COVID Senior Lockdown, Day 6

My inside solitude was interrupted by the chattering of voices outside on the street. It was a group of teen and preteen boys riding bikes. We’ve been here 24 years and the population of and mood of the teenagers around here has changed many times as their adolescences have come and gone and new generations have cycled through. But there’s always something refreshing about a group of kids on bikes.

They weren’t heading anywhere in particular. They weren’t vandalizing anything. They weren’t even particularly loud, any more than happy teenagers in the fresh air with their buddies should be. So, of course, a NextDoor war broke out. They’re too close to each other! There’s more than 10 of them in one place! Where are their parents for God’s sake??? Please chill. Yeah, maybe they shouldn’t be playing basketball, with all that bumping and sweating and ball-handling. But riding bikes around the neighborhood and laughing in the fresh air beats the heck out of having them hiding out in the basement and writing Barry Manilow lyrics on the walls.