PAgent’s Progress

I just haven’t had much of a chance to go walking lately, so I made a special point today of heading out at lunchtime and walking down to the river. I crossed the (seemingly) constantly torn-up Naito Blvd to Tom McCall Waterfront Park. Toward the south end of the park, I could see people setting up for the Waterfront Blues Festival. Near the Salmon Street Fountain, there were a bunch of folks with a big multicolored parachute, letting children use the parachute to toss small squishy balls into the air. It reminded me of some of the activities my kids used to take part in when they were that small.

Since it was plenty hot, there were children playing in the fountain. Here’s an official tidbit on the fountain from Portland Parks & Recreation:

Designed by Robert Perron Landscape Architects and Planners, the fountain is controlled by an underground computer that changes the pattern of the fountain’s 185 water jets. The three cycles of the fountain are called misters, bollards, and wedding cake. At full capacity, the fountain recycles 4,924 gallons of water per minute through as many as 137 jets at once.

It’s a damned impressive fountain, although the little ones running through it probably weren’t thinking about the computer-control, the throughput, or the technology. They were just running through the cool spray on a hot day.

Then I saw something wonderful. A little boy, possibly with cerebral palsy, was running through the fountain. This kid probably couldn’t even walk, but he was strapped in a harness that was suspended from a frame on wheels. The suspension was spring-tensioned, and adjusted to his weight so that he could put his feet down and push the frame around. And bounce up and down.

God, it was beautiful. Here was a boy that was profoundly handicapped. And on a hot day in June, he was running through the fountain in a swim suit. Miracles happen every day. You just have to look for them.

I’m more or less fascinated by the big jets on the outer perimeter (are those the bollards, or the wedding cake?). They’re pretty impressive when they come on and start building up pressure.

Unfortunately, I am an adult, with adult responsibilities. And I couldn’t just toss my shoes off and get soaked with the kids. But I wanted to. Oh, man, did I want to.