Out of the fifth floor window of a downtown hotel room, something in motion caught my eye. I was only vaguely aware of it before I looked, the way you’re aware of an insect buzzing nearby: you sense it, but unless it lingers or comes closer, you don’t turn in its direction. The peripheral distraction continued, though – so I set down my coffee cup, laid aside the newspaper, and focused my eyes on it, instead of on the day’s headlines.
“It” was someone on the balcony of a nearby building – across the street and just slightly below me. At first I thought the person was a child waving his arms wildly at someone just inside the glass…but a closer look revealed that it wasn’t a child at all. It was a child-sized woman doing what must have been her morning workout, dancing with all the verve and energy of an NBA cheerleader – skipping and leaping from one side of the balcony to the other in fast time and flinging her arms up and out as she went.