What a great corner we live on!
And, better still, what a great park we live next to.
This time of year it is just alive with activity. Three to four Little League baseball games going on at one time...full of cheers and Coach's instructions..."Hold up!Hold up!Hold up!" " Throw it Home!" "Nice hit, Jared!"; Sundays bring on the all-day soccer matches - kids leagues and adult leagues... even in the rain; the Asian basketball teams...where they come from, I don't really know...but, I'm half expecting Yao Ming to show up and give a little blocking out under-the-boards workshop to the boys!
There's tennis players, dog walkers, the swings and climbing towers, kites and bubbles,
old people, young people...it's busy, busy, busy with activity and happiness.
Last night around dusk we watched three barefooted teenage boys batting and shagging some tennis balls on the baseball field. After about an hour of this they ended up in a tumble wrestling together - sometimes two on one, sometimes one on one...laughing and rolling around the whole time. Just some good fun with the buddies!
Out of nowhere one night when the light was fading quickly and the park had quieted down from the day's busy-ness, we heard the melancholic notes of a bagpipe floating in the air from the other end of the field. We stepped into our back yard and were treated to a half hour of bagpipe playing, ending with a mesmerizing version of "Amazing Grace" that hauntingly filled the darkness that had descended upon us. I don't know who that person was, they've never returned, but that was quite nice.
Early Sunday mornings on the basketball court in the summer there often is a woman who practices some sort of Tai Chi, but with a long baton/stick thing. She looks quite graceful as she goes through her positions/moves, stretching and lunging while twirling the stick around and about her. Later in the day an older Chinese couple come to the same spot and do their Tai Chi movements. They are each so fluid and smooth with their movements, it belies their elderly age.
My favorite is to see a little 3-year old kid jump out of the family car and just run to the gateway opening to the park. Most of these kids just keep running with the biggest smile on their faces, some of them shouting for glee, "The Park!" as they head for the jungle gym, the swings, the climbing areas...fun, fun, fun!
Those smiles just convey such pure joy....the park is a beautiful thing!
Sounds like it gives the feeling you are back at camp when we had 250 excited young ones playing in our yard.
Posted by: joey | June 17, 2007 at 08:15 AM
We always wish we had something like you have in our own backyard. A park like you have is a constant reminder that "joy" needs to be a regular part of our lives.
Could seven kids fit in your house? :)
Posted by: Fitz | June 17, 2007 at 12:18 PM
Yes, Joey, it is kinda like where we lived and had everyone from "camp" come to our house every day...kids laughing and playing all day...fun stuff!
And, Fitz, perhaps we could turn our garage into a bunkhouse of sorts!!! hehehe!
Posted by: Janet | June 17, 2007 at 06:41 PM
Oh Janet, don't say that too loudly, our kids will be packing their bags!
Posted by: Denise | June 18, 2007 at 07:53 AM
Hi janet!
You have captured the joy of and in your park so beautifully. Thanks for sharing it!
Posted by: Elizabeth | June 18, 2007 at 09:58 AM
Parks are social capital! You captured that!
Posted by: elizabeth cobblah | July 04, 2007 at 10:13 AM
Love your blog - espeially your notes about skating on Warner Pond. We are moving to Concord (close to Warner Pond) this Summer and it was nice to be able to give my kids some Winter visions.
Thanks again
Posted by: Neil Henry | July 08, 2007 at 09:14 AM