Sunday Morning Walk

Heading outside before anyone is up. Little bare feet touching the cool concrete.

Tiny footprints trailing you as you walk through the puddle left from the early morning rain.

Ten steps one direction, stop, turn, twenty the other way and ten back. 1/2 a block. Stop. Turn. Turn around again. Going nowhere and everywhere.

Holding your hands up in the air, grabbing nothing, pointing to everything. The breeze picking up, hitting us in our face. Stopping, smiling. A huge smile now as your hair stands up from the cool gust of air. Might as well be a burst of life blowing right through you.

A Stick. Pick it up. Show it to me, like it is the best and only prize in the world.

Turn it in your little hand.

Move it towards your mouth. "NO, not in your mouth." A look like, "I wasn't really going to, dad." Again to the mouth - "NO."

Put it gently back in the grass, like your sending it back home. Pick it up again, because you aren't quite done yet.

Twenty more steps. Up the neighbors driveway, scoop you up.

Down the sidewalk again. A bird cackles. STOP. Turn, turn some more. Where is it? Point, point again.

A Stick!

Scoop you up...I think it's time for a bottle and a nap.