After School

This is the time of dappled sun, cool-warm air, and gentle breezes blowing. The oak pollen has fallen from the trees, Pecan trees around town have started to bud out, and the Ashes, whose initial greenery of several weeks ago was obliterated by an ice storm come down from the north, have in the last day or two caught up with the Oaks and Elms.

In a few weeks, the heat will come, but for now the air is pleasant and sitting outside is a reminder of a mild summer day in Illinois.

After school, the boys wander by. First the eighth graders, then the seventh, and then a group of sixth graders who stop by for a drink or a snack and sit out front or out back and talk and laugh and generally do the things that make adolescent boys famous.

So they're out there now, four boys this time, with backpacks strewn helter-skelter and bicycles lying on their sides. They're out in front sitting in the dappled cool-warm shade, laughing and talking and being loud. And the dog is hopping from lap to lap, thrilled that they are here again.

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