Aunt, goldfinches and parenting.

1. Rosey has some Alec time -- she hasn't seen him since the day he was born. He's asleep in his carseat when she picks us up from the station. "I still haven't seen him with his eyes open," she says. He makes her wait until we get home. (Picture by Ronayne Grant)

2. "Those goldfinches... they're stealing my dandelion seeds," says my father balefully eyeing the flock of bright red and yellow finches on his lawn. It makes me think of the residents of the Cape of Good Hope who complained about penguins -- jolly, comical penguins -- digging up their lawns.

3. A small boy sitting a few seats down on the train chants "I've got a willy, I've got a willy." He gets a short lecture from his dad about things one can and cannot talk about in public. I smother a laugh, but a smile leaks around my hands. The boy looks past his father at me and rolls his eyes.