Imagination

Gianluca is fascinated with Spiderman and trying to figure out how to walk on walls. He's tried using spit, gobs of scotch tape, anything sticky really, and has even asked for glue, but both Graham and I have been uncooperative with that one.

And then last week he made a discovery underneath a bridge in the center of the city that has made his spiderman dreams come true.

We went to the Volkenkunde Museum to see the Waka (a Maori canoe) set sail. Maori artists had been carving the Waka this summer out of a single kauri tree, which was about 700 years old. We had visited them several times to just watch them work. So we were excited to see the Waka set sail. When we got there, it was incredibly crowded. We found a spot across the water just underneath the bridge and settled in with some good friends.

When Gianluca saw the wall underneath the bridge, his face spread into an enormous smile. His eyes got big and he looked like he was going to explode with excitement. It was curved - you could walk on it and even run on it. You could run up high, or run really fast down below. I was less excited, since down below was the water, but Gianluca had found another magical spot in Leiden.

And whenever his eyes twinkle and see him break out into a spontaneous smile, I sort of suspect he's waiting for his next trip down to the curved wall underneath the bridge.