Yesterday morning I took Sava and dad on a mystery surprise trip to a local aviation museum which was holding an annual model train show of, among others, the SoCal and NorCal ETEs (European Train Enthusiasts). To say that they loved it might well be an understatement. We spent one and a half hours watching miniature trains run back and forth along beautifully landscaped tracks, and Sava got such a visual overload that when we came home at noon he took a three-hour long nap. We also brought home three large German catalogs of every conceivable electric train and landscape detail, whose perusal will provide hours of bonding experience between father and son--and hopefully, rest for mom. It is shocking that the seemingly far more sophisticated electric trains and tracks cost, on the whole, less than the grossly overpriced and commercialized Thomas the Tank Engine stuff. Unfortunately, we are of a Thomas age, and every little smiling train adds to our feeling of life's overflowing fullness.
The loveliest part about the show for me was watching the people and taking note of the demographics. The ETE's were almost exclusively white European-looking AARP over-sixty men, and their enthusiasm was matched only by that of two- to five-year old disheveled boys, whose parents had obviously brought them here in order to fill a weekend morning. Our own dad-and-son duo were more the exception than the rule, since both were equally engaged, and it was hard to tell who was enjoying the experience more. The videos I made of dad talking to Sava and describing to him the trains are some of the dearest images of the two of them we've ever made. I hope that when Sava looks at them some day, he'll be able to feel the deep love that his dad carries for him everywhere.
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