babies and blackboards, on board

on my flight to chicago, i sat next to a midwest mother who had a 2 year old on her lap. now, it is illegal to keep your handbag on your lap but i guess it is ok to keep a baby. this one was the sweetest 2 year old girl and we played the usual peekaboo but she, like a cat, had her ways and deigned to occasionally curl her lips in a half smile but that was it. throughout, the mom was cooing to her in german and pointing out things excitedly to her in german and she was drinking it all in not to excitedly but with a calm repose. then suddenly out of the blue (ha ha it was in the blue) the plane lurched and entered a turbulence. all the adults were clearly uncomfortable and their facial muscles tense. the 2 year old suddenly started giggling and smiling. it was amazing. only a 2 year old can probably do that. and then calm returned to the plane and the baby. weird.

my second flight to pittsburgh was rent by howls of a 2 year old sitting behind my seat and fighting with her sister and bawling almost through the flight. what a contrast. i guess babies develop personalities early on. so is that original nature? again i find myself thinking about buddhism and observing the mind and true nature. we are told and to some extent it seems plausible that we all start tabula rasa. when and where does it get chalked in? who does the writing and is there a duster? or a wet cloth like we used in school sometimes? there certainly are parts which say 'do not rub' on this big blackboard of the brain, at least pour moi.