Frith O’Steen

Yay! I know that summer technically doesn’t start for another month or so, but it really feels like it’s arrived full force this week. And the heat’s been here a short enough while to still feel welcome and novel, rather than exhausting and overwhelming. Decker and I have changed our routine accordingly (I can’t exactly take him out to the playground in 90 degree weather!), and have been doing our morning walk/visit to the park in the mornings, and switching his naptimes to afternoons. It’s been fun to walk through Walnut Creek in the morning, because it’s quieter and a nice temperature and you can smell all the restaurants starting up their kitchens to get ready for the lunchtime crowds and all the moms and kids out at that time are Decker’s age, so they tend to be gentler and less pushy on the play equipment. (If I hear one more kid say “You can’t play here - this is OUR (fill in the blank, ie: spaceship, train, etc)…I will lose it! Do they say it because their moms aren’t right there? Or do they do that in front of their parents as well? I get spoiled at Hippity Hoppers - all the moms there bend over backwards to make sure their kid isn’t the rude one - as a result we have a roomful of toddlers who are probably very confused that all the moms are encouraging them to share, even if the other kid only glanced at the toy in question! Heh).

It’s nice to go on these walks, because they also remind me of walking around Corvallis when I was a student up at Oregon State. I really enjoyed going out and walking around the downtown on weekends and in the summer, especially because it was kind of quiet and it was a pleasant set of streets to meander down while I got some exercise to boot. I liked doing the same thing in Arcata, too. I dunno, there’s something very comforting and familiar about the smells and sounds and sights…I really like going on walks. They’re nice in the late summer evening as well, after a hot day and now the temperature is just right and the shadows are long and everything just feels very relaxed. Even when I was working CalSO, I really enjoyed when I needed to walk across campus for something or other in the evening…sort of a magic twilight hour where it was nice to just relax and breathe deep and not really think about anything. It’s one of your cheesier songs I grant you, but “Summer Breeze“ always pops into my head during evenings like that.

Best part of all about a summer day at home with Decker? When Sean comes home early and surprises me with a nice cold slurpy drink! Yesh!