Recipe for a Sidewalk

Pouring concrete is just like baking a cake.
The main difference is
that first you build the pans. Call them forms.
Think grand.
Mix the batter with a few simple ingredients:
  one shovel of sand
   one shovel of gravel
    a pinch of cement.

Add water until it looks right.
Depends how you like it.
Can be mixed by hand or with a beater called
a Readi-Mix truck.
Pour into forms and smooth off.
Adjust the heat so it's not too cold,
not too hot. Protect from rain.
Let cook until tomorrow.
Remove the forms and walk on it.

There is one big difference from cakes.
This one will never disappear.

For the rest of your life your kids
will run on the same sidewalk, singing
My mom baked this!

- Kate Braid

From Covering Rough Ground, by Kate Braid, Polestar Press Ltd., 1011 Commercial Dr., Vancouver, Canada V5L 3X1, Used by permission,