listen...

yesterday work held me late
just a few minutes late
yet late enough to deny me anything more than a straight shot home on the bike

I rolled into my alley to get swarmed by an assortment of small children screaming out my older son's name
after breaking free of the mob I got home to find the kids having dinner
or maybe an afternoon snack
so I allowed them to eat

as the momentum of ingestion slowed I made mention of the kids in the alley
the theme was swords
the time it took to get dean and grant focused enough to gather swords and shoes
we arrived to a vacant alley
we found one boy standing by his back gate.... locked in... with his mother yelling from inside the house that dinner was ready
we had scheduled things wrong
we ate while they played
everyone was eating while we wanted to play

in an effort to entertain the boys I proposed heading up to the corner store on the bikes to get a replacement candy necklace for the one that broke earlier that week
the boys agreed
no helmet
no bike
the boys got their helmets on and got on their bikes

each boy has a bit of a cold
the slight weakness of the cold made the slight climbs tough for the boys
dean complained grant moaned
soon dean was riding
while I was carrying grant's bike
dean rode up and back as I alternated between pushing grant on the bike, carrying grant's bike as grant walked, and carrying grant's bike with grant on my shoulders

that is how things go sometimes...

we got gummy bears instead of a candy necklace
just as well
the candy necklace was not available

no photos
not everyday is a photo day
would have been tough to take pictures and carry my son and his bike all at the same time

back to finish this thought

on this sidewalk/alley tour of the neighborhood I tried to help my children to listen for the cars
listen for a car with a running engine ready to back up in the alley
listen for a car headed down the hill towards the intersection
listen
so much can be learned from listening
listening is a key to anticipation