Walking in the Park

We moved into this house almost 16 years ago.  At the time, I was overjoyed, partly because we live close to a nice park with a lake.  It’s got multiple playgrounds, paddleboats, volleyball courts, baseball fields, batting cages, soccer fields, and an indoor wave pool.

The kids were pretty young when we moved in.  For me, it was moving “back,” because I lived in this house when I was a kid, from ages 4 to 11 or so.  When the kids were little, we went to the park to play and to walk around the lake.  I’ve gone to the park many times over the years, but not nearly as much as I thought I would.  Life gets in the way, you know.  I tend to oversleep in the mornings, so an early-morning walk or workout is pretty much out.  When I get home, I’m tired, and there’s stuff to do.  So, I hadn’t been to the park for awhile.

This evening, I arrived home from work, started a pot of beans cooking (baby limas in ham stock with rosemary), read a little, and then set out for a walk.  It’s a little warm out:  95 degrees at 9:30pm.  Ninety-five isn’t the end of the world – we’ve seen 120 here, after all.  It’s a little warm, though, and it makes for a sweaty walk.  Not that I’m complaining.  Just sayin’.

Not having walked a whole lot lately, I felt all of my 43 years dragging behind me.  I’ve got to do this more often.  Like, every day.  Twice.  Being a little older has its benefits, though.   I now have decent shoes and a phone that will keep track of my mileage for me (thanks, Runkeeper).  Runkeeper tells me that I walked 1.78 miles tonight, and conveniently posted this to Facebook for me.  Amazing.

The park is mostly the same as it ever was.  They keep the grass around the lake pretty nice, and the trees are taller and fuller than they were.  There are also more of them.  A few years ago, they redid some of the ramadas around the lake.  There were families walking the path around the lake, guys fishing, people sitting by the water talking, families cooking what smelled like steak on the barbecue grills.  All in all, it’s a nice, peaceful walk.  It’s pretty quiet, and I love being by the water.  What is it about a body of water, even a little one, that feels peaceful?

I’m still glad that the park, and the lake, are so close to home that I can go walk around and enjoy them.  I resolve now to do so more often.  I’d like to ask a couple of things of the City, though.  First, could you please make sure that the lights in the park are all functional?  Seems like having a couple of lights out around the lake in the park could pose a safety issue on several levels.  Second, the south end of the lake looks a little iffy.  There’s some sort of debris that I couldn’t quite make out in the dark floating in there, and that’s probably for the best.  Please don’t make me call to remind you about these issues, because it won’t be a pleasant experience for anyone.

Stay tuned tomorrow.  Hopefully, Runkeeper will joyfully announce on Facebook again that I’ve taken a  walk around the lake.  If it does, I will patiently put up will all of your teasing about how I didn’t go far, and I’m not running.  I know that every little bit helps.  If there is no Runkeeper announcement tomorrow, you have my permission to give me a hard time about it.