Getting Wet

The assignment, well, it sounded kind of boring: a fun run at one of the schools. A parent organizer called it in. And then I forgot all about it. It was supposed to happen yesterday, but we were rained out. But this was no little rain. Let me put this in perspective. I commute to work on a busy expressway. On Wednesday as I drove at a whopping 40 miles an hour on said expressway I lost the truck that was driving right in front of me. I couldn't see it, but I knew it was there. Somewhere.

So the fun run was postponed and I got a call from my editor telling me so. Ummm. Ok. I had no idea what he was talking about. But this morning, glorious sunshine. Warm, with no wind. We were blessed.

I arrived a few minutes later, after having had a snafu with the camera. The children were out and running on a path around the school. A fire truck sat by the playground as the children jogged by. By the time I parked and walked over to the fire truck many of the students had already made their way around the required six times. (Though "required" is much too harsh of a word. This was all just plain fun.) Time for the fire truck to swing into action.

The sweaty children ages 5 to 11 got a good drenching. The fireman sprayed the water up into the air and and it showered down on them. In the morning sun it looked like golden droplets. The children squealed with joy, ran from the water, then ran back for more. They gathered under the water, getting soaked.

"All wet children run that way," the fireman pointed up the path. The dry ones stayed and became wet, too.

At the event each child got some fruit and a water bottle. They also got soaked.

Towards the end, the fireman extended the ladder all the way. It towered above our heads 100 feet. The children gathered on the field and then he showered them with water. They were so happy they could not contain their joy. They leaped and ran around. They laughed and screamed with happiness. They beamed and glowed. It is hard to really capture the moment. I think one little boy did a pretty good job, though.

"This is the awesomist day of school EVER!!" he shouted.

I couldn't agree more.

I left school with an ear-to-ear grin. How could I not be happy? I just whitenessed 240 children get soaked. Their exuberance, spilled over onto us. They could not contain their joy. I wonder if I have ever been that happy, that joyous. There must have been a day like that in my own past.

I have a friend, Conor, who runs his own orphanage in Nepal. One of the holi days involves splashing each other with water. He posted pictures of the kids. I can tell you this, children are the same all over the world. A world away and the children in Nepal look exactly like those kids I had the pleasure of watching today.

"Awesomist day of school ever."

Indeed.

TARB