Recreation and parks
John-Paul: “Karin, what should I blog about?”
Karin: “How good Howard Park is.”
It is good. It has a splash pad, a large playground, an ice-skating rink (in wintertime), valleys, hills, and a view of the river. It was redeveloped a few years ago, but we only recently began taking the boys there.
It’s also next to a trendy restaurant with loud live music. Acoustic covers of Savage Garden: that sort of thing. Alas.
The other day, we took the boys up a hill next to the park and across a footbridge to look out over the river. There were homeless people on the other side, resting. One guy – the coolest-looking one – lifted up his palm as if to say: Hey, man.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Another time, we went to a rather desolate park closer to our house. It borders a desolate apartment complex.
We were the only people there until an SUV pulled up and a little Hispanic boy got out. His mother (I assume that’s who she was) stayed in the SUV. The little boy played by himself. I was pushing Daniel on a swing. The little boy walked over and gestured as if he wanted me to lift him onto a swing. I peered over toward the mother. She wasn’t visible; the SUV was behind some play equipment. I lifted the boy onto the swing. He sat forlornly. He couldn’t get going. After a while, I pushed him and he swung for a bit. Then I helped him off and he went back to the SUV. It drove away.
Then some youths ambled over and asked Karin for dollars to buy sodas. She gave them some. She’s soft that way.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
We all walked to Kroger today (that, too, is recreation) and, while we were in the checkout line, a pretty, young, Black woman with classic basketball shoes opened her box of Outshine popsicles and gave one to each of her children and one to Samuel. Then, as she was leaving, she noticed Daniel. I didn’t know you had two children, she said. She went out to the parking lot, came back inside (we were still checking out), bought another box of popsicles, and gave one popsicle to Daniel.
Karin: “How good Howard Park is.”
It is good. It has a splash pad, a large playground, an ice-skating rink (in wintertime), valleys, hills, and a view of the river. It was redeveloped a few years ago, but we only recently began taking the boys there.
It’s also next to a trendy restaurant with loud live music. Acoustic covers of Savage Garden: that sort of thing. Alas.
The other day, we took the boys up a hill next to the park and across a footbridge to look out over the river. There were homeless people on the other side, resting. One guy – the coolest-looking one – lifted up his palm as if to say: Hey, man.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Another time, we went to a rather desolate park closer to our house. It borders a desolate apartment complex.
We were the only people there until an SUV pulled up and a little Hispanic boy got out. His mother (I assume that’s who she was) stayed in the SUV. The little boy played by himself. I was pushing Daniel on a swing. The little boy walked over and gestured as if he wanted me to lift him onto a swing. I peered over toward the mother. She wasn’t visible; the SUV was behind some play equipment. I lifted the boy onto the swing. He sat forlornly. He couldn’t get going. After a while, I pushed him and he swung for a bit. Then I helped him off and he went back to the SUV. It drove away.
Then some youths ambled over and asked Karin for dollars to buy sodas. She gave them some. She’s soft that way.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
We all walked to Kroger today (that, too, is recreation) and, while we were in the checkout line, a pretty, young, Black woman with classic basketball shoes opened her box of Outshine popsicles and gave one to each of her children and one to Samuel. Then, as she was leaving, she noticed Daniel. I didn’t know you had two children, she said. She went out to the parking lot, came back inside (we were still checking out), bought another box of popsicles, and gave one popsicle to Daniel.