The adventures of Alma
Adults and children can be curious observers and investigators. We can all be investigators, engaged observers. We can nurture our curiosity, ask questions, try to answer them. We live in an amazing, exciting, stimulating world.
The neurologist, Oliver Sacks, is a skilled observer of the brain in action. He is a clinician and not a basic neuroscientist that has taught us a great deal about brain mechanisms and so much more. He studied patients with specific localizable brain damage and disorders. From his observations, he learned about how brains work and don’t work. One of his books is about music and the brain. Reading it, one can appreciate his genius and his humanity as a clinician trying to help his patients. If you want to learn about the brain and don’t want to start by reading content at the level of how neurons work, Sack’s observations about the brain at work is an excellent place to begin. His body of work illustrates the power of observation as the foundation of discovery about almost anything. Skilled clinicians are skilled observers who are comfortable asking questions and collecting observations to find answers to complex questions.
Children are, investigators of how they and their world tick.
If only we could, as adults, be dazzled and curious like children by our world of happenings. So many interesting things all around us, like an infant learning to use a spoon.
Children engaging their world are an ideal example of investigators at work. They are amazed by all sorts of things, are curious, are excellent observers, ask questions from a child’s perspective, and do experiments of sorts. In that spirit here are some adventures of a curios Alma discovering her world.
Alma discovers snow
Alma is amazing But more to the point Alma is amazed at all the things she has discovered
Each day is a new adventure
Today it snowed Alma discovered the qualities of snow So white So fluffy
So soft So unexpected Falling from the sky just for Alma
Why else would it be there? Amazing isn’t it
Today Alma finds out that snow is cold Snow can melt
It is here in the morning and gone in the evening Where did it go?
When will it come back?
Each day, another advenToo bad adults can’t be children again
Walking up the stairs
I can’t believe it All this time I have been going up the stairs On my knees, on my knees
Then yesterday I discovered You will never guess OK I will tell you
I can go up the stairs One leg at a time Not on my knees Standing up Wow!!
Imagine I can see all sorts of things I didn’t see before
Walking up the stairs One leg at a time
I can’t wait till tell the other kids The ones I will meet in preschool
How to walk up the stairs straight Not on their knees They will be amazed
But wait What if they already know how to do that
Oh well No harm in telling how to do it anyway So much to teach other kids
Can’t wait
Putting on my sweat pants
Ok I will try again Put my foot in here It keeps slipping out Maybe if I roll back it will work
Nope, my foot still won’t go in Maybe if I put my arm in the pants Where my leg should go
Got my arm in But now what What do I do with my leg?
Ooops, just rolled back My arm is still in my pants leg Maybe if I get my arm out
I can replace it with my leg
Whoa almost got it If I just turned around Oh no, my leg isn’t where I wanted it
Maybe if I talked to the pants leg No, it won’t listen Have to keep trying
Why are Shoa and David laughing Oh, I know This is a show
It is called ‘put your legs in the sweat pants’ I am glad I am so funny
Ha Ha Tomorrow I will get it My legs into my pants Maybe
One day later I did it I did it Hurrah for me Got my pants on
Just one day after I couldn’t Just goes to show I’m smart and nothing stops me
Hurrah I’m just amazing And modest too.
Alma discovers sausage
I bet Shoa and David or Laurie wouldn’t have guessed No way
It turns out that Alma loves to eat sausage She never had any before
But On Saturday night Sausage night at Eric and Jennifer’s house
All sorts of sausage were the star eating attraction
So There sat Alma
A sausage in a roll in her right hand
She raised it to her mouth And then Then
Her eyes lit up “This is great” she said to herself
Let me try another bite That was as good as the first
This is terrific Tastes so yummy
Alma ate lots of her sausage on a roll I want more of this Much more
I hope David and Shoa will bring home more sausage for my eating pleasure
Nitrates, lots of salt Who cares
This sausage stuff is a real taste treat The best Hold the carrots
More sausage please.
Alma the doctor
Alma is an excellent doctor No one is a better doctor than Alma
She can make sense of any ailment
Alma is particularly good at making you feel great
After all, doesn’t that make her an excellent doctor
People from near and far come to Alma Alma always examines her patient carefully
She really knows how to use her doctors’ instruments
She can listen to your heart with her special stethoscope She can give you an injection
She will soon have a special rubber hammer to bounce on your knee
I bet many doctors will come to learn Alma’s doctor skills
All kinds of patients come to see Alma
Often, they come unhappy but leave feeling great
She is particularly good at making people laugh
Alma smiles as she opens up her doctor’s kit
Then her patients laugh with her They leave cured.
Alma the cook
Alma is a great cook The best cook around
She is a whiz in the kitchen She can make anything taste just great
One day she will share her cooking secrets
She will write a cookbook with her favorite recipes
She will also share her secret recipes
Maybe one day she will open up her own restaurant
People will have to wait weeks to get a reservation
Maybe she will have her own cooking show on television
Alma will get all kinds of prizes for her wonderful dishes
The queen of England gave her a medal after she ate one of Alma’s dishes
One day I watched Alma make carrot soup
She has her own style for chopping up carrots
Putting them in a pot of water Adding just the right spices
Cooking her carrot soup for just the right amount of time.
Let the carrot soup cool down Now how about a taste? Wow!!
Carrot soup fit for a queen
Alma the artist
I was amazed Alma loves to hear stories and also loves telling them
Sometimes she picks up a magazine and starts ‘reading’
Starts telling a story as if she were reading it
Today she picked up a Smithsonian magazine
We sat together and turned pages and stopped
Animal pictures were some of her favorites I would ask
What animal is that She loved to identify the animals
Alma loves looking at pictures
Today she saw pictures of art by famous artists
Pictures of people, landscapes, Some of the pictures were abstract
And then she saw it A scribbly painting in big loops
She really gave me a big smile She really loved that picture Guess what
It was like many of the drawings she used to do
She must have recognized it as something she would do Amazing
I can pee in the toilet
Three times today Not once Not twice
The amazing Alma Did Can you guess?
Do you want me to give you hint? Think of the letter S
Now combine it with more Ss What do you get
Sssssssssssssssss…….sssssssssssssssssss
“I peed in the toilet 3 times at school”
I kept you waiting Didn’t I Like to keep everyone in suspense
As you put me on the toilet I sat and sat and felt like saying
Stop looking at me I pee when I am ready and today was the day
Hurrah for me Hurrah for pee Hurrah for Ssssssssssss
I am really proud of me Can’t you see that from my smile.
And now Yes now I can wear big girl’s underpants
Soon no more dippers for me I’m a big girl now
And always so cute and smart I know how to pee
Pee time
More adventures of Alma
Alma likes raspberries
Alma knows what she likes and what she doesn’t.
She likes bagels but doesn’t like pumpernickel bread.
She likes avocado but can’t stand hummus.
French fries are great but mashed potatoes aren’t.
Alma really likes all kinds of fruit.
Slices of apple are great to teethe on.
They also taste wonderful when they are both sweet and tart.
Forget about pears. Cherries, no because of the pits.
Bananas are ok but nothing special.
She hasn’t tried figs or dates but thinks she would like them.
Blueberries are almost her favorite
Especially when they are round and firm and fully packed.
They are good to look at, play with, and of course are a pleasure to eat.
Raspberries are special.
Alma has excellent taste and has chosen raspberries as her favorite fruit.
If Shoa and David asked her why raspberries are her favorite
Alma would answer,
Isn’t it obvious?
Can’t you see why they are so good?
Raspberries are light and when you squeeze them you get great fruit juice.
Best of all they are red,
Such a nice mellow red with lots of dimples.
I bet everyone loves to eat raspberries
Alma looks into a mirror
It has been months since Alma started looking in a mirror.
She has also seen lots of videos featuring Alma.
Alma is always pleased by what she sees.
Why not, since she is such a cute little girl?
Alma wonders, who is that lovely little girl I see?
Would love to play with her.
She seems like she would be lots of fun.
I think it would be really nice to have her around the house.
She sure is good looking.
As cute as me?
Never get tired of watching that girl play and make faces.
One morning Alma wondered and was puzzled.
Alma did some thinking which she often does.
Is that me in that mirror?
Is that me in those videos?
The more she thought about it the surer she was.
That’s it,
It is me, Alma in the mirror.
It is me.
Amazing.
Alma’s play group
Every Wednesday afternoon Alma invites some of her friends to visit and play.
Alma and her friends play all sorts of imaginary games.
This Wednesday many of her visitors were birds that lived on her street.
Alma also invited the boy who could do all sorts of tricks while sitting on an elephant. He was always so much fun.
Alma also invited the beautiful jungle cat Lulu. She told Lulu to bring along her neighbors, a family of spotted LLama.
The Llamas brought Alma a bouquet of flowers.
Alma loved the flowers but they made her sneeze.
Nancy arrived with a bird on her shoulder. She was always showing off. Alma thought that she always seemed to be in a bad mood. Too bad, thought Alma. Tough.
Guess who else came to play at Alma’s house? Surprise? You are right. It was the hare with the very long ears.
There was a knock on the door.
Alma thought, who could it be? When Alma opened the door there stood an old friend. It was the miniature camel with the curled neck. Alma shouted, Hurrah, come on in!
Two giant chickens also brought Alma flowers.They were so silly because they started to eat the flowers before Alma could put them in a vase of water. Oh well, thought Alma, I bet they tasted pretty good. One of the colorful humac birds sat next to Alma and asked whether she wanted to play cards. Alma said sure. The humac bird had trouble sitting still and started to jump around the room.
Hard to play cards with a jumping humac bird.
The humac bird wasn’t paying attention and flew right into Alma’s favorite cow.
The cow shouted and mooed, Hey you humac bird, Watch where you are going. How about at least saying I am sorry when you fly into someone?
So, the humac bird said sorry.
Did she mean it?