But parks are happy places . . .

Parks are so nice. Parks that are kept up nicely, with shady places to rest, and pretty flowers are really just delightful. Parks that are just starting out, though, just aren't that nice. Part of the draw for us when we chose our current house to buy a year ago was the 10 acre field that our backyard borders. The only things in the field were grass, a big red barn, several groves of trees, wildflowers, and two very cute red foxes. When you looked out the back door, it looked like we lived in the country . . . looking out the front we're reminded of the large neighborhood we live in. Soon after we moved, however, a note was put on our front door by the village that those 10 acres were soon going to be made into a park. Mixed emotions ensued. I mean, great a park . . . i can see straight into the field, so that means it'll be like 10 extra acres of "yard" for us to enjoy. Yes, there will be the noise of baseball games in the summer (I can hear over-zealous mother's yelling at their sons now to "hustle, hustle"), but really I think it will be great. But what is so sad, is the absolute destruction that is now taking place to make that lovely field into a park. For a solid month, excavators, chains saws, wood chippers, and other equipment has been whirring from the field. Most of the groves of trees have been brought down . . . ground has been dug up for water lines for the concession stand. So this will go on, we're told until late 2009. And really the saddest thing of all to me is what the field was before it was the field/park. It was horse stables and grounds for over thirty years. We missed bordering that by just a few years. When the owners stopped raising/boarding horses just a few years ago, they sold the land to the village at an amazing price. I would have loved watching horses graze out in that field while I drank my coffee in the morning. Instead I see piles of dirt and tree stumps . . . bright orange marking tape and black paper temporary fencing. Maybe once the park is finished, and lovely and useful, I'll forget the "ickiness" it has been in it's construction phases.

Remember when . . .

Remember when your kids were little, and at some point you had to be away from them for a weekend or a few days. When you returned home, you went to hug your kids, thinking they would be so overjoyed to see you. But instead they start bawling . . sort of like laughing -bawling, but out and out crying no less. It used to happen every time we've had to leave our children. I was trying to imagine tonight for some strange reason what the emotion must feel like to a child in that moment. Is it the shear relief that makes them cry? Are they angry that you ever left in the first place? Maybe the rush of emotion of just how much they love you or how great it is to see your face again hits them and makes them cry. I don't know. I was just thinking about it. One of those sweet little kid things that really is sweet, but really curious.