Kids Today...

I live in a condo. Eight units, four on each side of the building. It is fairly close quarters, but we all seem to manage to avoid eye contact as is appropriate. My next door neighbor has a teenaged son. He is, from all observations, a fine young man. He is respectful, witty, and will always offer to help his elderly, sheepy neighbor with her groceries. I'd say his one flaw might be that he thinks we should talk more often. He thinks that I am, God help me, "interesting." Relax...we don't have a Mrs. Robinson thing going on here. He's just one of those rare 16 year olds who happens to see beyond age and likes to get to know folks.

For all his finer qualities, though, he is a kid. A teenaged kid. And the teens, they run, they jump, they yell, they play that crazy rock 'n roll, and have any number of gee-gaws and gadgets that make noises. They are incapable of walking down a flight of stairs in anything remotely resembling a sedate manner. And they travel in packs.

I really do like this kid. He's respectful of his elders 'n all. But he has yet to attain the life experience necessary to appreciate the finer points of that most wonderful of middle-aged pleasures: The Nap. I do not believe that he is aware of the physical and mental strain put upon his neighbor by having to re-tune her sleep cycles to accommodate the start of school. He does not know that her mind is reeling after learning that her new classroom does not come with a desk for the teacher. She now has no earthly idea where she is going to keep her pencils and Xanax.

She needs a nap.

But the teen level of activity around here right now is not nap-friendly. By the time this fine example of today's youth goes back to school and the pitter patter of supersized kid sneakers on the stairs is silenced, I will be back to work as well. I'm going to have to learn to sleep at night like normal people.

I am forging ahead with the Penance Sock and this is one piece of knitwear that takes it's name seriously. Never a big fan of the heel flap, I tend to make most of my errors in that little spot. No matter how many times I tell myself to go the way of the short row, I just never seem to remember to do it. The yarn on this delightful little hoof covering is splitting regularly and fooling me into seeing stitches that do not actually exist in real time. At other moments, they leap boldly from the needles as if they actually have a shot in heck at surviving on their own out there.

Heels on a sock...who really needs 'em?

Much as I generally don't care for self-patterning sock yarn, though, I have to admit that this one isn't so bad. I like brown and I like blue so there is some hope for this sock to earn it's maker's love.

A nap would really help, though...

SA