I rented a car in the Queen Charlottes (more on that here).

I had to pick it up from a home near the Skidegate ferry dock.

While there, a girl, whom I estimate to be about four years old, comes out. She walks over, pokes me in the sternum and asks, "Who made your shirt?"

"An artist lady," I said. "She tie-dyed it."

"Well it's messy," the kid said with remarkable bluntness. "It's a messy tie-dye."

Allow me to excuse myself for offending your already-well-developed fashion sense!

A week later, I drop off the car relatively late. The lady was nice enough to run me back to the motel.

We got to chatting about my little buddy. Apparently the kid never talked to any stranger for the longest time, but is now, er, overcompensating. :)

At a local hospital fundraiser, the kid went to some woman who was smoking and told her: "You shouldn't do that, you know. You're going to die."

While the mother wondered how to teach the lessons of socially appropriate interaction, my feeling was that perhaps she'll be an acerbic American Idol-style judge for her generation. But perhaps she's more Mr. Blackwell than Simon Cowell. :)

And if you're wondering, the physical resemblance of the fashion critic to this pop culture figure is striking: :)

The fashion critic is a cool kid, and her mom's a very nice person. I wish the two of them well.