Darcy Loves Orville

Darcy returned from vacation with a new obsession. Orville. Wright, not Reddenbacher. As in one of the fathers of human flight. Airplanes are no longer just airplanes. They are Orville rides. She thinks every one is owned and piloted by Orville. Apparently, at the same time.

On Wednesday, we went to the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk. Darcy likes airplanes, so we thought there was a good chance she'd be entertained there. We didn't know the half of it. She sat through about half of a program about the engineering problems the Wrights overcame to create the first successful airplane and then she had a good time looking at all the airplane-related things in the visitor center bookstore. I bought her a board book called The Story of the Wright Brothers. Who knew that one could regret buying a book? (At least a little.)


Following the program, we asked a staff member what the other buildings at the Memorial contained, trying to decide whether we should just leave. For small children, he suggested a metal sculpture/model of the 1903 Flyer installed for the Centennial celebrations. So we drove around the monument hill and drove to the installation seen above. It has statues of all the people involved with that flight. The photographer whose perspective we borrowed had never taken a photograph before. Orville set it up before getting in the Flyer. Orville is flying the plane and Wilbur is the figure running by the wing. This is the famous "First Flight" shot seen everywhere. The 12 seconds that changed the world, so to speak. And again, who would have thought one might live to regret taking a small girl to climb on a reproduction of an airplane? (At least a little.)

Darcy and Liana had a ball climbing on the plane. Or, more accurately, Liana had a ball climbing on the plane and Darcy had a ball sitting on the plane, first at the end of one wing and then next to Orville. Walking on the wing surface didn't interest her. Liana was fond of fixing the engine and here, she explains the various parts to Darcy. Darcy, who has eyes only for Orville. Watch out, Adam! You have a rival for our girl's affections now!

Darcy sat with her arm resting on Orville for a long time, repeating his name and patting his shoulder. Here, she is suggesting the next flight path they should take.

Notice the clenched fist as Darcy waits breathlessly to see if the first flight is successful. She is Orville's best new friend and admirer, and he is very much alive and well in her imagination. She lay awake instead of napping that day and, through the monitor, we could hear her asking, over and over, "Did you have fun with Orville?"

I read the "Orville book" a half dozen times that afternoon, and a few more that night. In the five days since, I think I've read it at least 40 times already. Michael hasn't escaped, either, so she's heard it dozens and dozens of times, apparently without tiring of it one bit. It's possible we've created a monster, but I do love that she says things about Orville and Wilbur as kids and then as grown-ups that show she understands they were kids just like her and, therefore, she can grow up to be like them. While she can't be the first person to fly, she can follow her dreams as the Wright brothers did. It may feed the flames more than needed, but we'll be looking for more picture books about the Wright brothers next time we go to the library. A girl's got to dream...