special if it’s a big dog because I like big dogs better.”
“Noted. Okay, what else?”
“A yellow taxi!” She’s getting excited now, her voice rising. “Because taxis are everywhere and they’re so yellow!”
I laugh. “They really are. Okay, yellow taxi. What about…a pigeon?”
“Ooh, yes! And the pigeon has to be eating something.”
“Why?”
“Because pigeons are always eating things they’re not supposed to eat. Like pizza or hot dogs or whatever people drop. Daddy says they’re the rats of the sky.”
I snort at that, writing it down. “Okay, a pigeon eating something. What else?”
“A fire hydrant!”
“Good one. Those are everywhere.”
“A flower!” Emma says. “Any kind of flower.”
“A flower, got it. How about something red that isn’t a fire hydrant?”
Emma nods enthusiastically. “Yeah! Like a sign or a car or someone’s jacket.”
“Perfect. And maybe…a bicycle?”
“Yes! And a tree! The biggest tree we can find!”
I’m writing all of this down, and Emma’s leaning over the paper, watching the words appear. “What about a mailbox?” I suggest. “You know those big blue ones?”
“The mail boxes! Yes!” She’s practically vibrating with excitement now. “And someone wearing sunglasses!”
“Even though it’s cloudy?”
“Some people still wear them when it’s cloudy. My dad says that’s because they think they look cool.”
“Fair enough. Okay, someone in sunglasses. What about a stoplight?”
“A stoplight that’sgreen,” Emma specifies. “Because green means go.”
“Love it.” I’m almost at the bottom of the page now. “What about something that makes you laugh? It could be anything—a funny sign or someone doing something silly or whatever you think is funny.”
Emma grins. “I like that one.”
“And last one…” I think about this for a second. “How about a picture of you? Like, I take a picture of you at the end when we’ve found everything else?”
