Now It Can Be Told

 A couple weeks ago, we went to Duke gardens with some friends.  There was a pond there that was completely covered with algae, so that it was hard to tell that there was water underneath.  (See the fourth and fifth pictures here.)  There was a gazebo-type structure on the bank of the pond with steps leading down to it.  Well, of course that was the point on the path where James and his friend were running up ahead around a curve, just beyond where Mike and the other adults could see them.  I was across the pond with Matthew, and I saw James heading down the steps -- and he just stepped right into the water. 

Fortunately it was not super deep (although it was slippery and maybe up to his shoulders), so James was kind of pushing off the bottom and mostly keeping his head above water, but he wasn't able to get himself out. I yelled and Mike came running and waded in to get James.  By this point, Mattie and I had run over, too.  James cried a little bit when he was first out -- I'm sure it was a shock! -- but he recovered quickly.  ("I went this way, and I went that way, and then I saw Daddy!)


(Then, of course, minutes after that, our friends' son wiped out on the path and scraped up his knee -- who knew the gardens were so dangerous??)

So, it was all well and good, except that Mike had seen news reports about a brain-eating amoeba that lives in warm bodies of water -- infections are extremely rare but almost always fatal.  We were pretty sure we didn't have to worry, but we kept a closer eye on him the next few days just in case!  He's now past the danger zone, so it can just be an amusing story.  :)  (The only casualty appears to be the SIM card in Mike's cell phone.)