The Parkour Boys
My sunroom looks out over a small city playground. During afternoon nap/cuddle time, I see the usual things out there: if it's not too cold, there are kids playing. The school bus waits till it's time to pick up kids at the school a few blocks away. There are the inevitable tantrums about when it's time to leave, and the neighborhood dogs enjoy catch in the small field.
But by far my favourite thing to watch from up in the sunroom are the parkour boys. One of them is doing flips off a boulder right now, as I type. He's maybe 15 years old (and I often wonder why he isn't in school), has skinny legs encased in tight jeans, a camera mounted on a small tripod and his creativity and wits about him as he transforms the park and its implements into his own personal jungle gym.
Today he was focused on the picnic tables and one of the smaller boulders. He did back flips and front flips, sideways flips and jumps. For the backflip, he stands on the rock, balanced and tensed. He lifts his hands and mimes a jump before launching himself into the air feet over head and landing in the snow. The front flip gets a one-step running start to launch himself off the rock. He grabs his knees as he flips over in the air and lands, miraculously it seems to me, on his feet. His camera on its tripod in the snow captures his moves. It's incredible, really. It's not warm out today, but he just spent at least an hour practicing move after move, twisting his body through the air with determination and precision. At one point he tried launching himself toward the frame for the babyswings, catching the pole in his hand and using his momentum to kick off the pole into a backflip. That one did not end with him on his feet, unsurprisingly. He is wearing mittens, afterall, and can't get a good grip on the large pole.
Sometimes he comes with friends and sometimes they all bring a huge crashmat. They drape it over the roof of their car, and hold it with their arms through the open windows. It takes all 3 of them to move it from the car to the various locations they use it in the park.
The park features a large climbing rock with a flat top that includes a ledge you can dangle off of. A few meters away is a smaller version of the same thing. one of the most impressive moves of the Parkour boys is when they jump from the big rock to the little rock.
It is mindblowing to me that this baby asleep in the sling on my chest is going to grow and develop into a human with a body that might be capable of flipping off of rocks. With every size of clothes I unpack and put in his drawer I think 'he can't possibly get this big' and then I have to remind myself ... he's going to be come an ADULT eventually. And be ADULT sized. Human development is astounding.
I really hope Rudi turns into the kind of kid that spends hours outside perfecting some physical feat, even in the cold. Even though I think that Parkour kid should probably be in school, I'm pretty impressed that this is how he spends his time. He's in the park 2 or 3 times a week, working on his flips and jumps. We all know there are much worse ways for teenagers to spend their time!
But by far my favourite thing to watch from up in the sunroom are the parkour boys. One of them is doing flips off a boulder right now, as I type. He's maybe 15 years old (and I often wonder why he isn't in school), has skinny legs encased in tight jeans, a camera mounted on a small tripod and his creativity and wits about him as he transforms the park and its implements into his own personal jungle gym.
Today he was focused on the picnic tables and one of the smaller boulders. He did back flips and front flips, sideways flips and jumps. For the backflip, he stands on the rock, balanced and tensed. He lifts his hands and mimes a jump before launching himself into the air feet over head and landing in the snow. The front flip gets a one-step running start to launch himself off the rock. He grabs his knees as he flips over in the air and lands, miraculously it seems to me, on his feet. His camera on its tripod in the snow captures his moves. It's incredible, really. It's not warm out today, but he just spent at least an hour practicing move after move, twisting his body through the air with determination and precision. At one point he tried launching himself toward the frame for the babyswings, catching the pole in his hand and using his momentum to kick off the pole into a backflip. That one did not end with him on his feet, unsurprisingly. He is wearing mittens, afterall, and can't get a good grip on the large pole.
Sometimes he comes with friends and sometimes they all bring a huge crashmat. They drape it over the roof of their car, and hold it with their arms through the open windows. It takes all 3 of them to move it from the car to the various locations they use it in the park.
The park features a large climbing rock with a flat top that includes a ledge you can dangle off of. A few meters away is a smaller version of the same thing. one of the most impressive moves of the Parkour boys is when they jump from the big rock to the little rock.
It is mindblowing to me that this baby asleep in the sling on my chest is going to grow and develop into a human with a body that might be capable of flipping off of rocks. With every size of clothes I unpack and put in his drawer I think 'he can't possibly get this big' and then I have to remind myself ... he's going to be come an ADULT eventually. And be ADULT sized. Human development is astounding.
I really hope Rudi turns into the kind of kid that spends hours outside perfecting some physical feat, even in the cold. Even though I think that Parkour kid should probably be in school, I'm pretty impressed that this is how he spends his time. He's in the park 2 or 3 times a week, working on his flips and jumps. We all know there are much worse ways for teenagers to spend their time!
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