Katherine Nicolai (6:41)

Okay, it's time. Lights out, devices down. Make getting incredibly comfortable your only priority. Feel the softness of the sheets, the heaviness of your limbs, how close you already are to deep, restful sleep. Your work is done for the day. Nothing is left but rest. Take a slow breath in through your nose and sigh it out once more. Please breathe in and exhale. Good bike Bus Stepping outside this morning, I felt spring all around me. The air was cool and clean, smelling like new grass and green leaves. I zipped my jacket up as I came down the front steps and smiled up at the colors in the sky, the tail end of sunrise was unfolding in pinks and oranges. The first flowers of the season were poking up through the soil in the beds around my house, and I guessed in a few days we'd see bluebells and anemones opening up. I'd planted some tulip bulbs last autumn and had crocuses that came back every year, but I'd also been cultivating some wildflowers in the backyard and was excited to see the trout lilies and the Dutchman's breeches that would bloom along the fence. I stopped at the garage, pushed my hip into the sticking side door, and nudged it open. From a hook on the wall, I took down my yellow vest and crossing guard stop sign. I'd been volunteering a couple days a week since the school year started in September, and I found I looked forward to these mornings and afternoons more than I'd expected. Back down the driveway and out onto the sidewalk, I slid the vest over my arms, passing the sign back and forth between my hands. The intersection I guarded was only two blocks away, and now that the winter weather had broken, I always walked. I could have managed it even on the very cold days, but had found that it was better to keep my car near where the kids crossed in bitter weather. I had a collection of extra hats and gloves in my trunk for anyone who had forgotten theirs, even a box of hand warmers that I passed out when it was really brutal. I'd played music from the car stereo on those days to dance to when my legs grew numb, to boost the young ones spirits on their way to school. But now that the days were warming and sunnier, there were other ways to keep the kids moving and cheerful. One specific way that I loved to be a part of. They called it the bike bus, and it consisted of a few teachers and parents leading a pack of kids all on bikes to school in the morning and back home in the afternoon. Our PE teacher had started it a few years before, after getting the idea from a colleague in another district, and had come to school safety and crossing guards to make a plan. The owner of the bike shop downtown had stepped in to help as well. He'd even started a monthly bike maintenance and repair clinic at the school where our riders learned to patch a tire to fix broken chains and adjust their brakes. When it came to the actual ride each day, there were a few rules. Everyone had to wear a helmet. We tried to keep the ratio of grown ups to kids at about 1 to 4. Kids needed to stay behind the leader. Everyone kept to the planned route. After that, the goal was just to have fun outside together. And boy, did we have fun. The bus driver, the grown up in front, carried a speaker in their basket and played happy, upbeat music, and watching the kids sing along as they zoomed past made me smile so hard that tears sometimes came to my eyes. Often on days I wasn't stationed at my post, days I wasn't scheduled to volunteer at all. I found myself rolling down my driveway on my own bike and heading out to help ride along. I'd pick up the rear to watch for stragglers or weave into the middle of the pack to help the kids keep pace and pay attention. The bike bus was a source of pure joy for me, and I knew I wasn't the only one. Neighbors came out onto their porches with coffee cups to watch as it passed or to stand on the curb and cheer the kids on because of it. I knew more people on our street by name. It seemed like we all spent more time outdoors now, and it even seemed to change the way cars drove on our street, more aware that folks were biking and walking. There was a noticeable effort to share the street, and that felt good. As I came up to my corner, I checked my watch. I'd be seeing the first walkers in the next few minutes, and there still were a few kids who just preferred a walk to the noisy, busy bus group. That was the nice thing about having these options. Some days you might want to ride with friends, chat, sing together. On other days you might need some quiet time alone to take in the world in a slower way, and the kids could choose. Each day I saw a girl walking toward me and put up my sign to guide her through the intersection. She had a large black case with her, a saxophone I guessed by the shape, and as we got to the curb she nodded a thank you. I wondered if she was thinking through a piece of music or vocabulary terms or dates for a history quiz. Next came a group of siblings, three kids, two of which might have been twins. They each had a brown paper lunch sack clenched in one hand and a book bag slung over a shoulder and joked with each other as they crossed the street beside me. From down the street the sound of music and bike bells came, and from the doggy door of the house on the corner a spotted pooch shot out into the Y. She ran to the fence and sat down, her tail swishing back and forth behind her. We all liked watching the bike bus pass. I stepped into the intersection to block any cross traffic and waved to the bus driver to show all was clear. There must have been 50 people in the bus this morning. I recognized teachers and parents and lots of the kids. Some of the adults had trailers on their bikes with toddlers strapped in, and I noticed a few teenagers who I knew were guiding their little siblings to class before heading further on to the high school. We smiled at each other as they all flew by. The kids bopped to the music on their bike seats, and the adults, while keeping one eye on the side streets and cars and driveways, were singing along, too. At the tail end of the bus were some of the slower riders, some whose legs were just a lot shorter and took more effort to keep up, and some who just weren't in any particular hurry to get to school today. Eventually the last rider passed and the music began to fade into the distance. The dog at the fence now finding a bright patch of sunlight, scratched at the grass a moment and then settled down onto her belly, crossing one paw over the other and resting her chin across them. I could see a few more walkers coming. There would be another 10 minutes or so of stragglers, and then my morning work would be done, starting my day this way with fresh air and joy, a bit of service, music and others. I felt so glad for my life the way that it was, and I'd get to do it all again this afternoon. Bike Bus Stepping outside this morning, I felt spring all around me. The air was cool and clean, smelling like new grass and green leaves. I zipped my jacket up as I came down the front steps and smiled up at the colors in the sky. The tail end of sunrise was unfolding in pinks and oranges. The first flowers of the season were poking up through the soil and the beds around my house, and I guessed in a few days we'd see bluebells and anemones opening up. I'd planted some tulip bulbs last autumn and had crocuses that came back every year, but I'd also been cultivating some wildflowers in the backyard and was excited to see the trout lilies on the Dutchman's breeches that would bloom along the fence. I stopped at the garage, pushing my hip into the sticking side door and nudged it open from a hook on the wall. I took down my yellow vest and crossing guard stop sign. I'd been volunteering a couple days a week since the school year started in September, and I found I looked forward to these mornings and afternoons more than I'd expected. Back down the driveway and out onto the sidewalk, I slid the best over my arms, passing the sign back and forth between my hands. The intersection I guarded was only two blocks away and now that the winter weather had broken, I always walked. I could have managed it on the very cold days, but had found that it was better to keep my car near where the kids crossed in bitter weather. I had a collection of extra hats and gloves in my trunk for anyone who had forgotten theirs, even a box of hand warmers that I passed out when it was really brutal. I'd played music from the car stereo on those days to dance to when my legs grew numb to boost the young ones spirits on their way to school. But now that the days were warming and sunnier, there were other ways to keep the kids moving and cheerful. One specific way that I loved to be a part of. They called it the bike bus and it consisted of a few teachers and parents leading a pack of kids all on bikes to school in the morning and back home in the afternoon. Our PE teacher had started it a few years before after getting the idea from a colleague in another district and had come to school safety and the crossing guards to make a plan. The owner of the bike shop downtown had stepped in to help as well. He'd even started a monthly bike maintenance and repair clinic at the school where the riders learned to patch a tire, to fix broken chains and adjust their brakes. When it came to the actual ride each day, there were a few rules. Everyone had to wear a helmet. We tried to keep the ratio of grown ups to kids at about 1 to 4. Kids needed to stay behind the leader and everyone kept to the planned route after that. The goal was just to have fun outside together. And boy did we have fun. The bus driver, the grown up in front, carried a speaker in their basket and played happy upbeat music. Watching the kids sing along as they zoomed past made me smile so hard that tears sometimes came to my eyes. Often on days I wasn't stationed at my post days I wasn't scheduled to volunteer at all. I'd found myself rolling down my driveway on my own bike and heading out to help ride along. I'd pick up the rear to watch for stragglers or weave into the middle of the pack to help the kids keep pace and pay attention. The bike bus was a source of pure joy for me and I knew I wasn't the only one. Neighbors came out onto their porches with coffee cups to watch as it passed or to stand on the curb and cheer the kids on. Because of it. I knew more people on our street by name. It seemed like we all spent more time outdoors now, and it even seemed to change the way cars drove our street, more aware that folks were biking and walking. There was a noticeable effort to share the street, and that felt good. As I came up to my corner, I checked my watch. I'd be seeing the first walkers in the next few minutes, and there were still a few kids who preferred a walk to the noisy, busy bus group. That was the nice thing about having these options. Some days you might want to ride with friends, chat and sing together, and other days you might need some quiet alone time to take in the world in a slower way, and the kids could choose. Each day I saw a girl walking toward me and put up my sign to guide her through the intersection. She had a large black case with her, a saxophone, I guessed by the shape, and as we got to the curb she nodded a thank you. I wondered if she was thinking through a piece of music or vocabulary terms or dates for a history quiz. Next came a group of siblings, three kids, two of which might have been twins. They each had a brown paper lunch sack clutched in one hand and a book bag slung over a shoulder and joked with each other as they crossed the street beside me. From down the street the sound of music and bike bells came, and from the doggy door of the house on the corner a spotted pooch shot out into the yard. She ran to the fence and sat down, her tail swishing back and forth behind her. We all liked watching the bike bus pass. I stepped into the intersection to block any cross traffic and waved to the bus driver to show that all was clear. There must have been 50 people in the bus this morning. I recognize teachers and parents, lots of the kids. Some of the adults had trailers on their bikes with toddlers strapped in, and I noticed a few teenagers who I knew were guiding their little siblings to class before heading further onto the high school. We smiled at each other as they all flew by. The kids bopped to the music on their bike seats, and the adults, while keeping one eye on the side streets and cars and driveways, were singing along, too. At the tail end of the bus were some of the slower riders, some whose legs were just a lot shorter and took more effort to keep up, and some who weren't in any particular hurry to get to school today. Eventually the last rider passed and the music began to fade into the distance. The dog at the fence, now finding a bright patch of sunlight, scratched at the grass a moment and then settled down onto her belly, crossing one paw over the other and resting her chin across them. I could see a few more walkers coming. There would be another 10 minutes or so of stragglers, and then my morning work would be done. Starting my day this way with fresh air and joy, a bit of service and music and others. I felt so glad for my life the way that it was, and I'd get to do it all again this afternoon. Sweet dreams.