Lest she be denied the truth of her roots.

On our walks, each day, Harper and I talk a lot. We talk flowers & animals (especially dogs and squirrels), we sing songs (ok. gasp and heave air through vocal cords up hills, hoping sound comes out), we count and sometimes, we're just quiet.

Today, after a few minutes of silence, I saw a small index finger declaratively fly out and heard:

Harper: ((points to tree)) Flower!
Me: Yes, it is! It's a Dogwood tree! Funny, it's the state flower of North Carolina, but it's actually a tree. The state tree is the Pine. Can you say Dogwood?
Harper: Woof. Twee.
Me: Yeah. Close enough. Woof.
Harper: ((thinks I said "wolf")) Ouuuuuwwww! (this is a howl)
Me: Ouuuuuww! (obviously..)

..Then, in the littlest voice, that if the timing hadn't been perfect and in which my heart nearly bursts thinking that I might have missed it if a car happened to rumble past, she said, "Go Sate (State)."