My youngest son, Nate, is obsessed with Melville’s Moby Dick.

I’m not talking about the singer, Moby.

I’m talking about the whale.

How does a seven-year old get obsessed with a story of…. the obsession that a seasoned whaler has for his nemesis, the great white whale, Moby Dick?

How does that happen?

Anyway, it’s really kind of cool.

When Jenny and I were getting ready for the birth of our first child, Zoe, a bunch of years ago, I said, “I hope she doesn’t turn out to be a lump”.

And…none of our children are lumps…..just a bunch of young people full of character and personality.

They are characters.

No lumps.

Moby Dick is a big book with a lot of big themes.

How did our Nate get so interested in it all?

Beats me.