Chutes and Escalators

Lily gets really excited whenever we head for the mall. When we're int he car and she realizes what area of town we're in, she starts asking "Penny? Penny?" over and over again. For some reason, she *loves* JCPenney. Amy and I really can't figure out why, but it's probably what has become the central part of any trip to that particular store... the escalators.

Now, let me preface this by saying that it might sound like we never take this girl anywhere to play. We *do*, several times a week. There's a park in Saline that we like to go to, and there's even a decent playground not half a mile from our house (strangely enough, it's called Lillie Park), so it's not like she never gets the chance to run around, climb, and all the other things that kids do in such places.

But there's something about those escalators... the last few excursions there have included no less than three complete circuits of riding them up, walking around to the other side, then descending to the ground floor again. Her enjoyment might stem from the fact that she's mastered the technique of stepping on and off, something that even grown-ups fail at every now and then. She does it with no hesitation at all, which is probably the key to her success. But it's always the same process; she steps on, then climbs up a few extra steps on the upward journey -- always stopping to touch the side wall, and marvel at the fact that it seems to be moving down past us -- and casually having a seat on the steps on her return to the bottom. No worries about pant hems or shoelaces getting caught for this little adventurer.

This sort of plays off the fact that she's reached another kid milestone... at the aforementioned Lillie Park yesterday, she learned by watching some other little girls the fine art of climbing *up* the tornado slide. The one they have there is short -- I can stand next to her at the top and easily hold her hand while she starts her downward slide -- and she's figured out that your knees can hold you in place while you reach up and pull yourself a little higher up the slide. Then she stands up, turns around, and slides back down. Repeat and repeat.

She just seems to love the process of getting from someplace up to a higher spot, then coming back down. There's a metaphor for life there, but it's too late for me to make an attempt at it. Maybe some other time...