MY FAMILY OF NINE went for a bike ride this evening. A veritable trail of bikes, training wheels, toddler seats, and child trailers.

But what was perhaps more amusing was those we passed on the sidewalks. People stopped dead in their tracks and stared at us like we were the first flock of geese returning in the Spring. Then I heard, “Look! A family!”

I wasn’t sure whether to laugh, or weep.