"Should I have said 'Monk'? How about 'Mingus'?"

The Monkey and I ran to the Petworth Library this afternoon to grab a few books. With no Monkey Sibling born to date, the time can only be drawing closer when the Monkey and his Grandma will spend a nice long visit together downstairs, while the Monkey Mama -- with help from the Monkey Daddy -- labors upstairs. I figured that a few fresh books would make their time seem to pass more quickly.

It was shortly before the library closed, late on a Sunday afternoon. So we ran straight upstairs to the children's reading room. The only person upstairs was a librarian, who was listening to some very cool jazz. It was a drum solo, but as the sax broke in I identified the player right away.

Just then, the Monkey pulled out a book with Thomas the Tank Engine on its cover. He said "Train!"


The librarian asked, "Did he just say 'Trane'?"

I pointed at the book and said, "I think he meant this. He's only 2 years old, which is old enough to love drum solos, but not quite old enough to pick out John Coltrane."

But wouldn't that have been cool?