$64,000 Question

Nicholas is in an extremely...how shall I put this...inquisitive period. All day long he asks questions. They vary from mundane to philosophical in nature. Here's a small sampling from the past three days:

"Mommy, what are pants?"
"What is God?"
"What kind of dinosaur is that?" (I answer, "It's a brontosaurus." And he replies, "No! It's a brontosaurus!")
"Can you eat rocks?"
"Why can't you eat rocks?"
"What's a throne?"
"What's a gorilla zipline?"
"What is Tuesday?"

Last week on a cold, rainy day he asked me, "Who makes it rain?"
I paused for a moment. Did I go the religious/philosophical route? Or the natural, earthly route? I didn't really know the answer to either one; at least not in terms a 3 year old would understand. So I simply said, "The clouds make the rain."
"Clouds?!" He replied incredulously. "Why do clouds make the rain?"
I sighed impatiently.
"They just do. Because plants need water to drink so they can grow." Sometimes I have to be careful with how much information I give because too much leads to 2.7 million follow up questions and mild, throbbing headache.
"What about the sun? Why is it sunny?"
"Because plants need sun too."
With that, he seemed satisfied and I was pleased the line of questioning didn't require immediate medication.

Fast forward to Sunday.
"Oma! Did you know clowns make rain?"

It's such a joy of parenting to see the transfer of knowledge in action.