Normally in the mornings I drive Cat and Tate to school. There is a bus stop a few yards from our house but they prefer the door to door service I provide and I usually try to accommodate them.

This morning Cat mentioned that someone she knew lived close enough to the school that she could walk to school. “Technically, you live close enough to the school to walk too,” I said. “We only live a mile away. You could do it easily if there was a sidewalk.”

“Really?” she asked.

“Yes, really. When I was in elementary school I walked to school when I was in the fifth, six and seventh grades,” I said. “Lots of kids did. Some rode bikes and the schools had big bike racks to lock up the bikes. There were lots of walkers.”

Completely without irony or sarcasm she said, “Oh, so cars weren’t invented back then?”

They are taking the bus tomorrow.