New Shoes for Logan

Uncategorized 1 Minute

We (well really, it was I) puffed up the steep hill on the morning walk. John simply sauntered up without breathing deeply. We expected to see neighbor Logan (8) waiting for the bus and Marla chatting with him and his dad. The street was empty. We wondered if they all overslept, but soon Logan’s car came rushing down. Marla appeared at the same time, and the street was peopled as it should have been. We learned a while ago that daybreak is not a stellar time for either Bob or Marla. They manage to bear with our jocularity and puns without hitting us.

Logan jumped out of the car with his usual energy and bounded across the street. John spotted a square tag on the boy’s shoes, as I noticed they were not the neon-green pair. Bob rubbed the sleep from his eyes and said he probably shouldn’t have worn his new sneakers. Logan submitted to John’s cutting the tag off before jumping the ditch.

“Your shoes aren’t tied,” John said.

Logan sat down to demonstrate that the laces were not long enough. He gave a halfhearted attempt at tying them and jumped up to run again. John wouldn’t give up so easily and verbally wrestled him to the pavement. I think Logan got the shoes tied as the bus pulled up. So began another school day.

My day, too, began in typical fashion, as my camera demanded to record a sweet scene.

091418 JC advises Logan on tying new shoes.JPG

Published by Anne Mehrling

I'm a retiree who loves to write about life in the mountains of North Carolina.

Published

42 thoughts on “New Shoes for Logan”

  4. I am a morning person but definitely AFTER my coffee. I had an early appointment this morning so coffee would have to be afterward. Unfortunately my poor husband tried to have a conversation with me before my first sip. He had to wait. My comprehension wasn’t turned on yet!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. And that is without coffee! Although I could have coffee and go to bed. When I was a student and I’d have tests or lots of homework, I could drink coffee and it really didn’t keep me up at night – you just think that coffee will keep you going. That was before Starbucks though. When they moved into our building, I’d stop every morning for a tall dark roast cup of coffee and it did keep me humming most of the day – their coffee is so much stronger. This was because I took the bus, got there two buses ahead of time in case the bus didn’t come or the bridge was up (letting freighters go under it – could be 1/2 hour) so always early. If I got there early, I had to make coffee – several coffee machines … I got nabbed a few times to serve coffee, etc. at some attorney’s meeting, so I just got my coffee downstairs and went to my little corner and usually started working – I was always busy, but might as well do my own stuff, and not other’s stuff or sometimes just caught up with e-mail from friends. Hope it is still status quo for you. I heard now 50 mph but with lots of rain on the 6:00 a.m. news.

        Liked by 1 person

        Reply

          1. Good you are safe Anne – I have been uploading pics for a very long time and there is a football game on so news is pre-empted for hours (and hours) (it is ridiculous sometimes) and the news stream is not good – it keeps going out. I’ve not heard a news broadcast since 11:00 a.m. Finally, I’m about to leave here. Hope Nathaniel and John’s sister is faring well too.

            Like

            Reply

            1. Everyone is doing well. Nathaniel said he was having wind and rain while doing homework. The cafeteria is several stories below his dorm room, so I presume he might stay inside all day. John’s sister and family have unpacked their emergency bags, and my brother is having rain in Winston Salem.

              Liked by 1 person

              Reply

                    2. OK, it was John’s family lived within walking distance of you – I got them confused. I did remember you growing up in Tennessee, because we discussed Southern accents one time. At the diner, every one of the workers except the manager’s granddaughter and me were from the Deep South. We had a clientele that consisted of about 90 percent Southerners who had moved North to work in the auto industry and missed their homes, so they came in to talk about “back home” with the employees. My boss/wife were from Alabama.

                      Like

                    4. I have to tell you Anne that it was my favorite job ever. The best job I could have had in many ways, but mostly because it brought me out of my shell; I had been very shy and quiet before working there. My boss, Erdie, was like a grandfather to me. I am going to write a post about him in October. It will be 40 years since I left the diner and I stayed on after I finished school, from June until October when Erdie retired so he did not have to find someone for the weekend day shift. The new owner wanted to manage the place himself and so he gave Erdie his notice. He was probably in his early 80s or late 70s but very energetic and had no intentions of retiring. I have some pictures of him and Ann (his wife, who also worked there) and him/I when I went into the diner in my cap and gown. The pictures of him/Ann are not very clear and I need to work on them a bit. Hope all is good with you and your family as to Florence.

                      Like

                    6. I did enjoy it and we had the nicest customers … met many nice customers. We had some customers who came in daily for decades. I wondered about the creek. When I first started following you, you posted a picture of creek and the water was quite high. Glad you have no other issues. We are hearing tornado warnings for North Carolina so happy you are fine.

                      Like

                    8. Just amazing considering all the warnings etc. I have been checking for updates from Evelyn as well. At 4:30 she said it had been raining solidly all day and she had gotten 4 messages on her phone re: possible tornadoes or flash flooding (this is Richmond, VA) … just checked now and she sent a text to my e-mail:

                      ☹terrible storm. Water pouring into basement.

                      Like

                    10. I hope not too because she had the hurricane that damaged her washer and dryer and they were lost and did some furnace damage as well I think. A lot of water in the basement. I could not remember which one it was and just Googled. I knew it was in the early 2000s. It was Gaston. I remembered after seeing the name. She was worried about the basement, but at least she didn’t get it down the chimney as she tarped it up … she says they do that in Charleston, SC where she grew up.

                      Like

                    12. Thanks Anne – mine too. I was just over at Comcast and no more reports so I imagine she and Tim are cleaning up the mess. One of her dogs was going crazy with the thunder all afternoon and she had to put him in his crate as he was so terrified. She was right there with him studying for school, but he was shaking like a leaf.

                      Liked by 1 person

  9. Doing exercises these days, helps me appreciate John’s bending over and helping Logan with his laces all the more. I couldn’t do it perhaps. But as I work out more, I hope to be better.
    Logan looks so small sitting on the road before he jumps the ditch.
    Susie

    Like

    Reply

  10. I think you are a modern writer version of Norman Rockwell (one of my all-time favorite artists). Such a treat to see daily life through your eyes.

    Like

    Reply

Do you have a comment? I'd love to hear from you.