I couldn't resist. Tonight I took Sara out WAY past her bed time. Julia was asleep, Dan was working, so it was just Sara and I who stepped out into the night air.
Sara was up anyway. She's been going to bed really late, much past her normal bedtime since she can see the light coming in through the windows near the ceiling - and it makes her think it is still day time.
We could hear music coming in through the windows, so I figured, it was our last night here -- why not head out and see Uzes at night?
Sara was eager. We put shoes on and walked down the spiral stone staircase that leads from our first floor apartment into the stone walled court yard of our building. Those spiral stone stairs are tricky, but we nearly run down them now after having been here a week.
We walked through our court yard, opened the heavy door that leads outside using our body weight as leverage, then we stepped out into Uzes at night.
Lights were everywhere. On cafe tables, on trees, and the windows of houses. Music was everywhere. We heard a singer and guitar player to our left -- and we heard a 3 piece smooth jazz band in the market.
We picked the singer. About 100 steps lead us to the cafe where she was singing. She was outside by all the cafe tables. Even though it is nighttime it is warm - and people want to eat outside. That's where I"d want to be too.
Sara and I were flies on the wall - though at first Sara jumped right up on to the cafe terrace and stood 3 feet from the musicians. That is what they do at kid's shows, so that is what she thought was normal. I reigned her back in, and we stood in the shadowed archways dancing. She twirled, she leaped, she waved her arms in time with the music. She was dancing like only a kid can - with no inhibitions - just doing exactly what she felt like doing. I tried to join her. And after a while, I was dancing like a kid too, trying to mirror her smooth movements as we twirled together in the night air and shadowy candle light coming from the cafe.
Then we walked over to the market place. It wan't full of market tents, it was full of cafe tables and people. Lots of people. And kids. I thought it would only be Sara - the only kid in a sea of adults, but other kids were chasing each other - other kids were riding bikes - and other kids were dancing. I guess their parents were at one of the cafes, of which many line the market place. Instead of the trees providing shade from the sun, the trees provided lights - thousands of twinkling white lights hung in the night area to give the market a dusky warm glow.
Sara wanted to play hide and seek. So we did. The trees became our hiding places. We darted around in the night air hiding and seeking each other. I kept my eye on her the whole time, even though she once said, "Mom - you can't watch where I hide!" but I had to, because if I really didn't watch, not knowing where she was in the vast open market place would make my heart skip a beat. I think some of the cafe diners watched us. I suppose a mother daughter hiding/racing team may provide for good people watching. She didn't stop moving, or laughing, and after a while I lost a few years and laughed like a kid with her.
We also enjoyed the jazz, but merely as backround music to our evening game. Our racing feet added a beat to their tune. At one point Sara picked up two huge leaves from the trees above and waved them around - she was happy. "This is the best night ever Mom" she said.
We walked back to our apartment, opened the big heavy door with one energized arm, and both of us were asleep shortly there after.
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