Today....while up in SEATTLE....finishing a sign for an old employer...I got to witness a big learning lesson for my lil nephew....
...we had a lil bonfire in the yard....burning some wood that was lying around...just the remedy for this FREEZING COLD....it was HOT...creating a lil bubble of warmth arounds us....Joe put a pail of frozen water near it to watch it thaw....and then lil J grabbed ahold of it...the fire had made it super hot...and he howled in bewilderment at the pain...thinking, somehow...it was the water in the pail...he howled and sobbed for over an hour...reduced to almost animal-like shuddering and babbling incoherently...his face a mucousy mess....he had never experienced this sort of throbbing agony....it was hard to see him learning these lessons...FIRE HOT...
After at least an hour and a half...he passed out from shear exhaustion...he slept for quite some time...and when his mommy came home he was just returning to some sort of normality...ready to laugh and goof about...maybe bolstered by her presence...that despite this horrible event...life could still go on the same...and us trying to make him laugh even harder..as if trying to erase any last glimmer of pain from deep in his brain...trying to reassure ourselves there were no permanent scars.....but his body had learned too...that really bad pain goes away...and life goes on...AMAZING how resilient kids need to be in the face of the infinite unknown experience...
I don't remember experiencing that first pain...obviously the body needs to forget...thank god...so it was amazing to revisit that moment through his eyes....
1 comment:
i found you through your sister's blog and then trinoculars. love the whole concept (and photography, as well - my flickr is accessible through the slideshow on my photo blog - i'm still uploading). i don't remember my first time learning what hot means either, and i dread witnessing my son go through it, but i hope it ends as happily as your post describes! p.s. i thought i was the only one who used "lil" anymore. nice to "meet" you. bonfires are great. a really warm post.
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