You might surmise from the title of this article that it has something to do with brains; but what is the link to Norfolk pines and what is a Norfolk pine?

I have always thought that the little Norfolk pines that I would see in grocery stores around Christmas, overlooking the glitter they often put on them, were rather exotic and interesting. I had never had the time, opportunity, or actual inclination to investigate them; but I still found them to be curious little 18" plants, particularly since they were a species of pine tree. However, upon recent investigation, I discovered why I thought they were curious pines-- they are not actually pine trees at all. Okay, lest you think I am having some kind of senior moment and running off on a tangent, let me start trying to connect some dots.

While visiting Sydney we spent a weekend at Manly Beach, just outside of Sydney. Shortly after arriving, we went out to check out the sights. The beach and the area were really spectacular. We admired the beautiful sandy beach, watched the surfers, and started appraising the dozens of tempting restaurants. But some of the most prominent features of the area were these very spectacular, exotic hundred-plus-foot high evergreens that were everywhere.  My son, Laird, wondered aloud what kind of trees they were, and I realized that I recognized them as huge specimens of those little plants with glitter--Norfolk pines.  I decided that when I got home I needed to go find one of the 18-inch versions for my house and another for Laird and his wife to commemorate our trip to Australia.

When I was in college I took flying lessons. My dad, whose curriculum vitae included private pilot since age 16, instructor pilot, fighter pilot, and airline pilot, did not teach me. However, coming to visit me in Waco one weekend, he was happy to fly with me to see what I had learned, and I was anxious to show off my newly acquired skills. I had flown with him many times, but never from the left seat and never as the PIC (pilot in command).  We went up for a pleasant little jaunt, and I flew brilliantly. (Anyone can take off and fly around. It's just not that hard.) Then came the real piloting part-landing. I really wanted to make a good impression and diligently went through each step just like my instructor had taught me--enter downwind, power back at just the right moment, put in 10 degrees of flaps right when your shoulder is even with the touchdown point--I said each one aloud to make sure I wasn't missing a step. And to double check, I turned to my dad: "Am I forgetting anything?" I was fully expecting him either to point out a missed detail or to acknowledge that I'd performed impeccably so far. Instead, based on thousands of hours of flying experience, here was his response: "Lori. We are here (pointing to us). You want to be down there (pointing out my window to the runway below). Just do what it takes to get there."

It's easy to get so caught up in the nitty-gritty details sometimes that we lose sight of the big goals. I see this happen all the time with parents trying to accomplish their NACD program activities with their kids. While the details are important-I couldn't have known how to get the plane on the ground without having learned it as a step-by-step procedure first-it's important to understand the goal for a few reasons: