‘I went out for a walk the other day, strolling through my neighborhood. I came upon a can lying in the gutter of the street. I kicked it and suddenly, I felt whimsical and began kicking it again. I felt light-hearted and young. A scene from ´Singing in the Rain´ had me mimicking Gene Kelly holding an umbrella and tapping my way as I continued kicking the can. But for some unknown reason, I began kicking the can with purpose, almost swatting at it with my foot with intent. Whimsiness became indifference. The can lies in a recycling bin. I am saddened.’

I wrote this short piece thinking back to how fun it was just kicking things while walking as a young child. Cans, rocks, it didn’t really matter. It was a game of sorts and the effort to displace an item was minimal but fun. Just a carefree swing of the leg and foot and you had a projectile advancing somewhere in front of you. As I got older (as we got older) our effort to kick something became more challenging and engaging. Our effort, or should I say energy, increases two-fold and sometimes more. It becomes more involved and purposeful. There is a reason behind this release of energy. And this lasts years. With any luck we start the leg swing all over again but now we’re past our prime and the effort becomes less so and the enjoyment becomes more so. The moral of the story, certainly don’t litter, better yet, stay whimsical and keep the can close.