Simple Pleasures

I got my grandson Rowen this plastic gizmo that hooks up to the garden hose and spews water in all directions.  As a bonus, a central spout shoots plastic balls by the force of the water up the middle.

Yesterday was the perfect day for running through water in the back yard and that’s exactly what we did.  The shooting balls were, of course, the hit of the day.  The dance of the five-year-old, confident so long as Gran had his back, was a thing of beauty to behold.  Advance and retreat before the side streams of water in an effort to seize the balls mid-air evoked peals of laughter in both of us.

But at one point, he just wasn’t willing to get too close – water in his eyes had cooled his ardor for the game.  When I encouraged him to run in, his response:  “You come too.  Let’s run together.”

And so we did, hand in hand – running in circles through the streams of water reflecting the gold of the sun’s rays in mid-air, we both got soaking wet and laughed and laughed at ourselves.

Summer days in the back yard are full of fond memories and I rejoice that Rowen and I just made another one.