Summer nights…

Taz and I were just out on the deck enjoying the last of the summer tomatoes.  While he could do little more than suck out the juices, it made me think that we won’t be having homegrown tomatoes for at least 9 more months.  So, as we’ll be changing our calendars over to October within a matter of days, I guess I have to accept that fact that summer is really and truly over.  Yes, even on lovely days such as this one - I have to remind myself, it is not the true return of summer, just a gorgeous autumn day.  So, to say goodbye to summer, I thought I’d reminisce a bit about a few of my favorite summer happenings over these past few months.

1. Spur of the moment visits to Lake Anna, Virginia

We share an acre of land at Lake Anna with our dear friends, Glen and Annie.  Neither of us get down there as often as we want, but just knowing it’s there is enough sometimes.  We often dream of the cabin we’ll build there someday - for now, we’re content to enjoy splashing about at the beach in the common area, picnicking on warm afternoons and meandering about our corner lot, complete with stream running through the edge of it.

2. Discovering new parks and playgrounds

Living in the condo for the last few months has given me ample opportunity to discover the nearby playgrounds as we often just need to get out of the house. Two of our favorites have been the South Germantown park - complete with castle and climbing wall.  It even has a splashpad and minigolf course, along with aquatic center and soccer fields, but we haven’t gotten past the extensive playground.

Oh, and they also have this huge painted floor map - of course, I had to encourage Taz to reconnect with his roots.

The other park is the Cabin John Park - again, an INCREDIBLE playground and I love that it’s wooded so you can escape the mid-day summer sun when you just have to be outside on a really, hot day.  We venture to this one a lot as it’s only 5 minutes down the road.  This one comes complete with a little train.

Okay, so that’s far from the end of my summer memories, but Kaleo needs to head back to Philadelphia (while flying high as the Redskins just miraculously won a game against the Cowboys) and I still can’t figure out my password on any other computer… So, stay tuned for more summer memories!

More than just Mr. Darcy…

While the novice Jane Austen reader may not look beyond her brilliant creation of the dreamy Mr. Darcy, there is much wisdom to be discovered in her writings.  And no matter how many times I read her books, I discover something new based on what I’m thinking about at the time. How I love being lost in her world - even if it is currently the world of Mansfield Park, which you may or may not like, though I say any Austen is better than no Austen - but, I had to come back to reality to blog about a few words Edmund remarked to Fanny :

“It is a lovely night, and they are much to be pitied who have not been taught to feel in some degree as you do - who have not at least been given a taste for nature in early life.  They lose a great deal.”

Miss Austen knew it - so why have we lost so much in the ensuing generations.  It brought to mind a bill currently being presented in Congress that was brought to my attention by my good friend Wes.  The “No Child Left Behind” bill encourages law makers to give more funding to outdoor education.  While I do think this is a great thing, I can’t believe that we need it! Being in nature shouldn’t require the intervention of government or even formal educators - it should just be ingrained in all of us from our earliest days!!!  But it is not… and that is one of the tragedies of our modern world.

As I raise my own children in this computerized environment, I realize that I took my childhood for granted - the big backyard full of fruit trees, a tree house and forts built by my big brothers, roaming in the field behind our house and beyond that in the park and river bottom, exploring the hills and streams - and all this in a suburb of LA, it wasn’t like I was living in ruralville. So, why, just a generation later, are we having to fight for what came so naturally… And I do feel like I have to fight, fight to give my boys a childhood filled with natural wonder.

One of the little things I’ve started doing since Kaleo moved up to Philly is to take the kids for evening walks - I thought Kai would balk at the idea, but he actually asks if we can go.  There is a feeling, a smell, a magic, that only belongs to summer nights - and so we roam around the neighborhood or through the park outside the condo, enjoying what is left of these intoxicating evenings. Kai and I have races along the sidewalks while I push the stroller and he runs as fast as he can. Sometimes we go to a nearby playground and play on the seasaw in the dark.  I love being able to play on summer nights like I did as a kid.  And I love watching my sons fall in love with the magic of twilight.

Rockin’ in Rockville

So, now that I’m up in Maryland full-time, I can focus on exploring one place - or at least one state and a district.  It never ceases to amaze me how much there is to do in the area.  One of my favorite finds of the summer has been the Rockville Town Center, which we stumbled upon one day while looking for a library.  I guess it’s similar to the way a town square would have been back in the day - an open area surrounded by shops, restaurants, apartments.  And of course the square is the best part - a splash fountain,

an arts center, evening summer concerts,

outdoor movies, mommy and kid days, etc.  They do turn the fountain off for the concerts, but the lights turn all sorts of colors that the kids dance on while the music is playing (and it comes on again after the concert - Kai had a heyday in his underwear splashing in the fountain one Thursday night - he tried to talk me into letting him go without undies, but I had to draw the line somewhere).

Maybe it’s just because it’s the first summer, but they also have lots of promotions and special events on like kids eat free on Tuesday and a jazz festival.  Of course, it helps that parking is plentiful and cheap ($1/hour - and free after 7 pm and on weekends) - so it makes it very accessible by car (and metro).  As it’s not far from us and a place we can get a lot done at once (like the library, a play in the fountain, errands) we’ve taken total advantage of it since we found it.  It’s just lovely being out on summer evenings with your neighbors.  It’s how I imagine neighborhoods used to be.

Save the date…

for the first annual National Wildlife Federation’s Family Trail Weekend (11-13 October 2008)!! So make plans to get out there and explore a new trail with the little ones. Hopefully we’ll be settled in Philly by then and exploring up there… We drove up there today to check some places out.  I have my fingers crossed that one of them will work out. I’m feeling so ready to start this new adventure - and end this time of transition…