Grandpa begins. “Young ladies, eclipses occur when a vampire tries to swallow the sun and fails after burning its tongue. That’s what our Siberian ancestors believed.”
Grandma laughs. “Absurd! Eclipses occur when a bear fights the sun and bites him, and later fights sister moon and bites her. That’s what our ancestors of the Pomo tribe believed.”
Later, I tell Nina, “They’re a little old fashioned.”
“That’s okay.” She shrugs. “But they’re both wrong. It's a celestial jaguar."