Tramping in the Park
House on Red Corner · 2007-08-27
On Sunday EJ and I went out so that Daddy could get his schoolwork done.
We went to the park where we started by saying hello to a dog and a bug (which she screamed and ran away from - to entertain me, I think). After saying hello to another dog (all dogs must be no higher than her knees), and watching a fisherman and calling to the ducks, we settled down at the waterside. There, EJ contented herself with poking a stick into the duckweed and poulling out lilypads for about an hour.
EJ decided she wanted to backtrack and play hide and seek in an old tree, so we did that for a half hour until she saw some people across the way high on a branch. We ran over to see if we could get up. No such luck - even without shoes on. A little boy was momentarily swept away by EJ’s high spirits but he realized he was too far away from his momma and ran back crying and clung to her legs.
We had somehow whiled away another hour and I thought it was time to go so we headed back, just stopping to say hello to a black poodle. Uh oh - the kind lady owner handed EJ the leash. So I followed amusedly as they skipped off along the lullwater. And another hour went by. EJ learned a lot about dog walking - how to lengthen and shorten the leash and how to say “Come on by me! Come along with me!” The nice lady and Smoky left us a bit lost, so we wandered up a hill to avoid some mud and found ourselves face to face with a rather sick-looking chicken that EJ decided to follow closely behind for a while. Then we crossed a bridge, threw crab apples down into the water and watched a man do some yoga.
Dusk was beginning so I took us back toward home. Then we heard drums! So we followed the sound and joined some African drummers and dancers. After some bubble-blowing with a little girl named Kiki, we finally dragged ourselves out of the park, happy and exhausted.
And there was Daddy at the gate of our apartment building to meet us!