The Incident at Water Park

A growing trend in outdoor spaces is the in-ground water spouts or ‘dancing waters’.

If your city doesn’t have one, you should petition the local government.

Thick streams of water shoot out of pipes buried inches below a concrete surface. Below the surface is a network of gutters to catch the water and reuse as much as possible.

Sometimes the streams shoot straight up; other times, they’re placed at 45 degree angles and in precise positions so when they go off, they give the appearance of discoing across a concrete dance floor.

For my money, they are to the new millennium what giant, ornate fountains were to the last. And unlike the fountains of yore, these pseudo-water parks are designed specifically with the end user in mind – they are meant for fun.

But fun can be dangerous.

After all, we are talking about water, concrete, and kids. (which, when I look at it, it reads like a recipe for disaster.) As the picture above shows, the Prince of Wails was having a blast. He would run to one waterspout just as it finish it’s spray and get there after the water was gone. Another would erupt and he’d toddle that way, again missing the action.

If the Prince of Wails were relying on the spouts he saw to get wet, he’d stay dry as a bone. Fortunately, it’s the ones in between that got him wet, and often right in the kisser! But he still had fun. Until…

It was all fun and games until he tripped. I couldn’t even tell you what he trip on, and I was watching him. It was just that fast; one minute he’s perpendicular, the next he horizontal, bleeding from his chin and crying.

But, Esquire Dad was quick on the pick up and strong on the soothe. On the plus side, he may get his chin scar out of the way early.