Eric the Blue

Track & field day for the 2nd- and 3rd-graders. I was sitting among the 3rd-graders as the gym teacher described one of the last events, the “distance run.” She explained the boundaries of the course, pointing out the landmarks around the edge of the big field that they’d have to run around,. When it was becoming clear just how far they had to go, the slightly chubby boy sitting behind me whispered to the kid next to him, “Wanna just walk it with me?” His comparatively lithe friend, out of either kindliness or a lack of ambition, immediately agreed to this proposal. They executed it, too.