A Hose and a Nozzle

Sumarga Pun

I have been watering the new grass morning and evening.

I know that in ten days it will begin to sprout.

Glen showed me how to get right down on my stomach and look at that first space between the earth and the sky to see its beginnings.

When I went out and watered that this morning, I also took out a bucket of children’s toys I have gathered, ones that have over-wintered on the lawn.

I can make the water run off my hand and into my mouth.

With a fine solution of bleach, I worked the toys over, scrubbing the dirt out of all of the corners.

I laid them out on the small trampoline for Sumarga.

I thought they were a real find.

He had no interest in them.

Even when I took a soccer ball and threw it at his legs, having it hit one of them and it bounced off, he seemed not to notice I was present.

He had to have felt that pop off of his legs.

... see the small stream of water, directly from hose to mouth ...

“No interest in balls,” his mom said.

He wandered to the gifted-to-us Bates-Treleaven swing set that is in our yard.

He climbs like a little mountain goat up the slanted wooden side of the set, the place that only has foot and hand holds on it.

“Loves that sensory stuff,” remarked his mom.

Where is the water coming from?

I didn’t like being ignored.

I have saved those toys up for a few weeks.

Him, showing no interest in what I had brought to the party, I took my hose over and showed a fine stream of water could come out of it.

Finally, some interest. He leaned over put his mouth in it as though it were a fountain.

I gave him a thimble-sized cup with a handle.

He caught water into it and then drank it, then put it under the thin stream of water again and drank, and so forth until I thought he might get water poisoning.

“He loves drinking like that, even the tub water with suds,” said his mother.

I switched to letting him control the hose, now having to hold it himself and navigate his head to the water. I knew it was time to grab out my camera.

My clue to do that?

... open mouth, water drizzling from chin ...

I was laughing so hard at his sweetness.

I took half of my pictures before figuring out that I should shoot the shot with the sun on his face, not with a shadow there.

I wonder how long it will take me to learn that lesson permanently.

His mom was perfect. At least I thought she was.

... passing my lips through the stream and it breaks to droplets...

She let him hold hose, the water now drizzling down his parka sleeve and soaking the pyjamas that he was still wearing.

“This is a $180 therapy session,” I said to her continuing, “No use caring about a coat that will dry out in the sun when we are getting all of this action out of a hose.”

When his hand would accidentally hit the leaver that would turn the hose off, he was right over to one of us, searching our faces and shoving that hose at us.

... two handed lift of stream to mouth ...

Sumin wasn’t ready to hold the hose herself.

She said she didn’t know how to work it.

Good point.

I didn’t know how to work it either until Richard showed me its super fine features.

Eight different nozzles: cones, spray, shower, drizzle, etc.

How is that for fine gardening?

As well, the nozzles came in a two-pack from Costco with one model superior to the other.

That is, I can moderate the spray from a drizzle to full power with multiple spray features on one. She needed to try these out.

He finally poured the water all over his face,
all over his hair, down the front and back of his coat,
in his eyebrows, down the nape of his nose.

So cute.

But he wasn’t having any of that – letting her test out the hose. I had to hold him back while she got her chance.

He is a strong little guy and was determined to get around me.

A good thing I had defence practise with my own kids.

For a minute of my morning, that was the most fun – protecting the hose so that she could get a chance to be comfortable with the levers.

That moment as he tried to beat me off so that he could get at the hose his mother was touching was a lot of fun!

Arta