Blame Game

Over the next few weeks, I will post pictures and reflections from my camping trip at Cape Cod. Below is the first of those postings.

There is a lot of bike riding at camp, and often we ride our bikes down the hill to the indoor plumbing. We are not alone in riding bikes through camp, and many kids ride around camp at all hours of the day and evening (especially the young teen crowd).

JT and D don't ride their bikes in the dark. For one thing, they are 8 and 6, and don't ride without parental permission. For another, because they are 8 and 6, they aren't caught up in the idea of impressing their fellow kids by demonstrating how little they care for their parents' opinions. The upshot: no bike riding at night for the boys.

One evening, as JT and I were walking down the hill for our final toothbrushing of the day, several kids on bikes passed us. It was dark and we were carrying a light. They had no lights on their bikes and were clearly having trouble seeing the road (let alone one another). As they passed, JT and I exchanged a look, the kind of look that said, "those kids aren't so smart."

About 45 minutes later, we were in our tent, quietly reading books. We heard some more kids bike by in the dark, and from their conversation, they were a little confused about where they were going. JT looked at me and said, "I blame the parents."

I snorted with laughter.