Showed my 5-yr old nephew Chicago this afternoon. His first "tall building" city -- Washington D.C. was his first big city, but there the buildings are only so tall.
Approaching the Sears Tower R clung to his dad's arm and refused to look up until he was stopped and still on the street corner. "How come?" I wanted to know. "Cause I don't want to tip over," he said squinting into the towering distance, staggering a little.
The force of the building's height on his little boy frame -- the way he devoured it with his eyes, the way he looked dizzy and drunk from it, the way he worried (just a little) that it might fall over on him until his mom reassured him it wouldn't -- I needed to see that. I needed to be reminded how magnificent these things man makes can be.
Posting by cameraphone.
3 comments:
I know how he feels. New York had the same effect on me, and I was well into my 20's...
ah, so happy for your little nephew. these experiences are exhilarating and will stay with him. and so cool that you got to share it with him. i must admit, i still have similar moments. (although, i wonder how much is agoraphobia and how much is awe & wonder.)
reminds me of recent visits to the equator, looking up on a clear night and seeing just how much closer and bigger and brighter the stars and moon were... it was gloriously frightening... and took courage to look up; i felt as though i was going to fall off the face of the earth...
i hope he enjoyed the buzz! ;)
I have a strange thing that happens to me when I am high up with Joe-Henry. When we were at the tiptop of the Eiffel Tower, and he peered over the edge, I felt as though my womb would fall out of my body. It was so real, so incredibly physical. I still get it at times, like when he gets to close to the edge while waiting for a train. I don't get it at all when I'm alone.
Love this post, friend. So happy that you get to see your town through his eyes.
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