Scampering Down the Road for Mom

     Tell anyone under the age of 40 that you walked to school everyday and you will probably get a stare of bewilderment.  They will probably laugh at you and say "No Way".  During the years of my primary education  almost everyone walked to school.  OK so I did not walk 10 miles in the snow to get there but I did walk starting in the first grade.  The rule at our house was you had to be 5 years old before you could make the trip alone.  Maybe that's one reason I love walking so much and have never stopped walking since that first solo walk.  The first time I kissed Mon goodbye and headed off  for  Turner's Grocery with a  list she wanted filled, the  responsibility was overwhelming.  I'll never forget on that first solo trip I forgot to get the cigarettes Mom wanted.  I don't think she even got mad although her nicotine habit would have probably slapped me upside the head if it could have.  She was just probably glad I made it back home.   A  5 year old being able to buy cigarettes, no one under the age of 40 would believe that either. The world has sure changed!
     Somehow that development milestone of walking to school in the first grade has disappeared.  It's no surprise that  several generations of first graders are lazy, bored and over weight.  There are many reasons why today's kids find themselves lashed to the back seat instead of walking or biking to school.  Distracted drivers,  pedestrians and bicycle infrastructure,  a drug fueled society,  gangs and pedophiles  are all nothing Mom had to worry about when she sent me scampering down the road.   But today's trip to the neighborhood store is a different matter. Being childless myself my first thoughts are that over protective parents need to get a grip.  Their children are more likely to get injured in the school's drop off and pick up zone than from a crime related incident but I know that kind of thinking in today's world is self centered.
     Mom gave me the strength to make that first trip and the courage to fight off any Horned Toad that might spit at me as I crossed those open fields on the way to fill her grocery list.  Scampering  may be a good bit of artistic creativeness on my part.   It was probably more of a lackadaisical  walk on that first solo attempt but I did not get lost and returned home in one piece.  Mom was happy and all the Horned Toads were able to live for another day.