counting buses

the road i take to work
is the same road i drove
to take the kids to preschool -
for seven consecutive years.

it is also the same road
the buses take back to the bus barn.

this morning,
i started counting buses out loud,
"one, two, three, four..."
as they passed by.
just like always.

then i realized,
no one was counting with me.
because they were all at school.

i cried - but kept counting buses.
all the way to fourteen.
old habits, i suppose.