Perceptive

Super-long Tuesday morning city run, hiking along and enjoying some grub when I hear, "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Running and having some breakfast."

"You eat McDonald's when you're running?"

"If it's a really, really long run like this one, yeah. Sometimes."

"You're weird."

"Do you guys know what the word 'perceptive' means?"

"That we're smart?"

"I think of it as being able to tell what something really means or what something really is."

"So if Miguel says that you're really weird, then he is perceptive?"

"Hey, you're the one who said he's weird!"

"OK, then I'm ... what is that word again?"

"Perceptive."

"Yeah, that's it. I'm perceptive, too. And we're only in the third grade."

"Y'all have a great day, fellas."

"How long you gonna run for?"

"Another couple hours."

"We'll almost be eating lunch by then. Well, OK. You keep running."

"I hope to. For a very, very long time."