He has it on good authority that peepee oil might be covering Mexico and killing people, the fish, dolphins, and sharks. He seems to be the most concerned about the sharks.

He is worried that the peepee oil means we won’t be able to go to the beach again. He’s probably right.

He wants to know if the peepee oil will get into Lake Acworth. I assured him it wasn’t very likely to.

He would like to know how we plan to clean up the peepee oil and how long it will take. I don’t have any answers for him.

Tank is very sad about the peepee oil.

I haven’t shown my children any pictures of the beaches of my childhood, like Gulf Shores, covered with tar balls and pools of BP’s oil. I haven’t shown them the pelicans, the state bird of my birth state, foundering with oil-covered wings. I haven’t shown them dead dolphins being fished out of the Gulf. I have tried to explain that many people will lose their jobs, that many animals will die, and that the Gulf coast may not ever be the same — certainly not in my lifetime, probably not in theirs, and possibly not even in their children’s.

They’re children. To them, time means nothing. They are confident that someone smart will find a way to stop the oil and clean up the mess. With the boundless faith that well-cared-for children have in adults, they believe that they will grow up in a world that is safe, clean, and full of dolphins. That’s what grownups are here for, right?

Right?

*BP