Wednesday, May 22, 2013

As odd as it may seem magnetism does not have to involve iron.  For example, I have personally witnessed the magnetic attraction of kids to water.  I have witnessed the attraction of a single puddle of water in my entire driveway for every child in the vicinity.  To the adult mind, footwear would be a definite issue, but the attraction is so powerful that it overcomes reason and logic.  The drive to stamp in the mud puddle is so strong, that footwear is not a consideration.   No matter if the child is wearing Sunday shoes and white socks or knee-high rubber boots, he or she will be just as likely to be ankle deep in  the water within seconds.  If there is more water than just a puddle, the attraction extends beyond the feet.  If a stream or the edge of a lake is the attractant, then one can measure it’s strength by the height of the waterline on the clothing.  Often, the child will be found completely soaked with no regard for the temperature or the cleanliness of the water.  This evening we attended the annual Cub Scout Regatta that we hold at Meadow Creek.  The scouts each make a floatable hunk of wood charitably thought of as a boat, and then release the boats together where the creek passes through a culvert.  All the children race to the other end of the culvert to see the boats pass through, and then follow them along the course of Meadow Creek for another 300 yards to where it empties into Eagle River.  Knowing that every child would be going home wet even though the day was cloudy and the temperature was in the 50’s, I tried to hold in check the my tendency to warn them away from the water.  I asked several if they were wet yet, but got few responses because even though they likely were wet, they were reluctant to admit it because they were afraid they would be told to go dry off and warm up.  Several of the boys actually wore rain boots and I applauded their foresight.  Sure enough, halfway down the course of the creek, one of the boys was wading in the creek with the water over the tops of the boots so that they were only providing cushioning from the rocks.  An adult cannot comprehend how one could tolerate the cold wet boots, but there are probably great insulating properties in a boot full of water, similar to a wetsuit.  Or not.  Anyway, by the time the boys had run the race 4 or 5 times with their siblings chasing along, nearly every shoe was leaving squishy tracks in its wake.  While to me, this would be the opposite of fun, I am clearly over the age limit required to appreciate it.  That is why, having learned from my own children the hopelessness of haranguing, I am pleased to leave it to their parents.