1. Two More Laps.
“Which lanes do you need?” I gasped to the club track coach as I passed him.
He smiled and shook his head. “We’re not starting, yet.”
I held out two fingers and panted, “Two more laps.”
He nodded. His kids were just arriving and putting on their shoes and stretching on the ground.
2. A Glowing Sky.
The dog and I finished our laps and sat down in the grass. The kids started their warm-up, jogging the straightaways and walking the turns, talking with each other in small groups. Jamie, who lives down the street, was among them. She smiled and waved and said hi to Guinness as her group walked by.
The weather was gloriously warm for late December. The sun had just gone down a few minutes before, leaving behind a few wisps of cloud spread against a pastel blue sky. And the last rays of the departed sun were painting the clouds with brilliant hues of pink and red with electric margins. And the air all about us was glowing.
The kids started running down the straight away, oblivious to this spectacle about them.
3. It Will Be Them.
Give them time, David.
Years from now it will be them sitting here watching a yet younger group of kids walking and talking in apparent oblivion. It will be them wishing they could run faster and run longer. And it will be them soaking in the deliciously warm winter weather and gazing with dreamy eyes at the glowing sky about them.
Just give them time.