Deep Thoughts.

Daddy and Ryan were playing, imagining they were Blue Angels pilots swooshing their shiny aircraft around his room. Ryan began asking questions: can the Blue Angels land on a ship? Yes, his dad said, they can. But only a special ship.

Ryan thought that through, then asked for details about what makes the Blue Angels ship special. His Dad explained that a superstrong rubber band caught the planes as they landed, keeping them from falling into the ocean. The same rubber band was used to launch the planes into takeoff.

Ryan then asked about the Blue Angels pilots: are they normal pilots, like the people on Delta jets, or are they special pilots? Dad replied that they are specially trained pilots, and very few are chosen to be Blue Angels pilots. After they retire from the Blues, many of them go on to become commercial airline pilots like the folks on Delta jets.

Back to the aircraft carriers: Ryan asked, are there people on deck when the planes land and take off? How do they keep from getting hurt or thrown into the ocean? Are they tied down? Are they ever scared when a plane lands on the deck in the middle of a storm? Dad patiently answered each question, impressed at his son's thought processes.

Then the zinger:

"OK Daddy, but what if Bigfoot were on the ship? Could the planes land then, and would the people be scared?"

We laughed for hours. What a great little boy!