More Views From the Road

This afternoon my dog Dante and I went to the vet and acquired some antibiotics for a condition of his. I read the label and realized that one of his meds need to be taken with food. And what kind of delicacy does Mr. Dante favor? Peanut butter! What we were out of? Peanut butter! This necessitated a trip to the "local" grocery store, which may not be around the corner, as Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk and Andres Duany hope in all cities with an implementation of a new urbanist design scheme, but it was within (relative) walking distance.

Walking back from the store I came to an intersection where two perhaps eleven (-?) year old boys were waiting for the light to change.

I could tell that they had just returned from an afternoon excursion to Roller Town, the local skating rink and arcade, where I spent many a middle school afternoon, as they both clutched small treasures.

We were apparently heading in the same direction, so I had a chance to observe them from a discrete distance.

They were about the same size and height, but appearance-wise they embodied the polar extremes of that caterpillar-like stage of a young man's life when he is no longer truly a child, but he is not quite a teenager. One had long, tousled blonde hair and the other was dark haired, which was cut in something a quarter of an inch from a buzz cut.

Both were wearing those ill-fitting, but totally age-appropriate clothes for their age- you know what I mean- those slightly over-sized t-shirts and average fitting pants. Pants not nearly as baggy as those favored by gangsta rappers and their suburban fans that were sported a decade (yikes) ago nor the gonad-crushing skintight almost leggings i.e. "skinny jeans" that the teenagers of today are sporting. Yes, I am old when I cast a critical eye on the fashions and trends of today with a jaundiced eye. Yet somehow I still can't comprehend how pants that double as a tourniquet to the lower extremities are "cool," but this clearly my age talking.

I remember when my brother favored t-shirts that looked like he'd raided my dad's closet and shorts that looked more like baggy pants cut to calf-length. Then he suddenly discovered American Eagle and Hot Topic and started sporting more body-conscious outfits. The sudden enlightening of the concept of girls and the desire for proximity to them was also a contributing factor to this revolution of the wardrobe. I am not immune to fashion faux pases. In fact, I think everything up to yesterday has been a mistake I'd prefer to forget and not to captured for posterity on film.

To remain unobtrusive I kept my earbuds in and my ipod on to Chester French's "Love the Future" album. Therefore, I'm not exactly sure what they were talking about, but I know that one was quite elated by his prize, a sort of plastic stick with a grabbing mechanism on the end, which he took great delight in using to hit his friend with, when said friend was not looking.

There are several intersections from the point where we first came upon one another to my final destination and rather than wait for the light to change they sprinted across the street after judging oncoming traffic to be at a safe enough distance. They also lept to swat at low hanging tree branches and broke into a sort of inspired sprint several times too, oblivious to how odd this may look.

It is moments like these that I savor, moments that remind me of my own (what feels like distant) past and what it really means to be young and alive. There is much that lies ahead of these two boys, but for these embodiments of the future, the present is all that matters. And honestly, it is all that should matter to us too.

I would have missed out on this quiet observation if I had been driving. If anything, I probably would have regarded the boys as a minor irritation- two more additional factors that I would have to calculate in my defensive driving formula. Would one of them suddenly run into the road, would one of them suddenly trip and fall into my path, etc.,? Instead of what they are, two boys enjoying a warm spring day, free of their parents' watchful eye, and exploring the world on their own terms, something every child deserves.

As graduation draws near for schools near and far I also become quite philosophical about life, especially my own, and the direction that it is taking, should be taking, or veered off course. It is an annual thing, though when it started exactly I am not sure.

So, some future postings may be waxing philosophic about what it means to inhabit this mortal coil. But I am also compiling some thoughts about new urbanism, sustainability, and reviews of the excellent spring 2009 issue of Good magazine (http://www.good.is/) and Scientific American 3.0

Wishing you a safe and satisfying summer.