I relearned an important truth from my daughter Isabella today.

I asked her to go for a walk in the rain with me. Almost immediately I missed the first opportunity to learn.

She first said no to my suggestion of a walk.. Later she negotiated her terms for the trip, through a third party--her mother. Isabella decided what shoes, what cloths (a dress rather than the practical pants I suggested), no gloves (it was cold raining), colorful stockings, and no hat. She did allow her mother to suggest a rain coat with a hood. She also chose to bring Miko a completely untrained Portuguese water dog puppy.

Not much of this was practical from my point of view, but none of it was dangerous. I did not protest.

We started off. She immediately fell behind. It was not the pace. Without going in to details, things began to deteriorate. Tears accompanied request to go to her grandmother's house or to return home. She turned Miko over to me. Her pace slowed even more.

I dimly recalled a similarly flavored a trip in the Rocky Mountains with a girl friend when I was in my early 20s. Ah! I simply said to Isabella, "I am following you."

Everything shifted. No more tears or complaints. She even did some skipping and hopping as she lead. Next she engaged in determining how to get home. She did not know where we were since there had been little reason for her to think about it while following me. We talked it over and agreed that our house was down hill from where we were. From there on she made every decision. She got us home and was proud of it. She had a great time. And so did I.

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