On The Porch

A helicopter pilot once told me that flying a helicopter is a lot like trying to push a bubble with a stick. Well, so is trying to take a walk with four kids, especially when most of that walk is on roadways without sidewalks. It's not as dangerous as it sounds as we live in Chickasaw Gardens (for those of you who live in Memphis, we don't really live in Chickasaw Gardens, but just outside - if Chickasaw Gardens has any structures that are 1200 sq. ft. then there are a couple of cars parked in it) so the sidestreets are fairly untraveled and the cars that are on them move slow enough. But we've been taking walks the past couple of nights and the three that can walk meander in and out of the street while we follow shouting, "Get back to the side! Get back to the side!" It's all very relaxing. GK, of course, was in a stroller, still upset about the U.S.A. loss to the Czech Republic in today's World Cup soccer match and not understanding why she was being rattled back and forth in this contraption. We realized tonight that she looks like an old man. We gave her an old person name, what did we expect?

After we returned home (all were accounted for) we played in the front yard and then, as it got darker, we all retired to the front porch to watch lightning bugs and talk, because somebody around here is always talking. C wanted to play with fire and so started rubbing two sticks he found together. He asked if it was going to make fire and I assured him it would. I even told him a few times that I thought I saw smoke. I told him if he was patient enough and if he blew on them, counted to 20 then blew again, he surely would make fire. For all I know, he may still be out there, rubbing sticks and blowing. JP was notified on the porch that he has a doctor's appointment in the very near future because all kids going into kindergarten had to get some shots, to which he responded, "Not this kid!" GK slept, because she's an old man. S, as philosophical as ever on this cool, summer evening, tried to convince us that we weren't on the porch. She began by suggesting GK wasn't there, that there was no one in the blanket Kristy was holding, then she moved on to the rest of us. But I know we were there. I know we were there because I saw the smoke. I promise.