The Invisible Giant

When we went to pick up Troy today, we ran into our German friends picking up their son. My wife has been dealing with some bad stuff at work lately, so they wanted to inquire as to the latest update. While she harangued them with the details, I played with Troy.

I was chasing him around when he suddenly stopped and stared at the building across the drive. It’s the main building for Texas Women’s University. I asked him what he was looking at, and he said, “That building is moving, dada.”

In reality, the clouds were drifting quickly by behind it, giving the illusion of motion. But instead wanting to foster his curiosity and imagination, I replied, “I do believe it is. Do you think there’s a giant over there pushing it back and forth?”

He got really excited. “Yeah! It’s a big giant! Let’s go see him.” And he took off around the side of the building. I gave chase, but when we got to the back of the building, there was no giant. He paused a moment to look at the building again. It was still “moving.” “He must have gone to the other side. He knows we’re after him, and he’s scared! Let’s get him!” Troy exclaimed, and he gave chase again.

I followed behind him, wondering what a giant would have to be scared of from us, and wondering what we’d do if we actually caught him. But Troy didn’t seem to be thinking that far in advance, he was rushing headlong into “danger.” That giant was going down! Unfortunately…or fortunately, depending on your perspective…we did not find the giant on the other side. He had eluded us again. We searched every bush, dumpster, and tree we could find; but he had magically disappeared.

After that, Troy wanted me to take him to the top of the parking garage at the end of the parking lot. Worried about the danger of getting smushed by a car, I put him on my shoulders and walked the ramps up four levels to the top. After admiring the view of the city, and watching the white egrets fly by, we headed back down.