In the MOMENT

I was waiting for my overpriced specialty coffee drink on Saturday and watching a young couple and their daughter, who was just learning to walk.  Dad was holding her arms and helping her along.  She looked damned serious.  "Okay, apparently I gotta do this so let's get to work."  The parents sat down and the child hung around for a second before deciding to strike off on her own.  She took a couple of unsteady steps so I sidled over and blocked her path to help Dad out as he got up to make sure she didn't wander too far.  She stopped, craned her head way back and tried to make sense of this huge skyscraper that was now in her way, and then broke out into the biggest smile I have ever seen and just plopped down on her bottom and continued to look up at me, smiling away.  I could see how in the moment she was.  I could hear her mind working away: "I was walking which was hard but pretty fun and now this is going on so I'm going to take a beat and see what's what."  The walking was gone.  She was done walking.  She probably didn't even remember walking.  It was time to check out the skyscraper and that had her full attention.