Balancing things seems to run in our family. I knew our grandsons liked to build towers with blocks, but I had not remembered that daughter Lise stacked things in her favor created stacks. She was four years old when I caught her on film. Yes, it was film, and it was a long time ago.

When grandson David was nine, Cousin Lars provided the lift for the blocks.

Both grandsons (in striped shirts) and choir child Dan liked showing off the tower they built while we were having choir rehearsal. David was 12, and Nathaniel was 7.

Years passed. During long family dinners, David practiced stacking and balancing things. It was his choice to keep himself occupied, instead of acting like a brat at the table. I hadn’t realized it continued at college, but he showed me a photo or so to prove it. The latest involved the sugar bowl and spoon. I don’t particularly want to talk about the infestation of large black ants while we are still under siege. I had rinsed the spoon and left it on the counter, making sure the top was firmly seated on the crystal bowl. Too bad it wasn’t a crystal ball. I would have wished it to show us ant-free.

The next morning I walked in the kitchen and saw the spoon balanced on the pointy top of the sugar bowl. I looked at John, making coffee a few feet away, and I looked back at the spoon. I said, “David did this, didn’t he?”