Touching Grass
Insider #131 taking Rohan to the park
Dear Insider,
What is it like to touch the earth for the first time? This week, I took Rohan to the park so we could find out.
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🏞️ Touch Grass
We live such insulated lives. Insulated not only in our thoughts, not only in the visuals and sounds we consume, but also in the physicality of daily existence. Cleaning every surface, wearing multiple layers of clothing, refusing to feel the cold or the wet or any temperature below or above our comfort zones. Little bubbles everywhere. Entire lives passing inside them.
Touching grass is a revolutionary act.
We took Rohan to the park for a picnic under the warm sun and blue sky. The grass was green and dry. The rose garden was freshly cultivated. The cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom.
Rohan was not best pleased to be taken out of his comfortable seat. But I must make allowances for that because he is not quite in this world yet. What is grass, he might ask. A reasonable question if only he had the words to express himself. Why are you taking away this blanket, he might complain, if he knew what constituted a blanket. If he knew what “taking away” meant. What is this infernal light in my eyes, he might have said, if only he knew his adjectives, or nouns, or verbs, or prepositions, or the sun. If only his mouth and tongue and throat were trained in a language of human communication.
Instead, he cooed. He cried out. He gurgled. He smiled. He breathed heavily, and rapidly, and softly, and steadily. He touched grass with wide eyed wonder. He asked for his milk.
It got cold soon after and we walked back home.
⛴️ Sightings in the City
I took the SeaBus, which is a unique thing of Vancouver. It is a 5-min ride across the water that separates the downtown from North Van. There was a lot of life onboard.
🪑 Reclining for Rohan
Rohan is growing so fast and changing so quickly. What happened a couple of weeks ago feels impossibly far away. Last week is already a blur. I will have to go back to my diary and past posts to make sure. He coos in appreciation after feeds now. He smiles when you smile at him. He loves to sleep when carried. And sometimes he refuses to sleep unless he is carried. Phew.
💻 Insider Hangout of April
The next Insider Hangout is on Saturday, 6 April. Grab your FREE seat!