Walking with the Little Professor

This was a "small stone" (where you try to capture a moment of time each day and paint it with words), but it turned into a longer piece. Little goes to middle school next week. Sully is on his first camping trip with his buddies and starts 8th grade. My dear niece "Baby Sam" is preparing to leave for college. I'm struggling with it all.

Walking with the Little Professor

We step out into the humid, shady morning.

"This is good weather for the crested gecko," she says.

"We could take him walking,

if we had a tiny but really long leash."

We go to check on the chicks,

hatched only weeks ago.

We make our rounds through the

tomatoes, cantaloupes,

pumpkins, cucumbers.

Lazy butterflies float by.

The dog won't lift his head to greet us.

Leaves drop themselves into the creek to float a while.

The sun beats down.

"And now this is good weather

for the bearded dragon

because he likes the desert,

but it's too hot out here for me."

Years ago when she was about four,

she found a special rock on the playground

and held it up to me:

"Wose Quawtz," she said.

Rose Quartz.

I lost her to kindergarten round-up that year.

I'll lose her to middle school shortly.

"Four more days until school starts, Mama,"

she said out of the blue today.

"Time sure does go fast." 

(*Insert crying like Snoopy here*)