The man in the plaid shirt — a happy birthday sticker plopped over the pocket — hears the horn.
And Mr. Mike is ready.
He rises from his porch chair and heads to the driveway.
He looks up, scanning the sky. When the horn honks again, he peers toward the sound, his hand shading his eyes like an explorer looking for land.
Mr. Mike looks startled. Faux startled.
Then he heads down the driveway, a gray-haired grandpa waving wildly toward the commotion coming from a big, yellow school bus. Mr. Mike! Mr. Mike! Mr! Mike! Bye, Mr. Mike! BYE! BYE!
He waves and waves.
The bus heads down Tipperary Trail, leaving Ruth Hill Elementary School and Mr. Mike behind.
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“And that’s about it,†Mike Harris says, returning to his porch and his chair and his laid-back May afternoon.
His waving at bus No. 815 started last fall, when Driver Joe and Para Sue and a handful of preschoolers left each afternoon.
It will end in a few days, when the 2017-18 Lincoln Public Schools school year comes to a close.
But Mr. Mike will be back next year.
Waving at the end of the day.
Waving in the morning.
Faithfully looking out for his hundreds of part-time neighbors.
Mike and Darlene Harris live across the street from the low-slung elementary school on a quiet street that turns into a minivan traffic jam in the middle of the afternoon five days a week.
The couple have lived in this brick ranch for 45 years. Since before the school was built. Since before their son, Adam, and their daughter, Alison, were born.
“We bought the lot and had the house built,†Mike says. “There was a milo field across the street and a sign that said a school was coming.â€
Darlene was a stay-at-home mom then (before she went to work for pay), and Mike, a Navy vet, spent his career as a computer programmer and software developer.
They’re both retired now.
They have two granddaughters who go to Humann Elementary, a few miles east.
“We go over there once in a while and give those teachers a hard time, too,†Mike says.
They are snowbirds.
And some days, even if they’re in town, they’re not home at 3:30 when that bus pulls away, windows down, little heads peeking out.
And when they’re not, kids and teachers notice, says Principal Amy Carnie. “It feels different when he’s gone.â€
The principal has been at Hill just two years, but her predecessor let her know about the man across the street.
“He’s sort of the watchdog of the school. He’ll look out for it; he’ll tell you if there are people on the grounds that don’t need to be, if there are lights on in the middle of the night.â€
He helps the crossing guards. He greets kids in the morning, too.
“Once he told me he just wants the kids to have an extra smile,†the principal said. “He’s that friendly face across the street, we love him. And he talks to the adults as much as the kids.â€
Last week, Mr. Mike and Darlene walked across the street to Hillfest, the school’s fun night, eating burritos and mingling. (Everyone knows Darlene as "Mr. Mike's wife.")
When Mike was a working man, he didn’t get home until close to suppertime. “I never saw any of this kind of stuff.â€
But when those days ended eight years ago, Mike started noticing. All those kids with backpacks and lunch boxes, the cars lined up with moms behind the wheel, the energy of young life all around.
He started lending a hand.
One day after school earlier this year — after he’d chatted with the crossing guard and ushered kids across safely, he headed over to Bus 815 and met the driver, Joe Schaffer. He met Sue Evans, too, both of them new to Hill.
The pair were impressed by the gray-haired neighbor man. They didn’t know about all the years of waving and smiling and looking out for this school.
“The kids all love him,†Sue said Thursday, while the bus idles and she made sure the last seat belt was buckled.
The kids have their routine perfected. Buckle up. Then the chant: “One, two, three. We’re ready! Let’s go!â€
And then they do go, windows down.
Joe honks the horn.
And across the way a kind man in a plaid shirt heads down his driveway staring at the sky.
Mr. Mike! Mr. Mike! Mr. Mike!
Bye, Mr. Mike! BYE! Mr. Mike!!!