Notes on an evening walk

Bayfield, Colorado 

Incorporated in 1906
Population:  2,087
Land Area:  1.08 square miles

Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't have my camera for my evening walk tonight. I walked from one end of Bayfield to the other.

I saw a couple cruising Main Street. . . . on their horses.

I saw a winter's worth of firewood stacked on the front porch of a house.

I saw a black and white goat in a front yard, "mowing" the lawn with it's front teeth.

I saw two young boys in a front yard, trying their best to load a bike on an old rusty red wagon.  They saw me walking by and spoke a little more loudly to each other, "We sure could use some help, couldn't we?"  And the other replied back to his friend, "Yep, sure could!" 

Aah!  That's my cue!  I helped them load the bike. As soon as it was done (taking all of 30 seconds), their little cherub-like faces turned up towards me with clearly spoken thanks.  Sweet little angels!

Boys at that kindergarten age are so precious. Moms want to hold on to them forever.

But from the time they are born, it is a constant stream of letting them go.  They learn to crawl, we have to let go of holding them all the time.  Then they walk.  Soon they're off to school, spending time with friends, sport, and new interests.  Before we know it they're dating, and preparing for adulthood, leaving home for school, or a career, and a family of their own.

The deck is stacked against us.  The more we try to hold them, the more they must, and do resist our grasp. 

Just as the neighborhood boys appreciated my help, and just as I was blessed with the gratitude expressed in their innocent upturned smiling faces, my relationship with my own sons is nourished by similar brief moments shared --- by invitation only.