Summer Evening : Bike Ride

Last night my son and I walked our bikes a few blocks to a gas station to pump up the tires and then rode around our neighborhood, over to the new school he'll be attending in two weeks.

It's not really a new school -- it's an old school where his entire K-5th grade group will be "housed" as they build a new school on the old site where he spent K-4th. He starts 5th grade with all his same friends, teachers, cafeteria ladies, administrators, aides and librarians, just in another physical location.

And the very good news is that we used to be FAR from school, and with this move, we're very very CLOSE to school. Walking distance. Bike riding distance. And with the price of gas going through the roof, I say, "Halley-loo-yeah!"

Also, as I am a fitness nut and keen on walking as much as possible, this is a godsend, to have a school in walking distance.

The weather was hot and humid and it seems just about impossible to believe some month called September can ever happen around here ... much less in 2 weeks! I was happy just to pedal my bike around after him, wondering what it feels like to be him, what it feels like to be 10 years old on a warm summer night. I do remember a carefree feeling I had as a kid, a feeling that was all about having tons and tons and tons of years ahead of me to do whatever it was I was going to do. I knew even then I loved writing. I remember wonderful Mrs. Toth, my 3rd grade teacher, who thought I was a great writer and an awesome poet.

I still love writing, but I don't feel like I have years and years of time to pedal my bike through town on a summer evening. Every evening is precious. Especially these summer evenings I spend with my kid.