Where does the night live?

I always forget that the big life changes don't really just happen suddenly, they actually sneak up on you gradually and it just takes some time to see the change for what it is. Claire has been asking Why and What questions for some time now. It was clear a year ago that she was processing multiple layers of information simultaneously. When she visited me in the hospital when Hannah was born, after a few days of visiting and never seeing me out of bed she said to me "I need to see your legs." Her questions have become more existential and harder to avoid answering, and her own explanations ever more endearing. When she told me why her friend Logan didn't go on field trips from the day care she explained that he had to go home to his mommy to get some energy. Driving home yesterday in the car at sunset, she remarked that the sun was gone, then wondered where it had gone, and after some reflection asked "where does the night live?" Now, we all know, all mothers believe their children to be the brightest and best but I was tickled that when our brief explanation of daytime and sunshine failed to mention night, she filled in her own blanks and surmised that night was involved in the absence of the sun, but if she could say that she lived "in Salt Lake City in Utah!" then where did the night hail from? When this came up again over dinner Lord Honey decided we should get more scientific and decided to explain starting with the shadow cast by his hand and then using his other hand to suggest an imaginary object that could have been a sun or a planet and by the time he got to revolving I was hiding behind Hannah and laughing until he asked her if she got it and her reply was "I want a special treat." I think even for deep thinking three year olds, abstract concepts might take a while longer.