When I was a little girl, Northside Park was one of my favorite places. My dad was a teacher back then and had the summers off, and we'd walk to the park almost every day, me riding on Dad's shoulders when I got tired. There was a grove of sweetgum trees around the park that dropped little gumballs all over, and to me, it was magical, our trip through the Gumball Forest to the park's Imagination Island. It was just a special place. I loved it.
I was really eager to take Baby Anne to Northside as soon as we'd settled into our new house and had the time to go, to see if it had changed and if it was anything like I remembered.
We went today. The short drive to the park from our house was long enough for Baby A. to fall asleep, and I am not one who looks a gift nap in the mouth. But I did unload her sleeping self into her stroller and took a quick remembering walk around the playground area. The first thing that hit me was that it smelled the same. The second was how much smaller everything had gotten. Third was how much I recognized about the place, even after 20+ years. The playground equipment had been updated, but the old, charmingly vintage-y rocking horses were the same, and the pirate ship sandbox (my old favorite) was still there. I even remembered that certain slant of sun coming in through the leaves of the trees.
Anne (when she finally woke up) was similarly fond of the pirate ship -- sand is her favorite delicacy these days. Also fast favorites: the swings, the jungle gym, the rocking horses, and even the water-mister over by the tennis courts. So basically: everything. It was all a big hit. I guess you could say the apple (gumball?) doesn't fall far from the tree, in that respect.
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