Goddess of Cute


Rhiannon and I were hiking by Piestawa Peak in northern Phoenix this afternoon. There is absolutely no cover to be found, no escape from the direct sunlight aside from what small shade our hats provided. As we walked, Rhiannon, perched atop my shoulders (she is making me *quite* fit this way), commented on the clouds to the north, thunderheads birthing in the 100+ degree heat.

"Dad!"

"Yes, Rhiannon?"

"I bet that's where the gods live."

"Where?"

"In the clouds! DUH!"

"What makes you think that?"

She sighs. "Because that's where gods live!" I half expect her to end the exclamation with "idiot", but she does not. I'm relieved. Usually daughters wait until adolescence to think their dads are idiots, and I was worried that Rhiannon was starting early.

Rhiannon continues. "I am a goddess."

I stop walking.

"It's true. Emma says that she is a goddess and that all the other girls in our class are goddesses, too. But she's wrong. I'm the only goddess there."

"Rhiannon, in order for you to be a goddess, one of your parents has to be a god."

She considers this and says, "well, I am half a goddess then, and half a person."

Well, Rhiannon thinks one of her parents is a god. I refrain from pressing the issue because it might not be either of her traditional parents, but some third divine entity.

Rhiannon continues her monologue. "I AM half a goddess."

"Which half?" I ask her, jokingly. But she is quite serious.

"My left half," she says. And she means it. "My right half always gets booboos and hurts, but my left half is always fine. So that's the goddess half."

"Alrighty then."

The case is closed. I continue walking, and she continues observing her long-lost home in the clouds, almost able to reach them from my shoulders. She resigns herself to her mortal chariot.

"Can I have some Oreos?"

Hmm. Food of the gods. "Of course." I hand some cookies up to her, and crumbs begin dusting my hat, chocolate mana from heaven.

Rhiannon. Divinely Cute.

Andrew (Papa)

(Note: The art in this post was done by my friend and colleague Bob Crumb in 2008).