The Great Fall

As I have mentioned before, I was supposed to be a very intelligent child. I don’t know why I kept that reputation in the face of abundance evidence to the contrary, but I did. I don’t remember which story came first but there were two similar incidents that clearly demonstrate my stupidity. There was a popular market/bazaar in town “La Plaza” it was built in 1859 and was crowned with a large cast iron dome. I believe this had been made in a foundry in Maine, I actually found a Maine postcard for sale on e-Bay detailing the dome and giving its provenance but I lost the reference. Anyway this was a cruciform two story market with a balcony around the periphery. Back in the day the place was bustling with activity, not empty like the recent picture shows. Of course it is easier for a market to be busy when it has things for sale! Thank you Fidel, viva la revolucion! Papi often took me there to shop, visit and gossip. One day while he was telling stories, or listening to them, I got away and decided it would be cool to explore the balcony from the outside. Next thing I knew there was a crowd below making a big deal of this little kid climbing around on the outside of the balcony. After what I imagined must have been a while papi came over and rescued me. I don’t know how papi ‘splained this story to mami once we got home.
A more serious incident, took place at the house in San Juan de Dios. The tall barred window was a great place to climb. Note the picture, you can’t see the top, but there is probably a couple more crossbars. In my wisdom I decided that it would be interesting to jump from various heights. This worked out fairly well as long as I was jumping off from the first few crossbars. However, I wanted to set a “world record” and climbed all the way to the top. When I jumped from that height I was not able to stay on my feet, toppled over and must have banged my head on the floor (it was tile.) I remember feebly calling for mami. Next thing it was late that afternoon or maybe the next day and I had no memory of the intervening time – concussion and surely the loss of a few brain cells. I was told about spending most of the day in the emergency room. If I was smart before, which is obviously questionable, I certainly was less smart after the fall. This must have evened the score between mami and papi, as mami was responsible for my care at home.