Kid Calvin and I nearly found the fourth floor the other day. We were were wandering around the Y again on our usual top-secret mission, and we found a staircase we hadn't noticed before. At first the staircase was rather unremarkable, but as we went up it started looking shabbier and less like a place we were supposed to be exploring. Everything was dusty, slabs of paint were peeling off of the walls, and there were no lights. It was the lack of lights that finally freaked the Calvin kid out to the point where he actually said he wanted to turn back. It was fine with me, because I had a sneaky suspicion that we really weren't supposed to be there. So we sat on a bench looking down at the pool, and Kid Calvin started talking about all the fantastic things that were on the elusive fourth floor. Besides monsters, he said that there is likely a big pot of gold that was put up there years and years ago but that everyone has forgotten about. I pointed out that if I had a pot of gold I wouldn't put it up on a fourth floor because if there was a fire it would all melt, and that a safe at a bank would be a better spot for it, and anyway, the most logical spot for a pot of gold was the end of a rainbow. He didn't quite agree, and said that putting gold at the end of a rainbow is way too obvious. Then he wanted to try again and go all the way up, light or no light, but Bethany the stick-in-the-mud said no. I'm so lame.

We have had the most interesting conversations on that bench. An example:

Me: "Look at all those people swimming. Don't they look like they're having fun?"

Calvin Kid: "Why is that dude so fat?"

Me (thinking fast): "Umm...he's swimming in a t-shirt, and it makes him look bigger than he really is."


Moving right along...

Yesterday Paul gave me my first motorcycle ride, and today he gave me my second. It's wonderful! I always thought that it would be at least a little frightening to zoom along so fast with no walls between you and everything else, but really, it's more like flying than anything else. You actually experience travel in a way that is impossible otherwise. You don't just look at the scenery, you're in it. Plus, the joy of being the passenger is that you don't have to do anything but enjoy the ride. And it helps if you really enjoy the company of whoever's driving... : )