What makes a kid want to jump into puddles? Is it genuine inquiry? Is it discovery? Is it adventure? Does he realize his shoes and feet will get wet? Or doesn't that matter?
Why don't adults jump into puddles? Most of us will walk twice the distance just to avoid the puddles!
Are we afraid we'll get our shoes wet? Or our feet? Is that inconvenient? Instead of fun?
What changes in us that makes us stop this type of behavior?
Is there still a kid in you? A desire for fun? A yearning to explore? A sense of wonder at a water fountain?
When I was a kid on the Tri State Campground in East Liverpool, there were two things that made camp totally fascinating.
The first was the water fountain in front of the Oakland cottage on the top row. If you held your finger on it, you could squirt water twenty feet! It was a great way to surpise innocent passers-by!
The second was the daily arrival of the 'ice man'. Oh boy! He would drive his truck around the camp delivering ice to cottages with their sign hanging out. When he had to chip the ice, it would create lots of refreshment for all the kids following him like he was the Pied Piper!
As soon as he would disappear into a cottage, we'd hop on the truck to grap ice chips! Now that was the perfect recipe for fun because it also invovled risk!
Maybe that's the secret. Maybe as we grow older, we quit taking risks. And without knowing it, we quit having fun.
I'll be back.
It rained last night. I'm going out to look for some puddles!
