Turn 198 of 233

But we don't wear boots at the site, do we Kimo, cause we never have or will. Take him even more places to explore and explain

Lena looks at Kimo on the balcony and the looking is the thing that is the grin because the grin is the thing that is the catching — the catching of the thing she said wrong and the wrong is the thing that is the boots.

"Kimo, Mama said something wrong," Lena says. "Mama said boots for site. Do we wear boots at the site?"

Kimo's face does the thing it does when he catches an error — the eyes widening, the head tilting, the whole body doing the thing that is the correcting.

"No boots," Kimo says. "Mama no boots. Kimo no boots. Bare feet. Always bare feet. Boots is wrong. Mama wrong." He points at Lena's feet on the concrete and the pointing is the thing that is the callused and the dirty and the bare.

"Mama feet bare. Kimo feet bare. Site feet bare. Balcony feet bare. All bare. No boots nowhere."

"You're right," Lena says. "No boots nowhere. Mama made a mistake. The word should have been — there's no word because there's no boots. We just don't wear them."

"No boots," Kimo says. "No shoes. No socks. Nothing on feet. Feet are for ground. Ground is for feet."

They go to the hardware store on Tuesday and the hardware store is the thing that is the aisles and the aisles are the thing Lena walks down with Kimo on her shoulder and the walking is the thing that is the bare and the bare is the thing the cashier does not comment on because the cashier has seen Lena before and the before is the thing that is the months of barefoot 790-pound women walking through the store buying rebar and concrete mix and lag bolts. Kimo looks down at the shelves and the shelves are the thing he catalogs.

"PVC pipe," he says. "PVC carry water. Copper pipe carry water too. Different pipe, same water. Why two pipes, Mama?"

"Copper is for hot water. It handles heat better. PVC is for drain lines — the water that goes away. Copper is for the water that comes in."

"Water in, water out," Kimo says. "Two pipes, two directions. Copper in, PVC out. In and out. Like breathing. Air in, air out. Same pattern, Mama?"

"Same pattern," Lena says. And the saying is the thing that is the truth because the truth is the thing that is the systems and the systems are the thing that is the patterns and Kimo is the thing that finds them.

They go to the park on Wednesday and the park is the thing that has the playground and the playground is the thing that has the structures and the structures are the thing Lena explains. The slide is galvanized steel. The swing chains are welded links. The mulch is engineered wood fiber, rated for impact absorption. Kimo stands at the base of the climbing structure and the standing is the thing that is the studying and the studying is the thing he does before he touches anything.

"Climbing thing is pipes," he says. "Pipes bolted together. Bolts at joints. Joints hold pipes. Like scaffolding, Mama. Scaffolding is pipes and bolts. This is small scaffolding. For kids. Not for Mama. Mama too big."

"Mama's too big," Lena agrees.

"But Kimo right size," he says. "Kimo climb." And the climbing is the thing he does — up the pipe structure, hand over hand, his 188 pounds moving through the bars with the ease that is the thing that is the coordination and the coordination is the thing Dr. Okafor noted. He climbs to the top and the top is the thing he looks down from and the looking down is the thing that is the seeing Lena and Lena is the thing that is 790 pounds and 6'5" and naked and tattooed and barefoot on the mulch.

"Mama big from up here," Kimo says. "Mama very big. Biggest thing in park."

"Biggest thing in the park," Lena says.

Thursday is the library and the library is the thing that has the books and the books are the thing Lena takes Kimo to because the books are the thing beyond the picture books she orders online. The library has the shelves and the shelves are the thing that is the architecture section and the architecture section is the thing Kimo walks through with his hand on the spines and the spines are the thing he feels the way he felt the maple board — with the fingers, with the attention, with the thing that is the reading of the surface.

Lena pulls a book on bridge engineering and the book is the thing she opens on the floor between them. The pages have diagrams — truss types, cable-stayed, suspension, arch. Kimo puts his finger on a suspension bridge and the finger is the thing that traces the cables from the tower to the deck.

"Cables hold up road," he says. "Road is deck. Deck hold cars. Cables hold deck. Tower hold cables. What hold tower, Mama?"

"The foundation. The tower sits on a caisson — a big cylinder of concrete driven into the bedrock under the water."

"Under water," Kimo says. "Foundation under water. Like river. River is cold. Foundation in cold water. Foundation strong. Strong like Mama. Mama foundation strong too."

Lena checks out six books — three on structures, two on the body, one on sports. The librarian does not comment on the barefoot tattooed woman and the woman's barefoot 53-inch child because the librarian is the thing that is the professional and the professional is the thing that does not stare. Kimo carries one book himself and the carrying is the thing that is the proud and the proud is the thing that is the walk through the parking lot with the book against his chest.

Friday is the marina and the marina is the thing that has the boats and the boats are the thing Lena explains — hull types, keel function, the way displacement works. Kimo watches a sailboat heel in the wind and the heeling is the thing he connects to the center of mass lesson from hockey and the hockey is the thing he connects to the leverage lesson from construction and the construction is the thing he connects to the foundation lesson from the bridge and the connecting is the thing that is the web and the web is the thing that is the growing and the growing is not slowing down.