Lightbulb Moments

Tuesday afternoon, Dan rode the city bus from camp and met me at work. Then we headed back to the apartment via the Mayo employee shuttle. We ended up fairly far back, and as we rode home I explained to him how people get off the bus here. Buses empty from the front to the back, and people don't even stand up until it's their turn. Very different from the east coast, where it's every man for himself. After that we chatted at how nice everyone seems here.

"That's so..." he trailed off.
"Civilized?" I asked.
"Yeah! It's nice"

By then we were almost to the front door, and Daniel pulled his keys out of his pocket. Unfortunately, the lanyard dragged out his cash. Dollar bills sailed into the street, and Daniel wailed. There was a car coming down the street, and the driver stopped right there and got out to help Dan collect the money in the street, while I got the bills on the sidewalk. Between the three of us, we managed to gather it all. We thanked the young man profusely, and as we checked our mail, I said, "See what I mean, they're really nice here."

It was overcast and breezy Tuesday evening, so it was perfect for a long "walkies" with Dumbledore. The three of us walked south along the river, crossing to the park. I showed Daniel a very nice looking public pool and we stopped for a little while so he could climb on the playground structures. In all, I think we were out for about 2 hours.

While we walked, we chatted. He told me about his day packing food to be sent to Africa to feed hungry people. He also told me things he had learned from a young lady he rode the bus downtown with (her mom also works at the clinic). She told him how to make a whistle with a blade of crabgrass, and that the library was a short walk from our place and he should check it out.

Daniel made a remark about how automobile tires sometimes seem to spin backwards on TV. We talked about revolutions per second and the refresh rates of video screens (or the frame rate of film), going at it from a few different angles. About 5 minutes into the discussion, Daniel suddenly went "Ohhh - I get it". It was fun watching the bulb light up over his head - he was so excited. (There's a word for the effect, but I couldn't remember what it's called. Anyone?)

Next up he made a comment about being confused by the numbered streets, given that several streets have the same or similar names. So then we talked about Broadway and Center Street and how the street (and avenue) numbers radiate out from there. I told him that if you could look at two consecutive street (or avenue) signs, you would know where you were and how to get where you are going. There was another "aha" moment. (It's so much fun when you witness one - and I got two in one day!)

After that he was comparing his experience in Rochester to being in Witness Protection (we watch In Plain Sight), a fresh start where "no one knows I'm not cool in Connecticut!" He exclaimed this triumphantly with his fists in the air. I'm really glad he's having a good time here.