Walk like a crab

He wanted to go for a hike. I reminded him that he was going to walk with me in the CROP Walk today. I explained to him that people had sponsored us, given money, if we promised to walk. So this afternoon we'd turn in our money and walk. He wanted to know where the money would go. I told him it would be used to help people that were hungry and couldn't afford food. I told him that it might help people in some places build a farm. A bit simplistic of an explanation, but the boy is only 3.

We pulled into Church this morning and Logan got excited. He clapped and said "Are we going to the CRAB walk now?"

"Logan, honey, its CROP."

As we left church we asked him to tell Grandma and Papa what we were doing in the afternoon. He giggled, knowing the right answer now, but knowing the point was to tell them his earlier mistake.

"We're going to the CRAB walk!" he said excitedly.

"How do you walk like a crab?" asked Grandma.

So he showed her. He hunched down a bit. He pulled his elbows in, his forearms out and he pinched his fingers to his thumbs repeatedly.

He urged me to bring the umbrella-stroller "in case I get tired." He encouraged me to pack him his Thomas "canteen" of water. He agreed to wear a baseball cap. Safely on our way in the van, Logan asked me where the hungry people lived. I told him that the people helped by the money we and everyone else were raising today lived all over the world. I told him 'his' money might go to Africa. It might go to a local food bank.

"Do you remember the pictures of that very big hurricane?" I asked him. He had seen the satellite images of Katrina and Rita on the Weather Channel at one point. He had seen pictures of the flooding there too. He nodded in the backseat and then remembering that I can't hear a head moving (we don't remind him about my spy mirror) he said yes softly.

"Well some of the money from walks like this went to help the people that were effected by that bad hurricane," I told him.

"Where do they live?" he asked. "What state?" I told him the names of the states. He sat quietly for a block length. Then he said "My money is going to build a farm in Louisana." I told him I was proud of him and his farm.

We got there early. We signed in and placed our stickers on our shirts. The music was blasting already. Entertainment before and after the walk as usual. Logan held out his left arm. He tapping on it with the fingers of his right hand.

I giggled. "What are you doing, cutie?"

He grinned. "I'm playing guitar!" Then he danced. He danced his little preschool butt off. He danced in the midst of a growing crowd that would pass him by and mutter about how adorable he was. He played his version of the air guitar. He had a blast.

When the welcome and prayer was done, we walked. He started out walking. He went the first few yards doing his crab walk and giggling about it. "See, I can crab walk at the CROP walk!" he told me.

A 1/4 mile in he asked for his water. "Excercising makes me thirsty," he explained. I pulled us over to the side of someone's lawn letting the other walkers pass us. I dug in my bag for his cup. I remembered that Logan can't walk and drink at the same time. He meanders and drinks. I told him to sit in the empty stroller I'd been pushing along while he drank. He never got out of it again. Well that's not true, he'd get out if we hit a corner with a curb I couldn't ease him down without popping him out. Then, the moment we hit the other side of the street, he was climbing back in.

It didn't matter though. We had a nice time walking - just the two of us. We talked. We admired the Halloween decorations. We completed our two-mile tour with a few high-fives (between ourselves and others) and a big plastic cup of water.

As we drove on to our post-walk errands, Logan sighed deeply. "I had a great time," he told me. "Can we do the CROP walk next week?" I told him no but we could next year. He replied with "But I want to build more farms!"

Gosh, I'm so proud of him.