I picked up my granddaughter Nora from preschool the other day and was met at the door by her frustrated teacher Miss Wendy. Nora was apparently disrespectful and inattentive, disrupting her classes that morning. I told her that I call her, “Ignora” when she on occasion gets out of control and doesn’t listen. Most of the time, she’s fun and cute, but I too know the frustration of caring for small children. I knew my work was cut out for me during the few hours when I had “Grandpa J” duty that afternoon. She obviously needed to work out some frustrations and get some fresh air. I immediately took her to Wellen Park to play in the tiny houses they built for charity so she could use her imagination and blow off some 4-year-old steam. I was not aware of the giant Jungle Gym they had constructed in the grassy area by the lake. Other kids her age were actively engaged in swinging from the ropes like Tarzan.

Nora is at the age where she is fearless, with the exception of the tiniest of spiders. Ironically, this playground structure was like a giant spider web with ropes weaved together around timbers that stretched seemingly endlessly into the sky. I was relieved to see that the synthetic surface underneath was spongy soft because it immediately brought out my fear of heights and the danger of someone falling. However, she seemed to scale the beast with ease while I held my breath. The higher the other kids climbed, the braver she got. Her lovable, independent nature was clearly evident on last week’s carnival rides. I was envious of her confidence and flexibility, wishing that I was a kid again. However, in my day, steel Jungle Gyms were built on concrete surfaces that broke arms and legs. I watched many a classmate loaded into an ambulance during recess after a fall. Obviously, I learned to fear heights. My hands were sweaty and tightly clinched into fists while I watched, just as if I was getting ready to climb a ladder.

We learn to fear, so why spiders scare Nora and Jungle Gyms don’t is the difference between the two of us. I must have been taught that most spiders are useful creatures, but still worry about the black panther that was rumored to have escaped near my childhood neighborhood. Hopefully, Nora fears the alligators that sometimes wander into our yard, just as our schnauzer Tally is scared of little girls like her. In over 70 years of life, I’ve grown to be terrified by the reckless nature of human beings, particularly Florida drivers as they speed and weave carelessly through traffic like they’re racing to win the Daytona 500. There was a time when I couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel of a car, now my palms sweat on I-75. Maybe grandson Gavyn is smart in wanting to wait to learn how to drive. Right now, Nora is the most fearless in the family.