Counting Cars

Car...

We love our home. There are very few things I would change about it (yes, a second bathroom would be stellar), but the one thing I really wish we could change is the one thing we cannot change: the street we live on. The street in front of our house has fairly consistent traffic, and although the speed limit is low, I would never send the kids out front to play without me. That's a hard-and-fast rule in our house. Backyard, fair game. Front yard, not so much.

Car...

But there is one upside to our location that we would not be able to experience if we lived on a nice, quiet, residential road, and that is car-watching! Often in nice weather, we sit on the front step and wave at cars, counting how many wave back at us. It's heartening to see that nearly every driver who notices us lights up and waves back enthusiastically! People really do respond well to a smiling kid.

Car...

In colder weather, we don't make it to the curb very often, but sometimes we'll sit at the front window and watch for big trucks to pass. Our street happens to be a bus route, plus there are several restaurants and a grocery store that get regular deliveries, so it seems we never have to wait too long for a reeeealy big one.

Car...

So we watch and wait, and Lucian narrates the experience: "Ca... ca......... ca..... ca... YUCK!!!" (if you need a translation, that's "car... car......... car.... car.... TRUCK!"). And the icing on the cake is the occasional ambulance or police car that zooms past with sirens blaring.

Truck!!!

On hot summer nights, I grumble as speeding motorcycles roar past our open window, but so far we have managed to make the most of the traffic. Someday we hope to live on a zero-traffic, tree-lined street where the kids can learn to ride bikes out in front of the house, but I think a very small part of me will miss watching cars with the boys.

Whew, that's hard work!