Push-Ups

They come and go. Drenched with sweat, always looking rushed and like they can't quite fit the whole day in their days, they come up with their baby joggers, let their toddlers toddle around a while, and the rush them back into their seats and jog off. You can almost see the daytimers in their heads: jogging ... check.

Ok. It's time to go, they say, just as the toddlers have begun to take in this scene of runners coming and going, sitting and standing, drinking and stretching, talking and staring. Just as the kids begin to focus again amid this blur of unfamiliar people doing unfamiliar things in an unfamiliar place, their parents decide it's time to go. The kids are only along for the ride.

Had enough to drink? It's time to go.

Time for dinner now.

Up in the stroller you go.

Snap.

...

Those two don't look quite right. They look too relaxed. Their shoulders aren't tense. I haven't seen them glance at their watches recently. They don't see to be checking boxes in their mental daytimers. And while their boy walks around agog at the people all about him, they are just standing still, content to let him roam.

Do you want to stay a while? the boy's dad asks.

He jumps up and down.

Try some push ups! his mom says.

The boy jumps up and down some more and turns a full circle again taking in everything he can see: the runners, the pigeons, the dogs on leashes, the drinking fountains and outdoor shower, the plastic jugs of Gatorade. Then he looks at his parents and jumps up and down again.

They just smile. They're not in a rush to go anywhere.

Do some push ups. Up-down-up-down!

The boy jumps up and down. He clearly wants to do push ups, but he's equally clearly shy. His dad sits down on the ground near him. The boy sits down, too.

Look, his dad says, assuming a push-up position. Up-down. Up-down.

The boy assumes the same position and does a remarkable job. Up-down. Up-down.

And when that's done, they go and stretch their legs on a stretching post. The boy smiles widely with a grin from ear to ear.

The dad stands back and watches and waits. The mom stands back and watches and waits. They're not in a hurry. The little boy has all the time in the world. He is a very lucky little boy.

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Town Lake Trail Stretching Area, Austin TX

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