After two weeks off, my kids returned to school this sunny morning. My elder left an hour ago to walk there by himself, while my younger (James) got driven there by my wife as usual. They left fifteen minutes early so James could see his friends again.

My older son has started walking places by himself and going places just with other kids rather than with a parent. This trend started during spring break - obviously for good.

Some of my earliest memories are of changes that happened during breaks. Even as a child, I wondered why a change would happen then. After all, a break is meant to be time away from school or work. I always wondered how a change could establish itself in a work routine, when the person wasn't even at work? Yet, such is the way: when a person returns to work or school after a break, they often bring a change with them. My son's walking to school is an example.

To me, the question begging to be asked is, "Do breaks facilitate changes in our routines?" After all, when you're outside of routine, you have the option to try different habits. A routine day doesn't offer such opportunity to experiment. The implication is that if Joe starts taking the bus instead of his car, he'll likely start doing so on a Monday. He's much less likely to take the bus on Wednesday if he drove on Tuesday.

People approach change with consideration and trepidation. They rarely get a chance to contemplate something new during a normal, busy day. During their breaks, they more likely have time to explore new possibilities.

To today's drawing: Vin Diesel. I saw him in Fast and Furious, where he was a big hit with the young women. I know he's been in other movies since, but I haven't seen any of them.

This drawing is from around two years ago. By its time, I'd changed styles from the Han Solo drawing of my previous post. My drawings became bigger, busier, and darker. Was it a change for the better? You be the judge.