Solidarity

On my yoga mat in Gan Meir, I finished meditation and was doing a few cat-cow poses to stretch out. In the middle of a cow I looked up to find a toddler, 18-months-old or so, feet planted, eyes fixed on me.

“Good morning!” I said. No response. The tot continued to stare. “O—mehrrr!” called a voice from afar. The child’s Ganenet had herded a bunch of other little ones some distance onward. “Come on Omer,” she called again, “we’re going to the playground!” Omer seemed unimpressed. He stood his ground and continued to contemplate this apparently unprecedented sight of an adult on all fours. What was going on in that little mind, I wondered. Confused? Amused? Disapproving? I felt a bit self-conscious. Amazing how an unsmiling, pre-speech baby can do that to you.

Two more tiny stragglers came waddling by. Looking in my direction, not paying attention to where they were going, one banged into the other and the two rolled over onto the grass. Startled but undeterred, they struggled mightily to make it back upright, then continued on their way, still looking sideways. “O—mehrrr!” came the Ganenet’s voice again. I was about to encourage Omer to go join his group when he got down on hands and knees.

Keeping his eyes on me, Omer kicked up one leg and held the pose for a moment. Then he lowered his leg and began to rotate his hips. A crude but unmistakable cat-cow.

Never second-guess a baby.