Diving In

// November 18th, 2009 // 4 Comments » // curiosity

We’ve been pretty housebound lately and decided to take both our boys to the aquarium yesterday.

It didn’t start out so great, as we got out of the car it started hailing and we had to stumble across the road carrying and covering baby Fred, finessing three year old Finn around some enticing puddles, while hauling all the junk you carry when you go out with little kids.

Once we got inside the aquarium Finn raced over to the huge fish tank in the foyer and was totally into it.

This was great, because last time we came Finn was about two and barely even registered that fish were present, in fact he spent the whole time playing on the stairs. He LOVED those stairs. (Because stairs are great, a natural wonder worthy of creating special buildings to show them off to the public: stairquariums. Back then, Finn would be totally up for a trip to the stairquarium.)

But now, he gets fish! It was great to see his excitement and how keenly he took in all the details: he got to touch starfish and sea anemones in the tidal pool section, he knelt down and examined this tiny pale yellow seahorse, watched jellyfish rise up and over him in this cool donut shaped tank, and freaked out a little as the huge octupus flopped about at feeding time.

A second great surprise was how much Fred was into the whole thing. He spent most of the time up in my arms leaning forward at ridiculous angles, fiercely focused on fish, waves crashing through the tanks, sea birds, pretty much everything on show. I think the big eyes on the larger fish were his favorite.

I just loved that gesture, that lean. So dangerously close to falling and so filled with curiosity. His whole body was taut, not stiff with fear, but attentive and stretched out towards the world that was providing this amazing spectacle.

There were a couple of moments where he actually did overbalance a little and had to flail around a bit to regain his composure. But each time this happened he went straight back to that forward lean, alert like a fisherman hunched over the line feeling for the next nibble.

I was so exhausted at the start of the trip, and felt a bit depressed at having to make our way through the hail, I can’t say I was all that impressed at going to the aquarium either to be honest. But seeing the response of our boys was so rejuvenating.

I was reminded how much I want that for myself. That leaning out into life, that intelligent exploration of the continual newness of the world we live in, unclogged by all the assumptions and thought-ruts that we let build up in our minds.

It was a nice reminder and I hope I never forget the beautiful way Finn and Fred took it all in. I hope I also remember that seahorse and her mournfully elegant face.