I aired up my bike tires and pumped my bum up the street to the public library too fast. There was the pumping and the wind and people perched at the curb, in lawn chairs, and on the front porches anticipating a parade. People with kids kinds-of-people, people with beer cans kinds-of-people, people with cell phones kinds-of-people, and then there were the people with metal baseball bats and rocks kinds-of-people (which I peddled faster past). Kids were lined up with brown paper bags at one corner, men pushing bell tolling ice cream carts on the asphalt, and on two separate lawns, old men were standing alone with their heads tilted up to the sky doing I don’t know what, and both smiled as I passed because they were doing absolutely nothing and it felt really good. (Though maybe my tank top was creeping a little low, and me bent down over the handlebars unconsciously flying down the street seemed more like a dare or a strange act of kindness.)

It was reassuring to see all of these people enjoying the weather, and the outdoors, and their neighborhood. Even more reassuring, was that they were doing this in the their front yards so that they might share it with other people around them. That was the good part.

I saw two Johnnies drive past and smile and wave like I’m one of the good guys too. But despite these pretty street blocks lined in old elm trees and innocent 1940’s homes with picture windows that let you peer straight through to the back, the noise on my ride was just dirt. The sirens were making the breeze. Non-stop.

Cop-cars, ambulances, fire trucks. My bike stopped and swerved to miss them rolling past, but every corner was soaked with those sounds. Sweet to the neighbor’s ears, it said that something happened, but the bad was over and being cared after. I searched down all the side roads to see if I could find what made the chatter, but there was nothing but a pretty day going on and relief on everyone’s faces. Something had called us all outside at once though, myself included. I’m not saying that the noise was what did it, but maybe something that had passed through just before.

If it’s always been like this, I’ve never heard it. I asked Kirk about it, and he said that the night before last it was bad too.