The Wu of Dunc

I had mentioned before, I think, that Duncan is at an age at which life simply is. On top of that as well, Duncan is naturally very Pooh Bear, for all you pop Taoists.

Today he kept asking to go running with me. I had errands to run so put him off, and didn't really think he was serious anyway. But he persisted, so we weighed anchor, and shoved off late afternoon for a bit of a run. Now, we gringos already look like salt in a pepper shaker here. But taking out a skinny, white, blond boy in shorts bouncing around on his toes is like walking a kitten on a leash on the campus quad.

People nearly crash their cars (well, they're always in a state of nearly crashing their cars, but in this case I could see the heads whipping around and hear tires squealing), and gaggles of girls, otherwise preternaturally docile, run their fingers through his hair and coo "precioso!"

And he has absolutely no clue. He is generally oblivious to the world around him and has a total lack of self-consciousness. He lives in a radiant aura of energy that emanates approximately two and half feet out from his body. That is his world, but it is vast. The rest of us get to look on like we would at an ant farm, fascinated with a subject that is oblivious to us and its own amazing nature.

I can't help a constant smile and nearly cracking up half the time, even though it feels like vanity to admire one's own like that. And even better, I look around and see other people smiling the same way.

The greater purpose of this whole trip is for the benefit of the kids. But the student is already teaching the master wu wei.