Saturday morning....

My Pen Mates,

It was a rough night... Lauren is still coughing and I felt so bad because I see her discomfort. I am a little less worried because it's not the dry cough that she's had the last three nights. Seems like it's running its course so hopefully she'll sleep better tonight.

Grace nudges me around seven to remind me that Lucas has a leadership activity by the lake. I noticed the posting on the white board downstairs a couple of days back so I know about it; I just didn't realize it was today. I ran to retrieve the paper and woke up Lucas on the way down. It was a beautiful morning and Fall definitely is in the air. I checked on-line about the lake activity and determined that he's probably better off spending time with me.

Donning windbreakers and sneakers, we set out for Coyote Hills. Hands in our pockets walking into the Autumn wind, we were quiet the first half mile. A couple of blocks from the house, our system warmed up and we got used to the chill; we started chatting and soaked in the warm morning sun.

"Twenty Questions?" Lucas initiated his ice-breaker. He thinks of an object which I try to guess at the end of twenty questions. I ran out of room the first time so he won. We take turns, and by the time we lost interest in the game, we have entered the road leading to the hills by the Bay. "Sprint!" I exclaim and take off on a fifteen second full throttle run. I hold my lead for all of three seconds before he flies by me saying I cheat. We turn to talking about the meadow as we caught our breath; some of the dirt paths are overgrown and the fresh water pond has nearly dried up. I told him to walk over the parched, cracked lake bed and took a couple of pictures with my camera phone. He commented on the red algae that's taken over the remaining water and how rich in life such a seemingly barren environment can be.

We talked about his forthcoming class trip to Yosemite as we reached the foothills. I reminded him of safety rules and asked what type of class experiments they'll be conducting. He was more interested in recalling games they played in the forest during their last Science Camp so I guess it's too soon to be discussing the trip. The gravel path we turned to veers away from the hills so we're not going to see the Bay today; we'll take the grassland between the river and the pond which is designated as a bird sanctuary. Many times we have walked this route but different seasons bring different sights. I wanted to point out some new type of inhabitants I spotted in the tall grass but he starts to ask whether I'd rather take my chances with a Hippo or an alligator, then a shark or a school of piranhas, so we do more back-and-forth talk. Then superpowers came up and he decided that he wanted telekinesis over my ability to fly.

Breaking stride and changing topic, I called another sprint and this time, he designated markers for start and stop. I trailed him the entire time. Another short sprint up an embankment and we were on the paved road heading home, overlooking the river bed on one side, and the meadow on the other. Now we're talking three wishes. After qualifying that you cannot wish for more wishes, we agree that Peace On Earth, Goodwill Amongst Men, and A Roomful Of Wish Granting Genies are the best choices.

One last sprint under the railroad tracks before getting on the side-walk three quarters of a mile from home. He starts to talk about an ideal breakfast. He already saw his Mom frying bacon and sweet potato as we left the house so I knew he was looking forward to it. I wondered if he was dropping me a hint about pancakes but I know we had some more of the V8 juice he liked so I guess he was going to miss one from his ideal breakfast. Oh well..

Hope the rest of the day will be just as blessed.

Mon