Clara, age 10, is spending the first hour of her morning – beginning around 6:00 AM – researching the celestial bodies that were named after Hawaiian Gods after finding a dwarf planet named Makemake in a book on astronomy and strongly suspecting that the name has Hawaiian origins.
Clara’s been into Hawaiian history – particularly Hawaiian history during World War 2 – for quite a while. There are books on Hawaiian history EVERYWHERE in my house.
It also explains her hula dancer Halloween costume.
It turns out that Clara was wrong. Makemake is actually a god worshiped by the people of Easter Island, which is almost 5,000 miles south of Hawaii.
Nice try, Clara, but not even close.
All of this would be fine except that it’s 6:00 in the morning, I’m trying to finish a column for Slate, and she’s sitting next to me, asking question like, “What does virility mean?”
It’s a wonder I get anything done.
