My 22-month-old, blonde curly-haired granddaughter Phoebe has a sparkle that will melt your heart and a smile that will warm your soul. She lives in a world of constant discovery. “If I make a face, people laugh.” “If I jump in a mud puddle, good things happen.” “Some doggies are nice to pet; some aren’t.” She learns new words every day, and she’ll soon enter the “Why?” stage. “Why is the sky blue?” “Why doesn’t Mary like me?” “Why do I have to go to bed if I’m not tired?” And on and on.

Thoughts of Phoebe come to mind when I reflect upon the lessons learned in the course that I’m auditing at Bowdoin: “Education and the Human Condition,” a philosophy of education course. When you think about it, philosophy involves asking questions. “Who are we?” “What’s the meaning of life?” “What is our relation to our community?” “What’s the natural world got to do with me?” “Can we prove that there is — or isn’t — a God?” and “Why is it important to keep asking, ‘Why?””

In addressing the “philosophy of education,” we’ve studied the thoughts of noted thinkers, such as John Dewey, Jacques Ranciere, W. E. Dubois and Bell Hooks. We’ve discussed several issues, such as: “In what kind of environment do students learn best?” What is the teacher’s role?” “How does experience matter – the experience one brings to a situation and the experience needed to fully grasp new learnings?”, “Does education have an end goal?”, “How does a teacher best engage a student?”, “Who can you learn from?”, (Hint: Everyone.) and “When have you completed your education?” (Hint: You never do.)

And that’s the point. If we are to remain truly alive as the years pass, we have to keep asking “Why?” And, important, we must be willing to jump into new puddles, light inner sparks, push new boundaries. A good friend of mine recently began taking piano lessons — at age 79. Another good friend, who hadn’t played her violin in decades, joined a band composed of nine senior citizens, aptly named, “Off Their Rockers.” I ran into an acquaintance on the bus to Logan Airport, a widow in her sixties who was headed to Argentina for a month of Spanish immersion. A good 82-year friend still takes his 42-foot trawler up and down the Intracoastal Waterway and, to visit us, up the Atlantic Coast.

“Why?” That’s the one-word secret to aging with grace, it seems to me. “How?” works too. My wife Tina sometimes needles me for asking what she considers to be “personal” questions, such as “Where’d you go to college?” (I ask that question because I know a lot of colleges and the answer can serve as an icebreaker.) And besides, I learn a lot more by listening than by talking.

There’s comfort, to be sure, in doing the things we’ve always done in the way we’ve always done them. I’m guilty of that tendency, as Tina will tell you. And there’s comfort in hanging around old friends, the people who accept us warts and all. But we can tap into lots of energy from asking lots of questions, trying new things and getting to know new people — oldsters as well as youngsters. Besides, it’s a lot of fun.

Just ask Phoebe.

Midcoast Maine’s Got Talent

Local people willing to jump in mud puddles and put their talents on display will be featured at the Midcoast Maine’s Got Talent show sponsored by the Brunswick Rotary Club at 7 p.m. March 31 in the Crooker Theater at Brunswick High School.

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little

Old” columns at dtreadw575@aol.com.