Yesterday I took the youngest on a walk, plan was just our usual mile loop around the neighborhood but it was a lovely day and she wanted to go to the playground a little further out so we did.
She sold me a pretend vegetarian hot dog for twenty five cents at the little stand at the playground - she said they also had chicken hot dogs but I’m a vegetarian, not a chicken - and she ran all around, went down the slides a lot. I watched.I heard at least three languages other than English, which is nice, I appreciate that diversity in our neighborhood.
There was a little girl in a headscarf, I can’t recall how to spell it, I believe it’s part of being a Muslim or a certain kind of Muslim (embarrassed by my ignorance here). Her head scarf was a lovely shade of very bright red and she was a total ninja on the monkey bars, climbing across them super fast over and over again, then doing it again while skipping bars. I said to her dad that I wished I was good at the monkey bars as he was, and she ran over and said ‘what, me?!’ then ‘they’re EASY’ and I said ‘well, easy for you, I’m not strong like you!’
After while my daughter and I walked home for lunch. We talked about the fall leaves, lovely colors right now. Her favorite is dark red, she spotted one in the street and got very excited. There were lots of birds in big flocks again, loud and moving from tree to tree periodically. We joked around about what they’re talking about - she wanted me to pretend they think we’ll eat them. I said they were excited to see her and asked if she planned to eat them, she instructed me to follow order and pretend as I’d been told.
I took a walk with the oldest later in the day. I was pleased she remembered we’d planned to, she’d not been fully enthused - or maybe she’d been fully enthused for a fourteen year old - when I’d said the day before that I wanted us to take a walk. We had a nice time, just shot the breeze and walked and held hands. I used to not get watching TV at extended family events but now I do, sometimes you just wanted a medium for passing a period of time in each other’s company, with the medium extending the total time spent.
She’s applied to be part of a kids and teens magazine, the young people advisory board for it. I’m so proud of her. She was stressed about the application and I was joking with her that maybe if she kept putting it off then it would just magically get finished, that’s never worked in my own writing life but maybe it would work for her since she’s cooler than me and so more deserving. She stressed a while then just got it done, a quality and path I’m still acquiring! (Acquire a path...? Call me Dr. State Park I guess, expanding my borders, from eating too many donuts I suppose.
Often I write these and go slightly over ten minutes because I can but I have another thing in twelve minutes so today I’m being disciplined, and that’s time. How dull is time! (I’m allowed to say that, as a historian. Also sorting thoughts into allowed and unallowed, that's some cop shit!)
