The yellow school bus is as ubiquitous as MacDonald’s Golden Arches in the US.   Nowhere else in the world are there yellow buses to carry kids to and from school. According to the American School Bus Council, 480,000 buses transport 26 million students to and from school each day.

Over the last 5 years, I have photographed our school bus stop.   When my son started first grade, it became evident very quickly that the 5-10 min. at the bus stop was a special time.   While some mornings were dark and rainy, other days were bright and cheery, some were cold, some were warm, and some were just moody and eerie. Some days, there was just one passenger from our bus stop, some days there was a crew. All days ended when the bus drove away with passenger safely seated.

Those 5-10 minutes before the bus arrived were filled with lively excitement, burning impatience, nervous anticipation, hope and laughter. On other days, it was apprehension and drama. I spent the time waiting quietly with the dog, listening to them chit-chat about recess and projects and who got sent to the principal’s office. It quickly became my favorite way to start the day.

This personal photography captures the hope and excitement and some apprehension that I sensed during that time. Wondering what that particular day, or even the future would bring (even years down the road) for them; who they would meet; what they would do to make someone else’s day better, or what experience they would have that would touch them and shape them in the tiniest way.