copy cat

copy cat
well, not copy cat
more like monkey see monkey do
there is a copy cat but this is clearly monkey see monkey do

tonight after a little more than a direct bicycle ride home I walked the dog with dean and grant
we took brutus for a short loop in the woods

such events do not happen without a little grease
the boys did not want to hike as they were playing monopoly with mom
not straight up monopoly... they have Marvel's Superhero Monopoly
I asked them to hike the dog with me
I mentioned the warm weather
I proposed the use of their new Princeton headlamps that they got for Christmas but they were set on their game of Monopoly
then something happened
someone did not want to go to jail or a property was bought that one of them wanted
so they decided to go hiking
but not without water bottles...
so we argued about water bottles
who got what water bottle... everyone wanted the same water bottle

sometimes preping for an activity with small children can take longer than the activity itself
not unlike me getting dressed for a truely cold winter commute
after the war over the water bottles was settled we were across the street and down the block into the woods
the dog was running leashless while I was left holding three water bottles
the boys wanted their hands free as they ran
this made sense... I wanted my hands free as well

not far into the wood grant proposed working on some stairs
actually he wanted to build some stairs on the hiking trails
in no time at all he was gathering fallen twigs and putting them parallel to the larger logs I had set as anti-erosion barriers
barriers that have since caught so much run-off that they have terraced into some stairs

wanting to get a tad deeper in the woods I told them about a section I need help working on
so we march further
a pause to climb over a recently fallen tree
a pause to observe the various colors benieth the surface of a large piece of quartz
some slowing of our pace for reasons unknown to me
such things that happen when moving at the pace of a two young boys

then finally we are just about where we need to be
I ask the boys to stay on the trail as I got a few meters off trail to gather some bark from a massive old tree that has long since fallen and is breaking down at its own tree-like pace
the boys got excited to stomp on the bark
yet this bark did not break as easily as we had expected
our effort to accelerate the earth making process was not as rapid as we had hoped but we put the bark at various parts of the trail where things are getting slick

bark... nature's grip tape

the boys have seen my trail efforts
they have adopted these behaviors as their own
monkey see.... monkey do
so much of parenting is monkey see and monkey do
driving is one of these subtle behaviors
one of those things that parents teach their children through action

it is funny to think that a parent would think that they would wait unitl their child turns 15 years and eight months to teach them about driving
that would be as ignorant as if a parent were to wait till prom night to teach their kid about morality, sexuality, and being smart when having sex all while this kid is getting dressed on prom night
no... these are things that are taught through years and years of example
monkey see... monkey do
not practice as I say not as I do

parents need to get a clue
the way parents drive with their children is shocking
the speeding about
the inability to make complete stops at stop lines
the failure to yeild to pedestrians
and of course
the inconsiderate passing of cyclists

parents need to learn to drive so that they can teach their children to drive
it is simple
a teenager pushes the parameters of the box
they will drive a little more wild then their parents
they will cuss a little more freely then their parents
they will.. well do a little more than what their parents do
they will take what they see as acceptable and build upon it

maybe the kids need to start teaching their parents how to drive

the copy cat...
there is a guy who recently started to hike his dog on the same trails that I hike my dog on
he has taken to some rogue trail maintenance
he is doing something similar but different than what I am doing
but... we have spoken and have agreed that we will have to get out and work on some larger projects together