joy precedes knowledge

i spent the morning with my niece, Claire. we had a tea party. we read books. we watched PBS together, in the big chair, with her square body tucked in my arm. i fell asleep for awhile, while the TV taught her to read. a, b, c, d . . . and a story about the goose who laid the golden egg. we then shared sips from my water bottle until her mother returned.

the funny thing is, claire does not acutally know how to get water to come out of my bottle. nor does she know her letters, or how valuable gold is, or that hot tea is not served with ice. how foolishly i believed that knowledge is requisite for joy.