Walks Around the City

That title conjures up images of a bustling, downtown scene, alive with car horns, traffic, people milling around, and street performers.  But, no, it's not a real city, just my hometown.  And it's not all that interesting.  It's a park, a few schools (that's where the crazy traffic is,) a library, a handful of old buildings we call "Old Town" and a water tower.  But, this is the place where I get all of my thinking done.  I work out problems, logistics, and sore heartaches as I walk with purpose from school, to library, past the tennis and basketball courts to the park, to home.  I couldn't count the prayers I have uttered as I move from sidewalk to grass and back again.   This is part of the reason I retained my sanity.

As I mentioned earlier, I am forcing my children to partake in some of this pedestrian activity, if the dogs don't guilt trip them first. The other day, I thought I saw Indian Paintbrush on the way home from school, so I asked them if they'd walk down the road with me and my camera so I could take my 365 photo.  They were agreeable enough until they realized how long the road was and that friends from school drive down it to get home.   Since when did walking make you look like a mentally ill vagabond?  They counted the number of cars that passed.  At least twenty.  I suppose someone should call CPS on me for  ruthlessly exposing that my children have moving legs in public.  The fact that I was crouched down for a few seconds to get theses shots didn't help.  Plus, they actually broke a micro-mini sweat.  Sometimes I wonder if these beings are truly my children. 

 I didn't mention that it was just regular old weeds and not the flowers I thought.  

(I've got a bike, you can ride it if you like...day 107 and ttv52: week 15)

(I think my grandfather met my grandmother here.)

But, all hope is not lost.  My son asks every day if we can go shoot hoops at the basketball court after school, and yesterday, my daughter got out of school early and just started walking home with a friend.  They were both carrying about 30 pounds of books on their backs and will probably have scoliosis now, but they were smiling and ... gasp... walking down the same road their friends take to get home.