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Burst

(I have nearly 75 posts written that I’ve never published. Sometimes I go back through them and wonder why I didn’t click the publish button. Here’s one from last winter, featuring Sam, who claims he is never cold because he was born in the summer. Strangely, I believe him.)

Sam exits the school building like a bullet. My car is parked 100 yards away. I watch him run across the snowy field. His Superman backback bounces and I notice he isn’t wearing his mittens, again. Suddenly he veers off into a large patch of unbroken snow. He begins to stomp a trail, dotted and dashed by size twelves. His head spins around. Someone must have called his name. His bare hand waves hello and goodbye to a classmate, I suppose.

Aidan and Ryley make their way to the opening in the fence. They walk together, heads down and hooded. Their hands are jammed in their pockets. No mittens. Again. They get to the car before Sam, despite exiting school in an orderly and principal-approved fashion.

Sam does donuts, makes snow angels, watches a flock of geese take off from the frozen lake across the street. He bends over to look at something. He bursts into a run again. He bursts into a smile when he finally notices me parked on the other side of the fence.

Finally, I think to myself.

He leaves the school yard. He seems chapped and a little brittle as he climbs in the warm car.

“Aren’t you cold?” I ask.

“Never!”

9 comments to Burst

  • 75 posts! I don’t have the patience for that kind of backlog – I’ve got maybe two or three posts that got at least partially written, but then went nowhere. When blogger’s block strikes, I generally fall back on whatever idea I’d dismissed as not good enough the previous week.

  • gretchen aka mopsy

    bubandpie: They are my 75 “not good enough” at the moment posts. Some are truly lame. Some are four sentences. Some are epic rants which I hope my husband posts posthumously, should I kick the bucket first. That way, I won’t feel bad if someone disagrees with me. And they’ll feel bad, disagreeing with the dead lady. I wonder if he’d continue paying for my domain?

    It’s my only solution for those particular posts. 😉

    Basically, it’s 3+ years worth of meh and eh with the occasional workable idea.

  • Jenn

    Your description of Sam coming out of school is undeniably perfect! I can picture him twisting and wandering through the snow, and being so very content. Love this post! 😉

  • My boys NEVER wear their hats. A neighbor across the street gave them all hats last Christmas. They didn’t wear her hats either. Ah well, at least I know she’s watching them out her window.

    Suzanne Temple’s last blog post..Whoo-Hoo

  • *sigh* I wish I was Sam. I was born in Alaska (in August, but nevertheless) and the frost entered my bones and never left. I am always cold.

    Jenni’s last blog post..It?s the most wonderful time of the year

  • Mom-of-mopsy

    It all makes sense that he loves the snow, since Sam is planning on living in Wisconsin and will operate a train that brings milk to the cheese factory and he loves the Packers. He must be a happy guy today with their win over the Broncos. I could have sworn that I saw him in the crowd with a cheese hat on. Anyway, way to go Sam, you have it all figured out at least for now!

  • If you add it to your will as a last wish I’ll make sure lifenut.com lives on in your name. If not, the chances are the $$$ would go toward some geek project.

    Hubby’s last blog post..Poem (with aplogies to Mike Myers)

  • mopsy

    Hubby—thanks a lot!

    Where’s my lawyer? My will is going to read “keep my domain and bury me with hubby’s Best Buy card.”

  • Sam sounds kind of like my baby brother. The weather outside could be ghastly cold (read -40 with windchill on top of that…) and he would sleep with the thermostat off and the window open!

    My baby does the same thing too. It’s impossible to convince her that _maybe_ it’s a good idea to keep her shoes or boots on when winter winds blow and temperatures reach below the freezing point. Oh… And she’s in kindergarten.

    Mind you, they were born in late February and early March… Hmmm…

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