On axolotls and war
Blueberry Pirate Axolotl. February 2026. On the morning of February 28, 2026, as a U.S. missile hit a school in Iran and killed at least 175 people, the majority of them children, my son stepped onto a classroom stage dressed as a blue pirate axolotl. My child was not always going to be a blue pirate axolotl. In fact, for the preceding 12 weeks he was preparing to be an axolotl named Pinky, with a costume already created and assembled. But 48 hours before his performance, he looked at his existing mask and panicked: "It's too big! How will I wear it? It's blue, not pink!" The panic continued for 47 hours with little movement, until one hour before we had to leave when he finally decided he was ready to redo his creation. Within 30 minutes he had made an entirely new mask, this time on a smaller paper plate, with an eye patch added and an outfit selected in the corresponding color. "What's your character's name now?" I asked. "Blueberry Pirate ...
