Whose Fault or Asphalt?
by Beth Klarreich Corwin

It was a hot summers day. Ideal for the first day of free swimming lessons at the lake. Finally this year would be a success. Two years ago classes had been rained out and last year it was too chilly. I was smiling as i prepared for the day. Cooler, book bag, dry clothes for the boys , sun hats and lotion. My mind was checking everything off the list as time was ticking away. Okay, we would make it without rushing if we left now.

“Come on guys. Swimming lessons.”

“Okay mom. We’re ready.”

Well I had done it right today. I had shouted out half hour, fifteen and five minute warnings and somehow whatever game they were involved in ended at the perfect moment.

“Say good-bye to daddy boys.”

“Oh , he’s outside with the work men.”

Oh yeah the driveway was being paved today and my husband had moved my car to the end of the driveway. Oh no, the extra walk would cost me a few minutes, I was thinking, as we exited. Sure enough the asphalt crew was crowding our driveway as I scurried past them.

“Bye dad, see you later,” they said kissing him goodbye.

My husband, a ten year ofd boy in disguise said, “ You guys are gonna miss all the fun. The roller is such a cool machine in action.”

I started to become unbalanced between the ten pound book bag and the ten pound cooler.

“Can we stay mom?” little voices inquired.

Before I really became undone......”Oh the roller won’t happen for awhile. The asphalt is still a good half hour away and we have some prep work to do.” Mr. Pave man said.

MY HERO!! We were still going to swimming lessons as planned. I smiled as a solution surfaced.

“Guess what guys? I’ll carry my cell phone with me and daddy will call when they’re ready to pave . Okay?”

They nodded and continued helping me carry all the beach paraphernalia to the car. I promised my husband that the phone would be in audible distance as I am notorious for not even having the phone turned on most days. Okay now to find a parking space at the lake and still be on time. I could do it.

“Let’s not take EVERYTHING today but only unpack the stuff we’re really going to use,” I suggested as we began unloading.

They nodded but my comment didn’t really register as chairs, boogie boards, flippers, goggles, backgammon, umbrella , shovels and towels kept exiting the car. I ran away empty handed to see if we had made it on time. We had! The previous class was running a few minutes behind so I quickly helped the boys drag all the stuff down.

A few minutes later Buddy, our six year old son, was happily splashing and kicking away swimming “under face” as he calls it , while our older son Spencer took his boogie board out with a friend to show off our small sailboat.

Ah... my mind had a chance to settle. Whose fault would it have been if the kids had missed this opportunity? OOPS, I had promised to keep the cell phone close by and it was still waiting in the car in its turned off position. I saw the kids were safely and happily engaged as I trudged back to the car for one final item. I turned it on and kept it close by as I brought my attention back to the boys in the water.

Soon Buddy needed a sun warmed towel to be wrapped around him and Spencer needed to return to shore so he could begin his lesson. I held Buddy close to stop the shivers and we talked about his lesson as we watched his older brother take the plunge. What if my husband called in the middle of the lesson? What if I hadn’t heard the phone and we missed the big event? Whose fault would that be? I checked my phone to see but there were no messages and it remained silent.

Soon a shivering and excited Spencer came running out of the water chattering on about his newest swimming skill. We were all enjoying the warmth of the sun, settling into our first round of snacks, grapes and cherries, and getting ready to dive into one or our chapter books when I thought about the asphalt and the phone ringing. Before we got way too comfortable maybe I should just call and see how close they were to using that roller machine.

I checked in and my husband agreed to give me a ten minute warning as he knew how long the packing up process can be. I relaxed a bit, took out our book and the phone rang.

Yep, ten minute warning was here. I could tell the asphalt event was important to the kids as there was almost no resistance to leaving. In fact all of the equipment (half unused) was methodically being lugged to the car. Ironically on our trudging way a woman whom I barely know approached me,” Wow I hear you’re home schooling your kids. I give you a lot of credit . That’s incredible. How do you do it?”

I smiled as I gave my usual reply. “Oh I really enjoy it. It’s a very liberating lifestyle.” We talked for a few more minutes and I told her that the real trick is going with the flow, that child led learning works well and then I explained why we were leaving the beach now so as not to miss one extremely educational event of the asphalt machines in action.

We arrived home in time to see and smell this monumental event. We parked on the side of our dirt road and ambled up through the woods as our driveway was not an option. We made it to the safety of shade and our front steps where das was firmly planted for front row viewing.

“They just started. I took a lot of great pictures form all different angles. “

It was hot, it was smelly and I must admit it was EXCITING. There was the asphalt machine, the roller, two guys sweeping and brushing and one guy wearing a funny looking rectangular contraption strapped to his shoes to reinforce the corners and press them firmly down. Barely a word was spoken as we all watched the crew. Teamwork in action, each member performing a specific task, impeccable timing, everything lining up with the common goal which was to pave the driveway neatly and efficiently. The guys were working hard, shirts were coming off, sweat was dripping. I kept refilling the container of cold drinking water. Half way through( the whole process was about an hour) Buddy jumped up and ran inside to retrieve his sketch pad and pencil. He sees the world through artistic eyes and captures it on paper. I thought he had grown tired of the project but still wanted to be with the family so found a way he could do both. Maybe he was drawing his newest characters, maybe some old familiar ones.

“Mom, look” he said a few moments later.

As I did I was amazed. He was drawing this event. He was doing THESE charsctrers. The workmen right before him were his subjects. He captured their entire essence, sweat beading down from their foreheads, naked muscular pectoral muscles, holes in their shorts and earrings in their ears. He pointed out the details to me and his brother and then Spencer suggested he also draw the machine.

“No that’s too hard” he said.

So I suggested Spencer give it a try. He willingly and successfully did. He sees the world more through engineering and technical eyes and managed to capture that on paper. My husband who has both artistic and engineering eyes began telling me technical details about the job. The job neared its end as we all talked about where asphalt comes from, is it the most environmental and economic choice, how long these guys have been working together and how they learned the trade.

As the men came for their final drink of water, Buddy showed them their portraits. They commented on the details as they smiled and said it was the first time anyone had ever captured them working on paper.

Our son was proud of his work and wanted to be generous and offer it to these hardworking men. He figured out that if he took a picture ( with his brothers digital camera) that he could remember the event as well as be generous. This solution brought a smile to my face. We chatted with the head “Pave man” and thanked him for his work as we all stared at the shiny new unblemished driveway.

No one missed a swimming stroke and the paving event of the decade had been witnessed! Amazing how when following the rhythm of life and going with the natural flow, life's lessons unfold and learning just happens.