One Walk Three Stories

I.
We went to a large nearby park that we had not previously visited. My intent was simply to tire the kids out and to enjoy some fall foliage.

Mission Accomplished.

II.
Roughly every five feet they had “Dogs Must Be On Leash” signs. It was crazy. Yet when we had been in the park for all of five minutes and had already seen (and been visited and sniffed by) at least 10 dogs on invisible leashes (that means NOT on a leash), I began to wonder if perhaps I had some super-powers whereby I could see (and read) signs no one else could. OK, not really. I was just really confused that so many people would willfully disobey SO MANY signs. Since strange dogs make one of my kids nervous (coincidentally, she was knocked over by a dog not on a leash running at full speed at a park with “Dogs Must Be On Leash” signs when she was 0 and has never quite recovered), and we most distinctly did not come on a lovely leisurely evening stroll to stress ourselves out, I decided to try to better understand the situation.

Excuse me,

I said to a normal-looking woman who seemed familiar with the park.

This is our first time in the park and I see that there are lots of signs about keeping dogs on leashes and lots of dogs off of their leashes. Is this usual?

Yeah. This is pretty much known as a dog park.

You mean, except to the people who put up all the official-looking signs?

Everyone knows this is a dog park.

For dog people. All the dog people feel like it is a dog park and the people people just have to deal?

It’s good for your kids to get exposure to dogs.

Thanks. Not really my intent in coming to a park so clearly labeled, but thanks for thinking about my kids.

And then she whistled her own unleashed dogs out of the bushes to descend on us. Not really, we just parted ways; me with my somewhat worried kids and she with her unlawfully unleashed animals.

I just don’t get dog people. I realize it is a natural tendency to want things your way, but there are actually some good reasons for most rules. While you are very comfortable with your dogs, not everyone is, nor do they need to be. If you want to keep dogs, ensure they have a decent environment in which to live in privacy, don’t unleash them on the public, please.

III.
Of course, I didn’t know where I was going, I was just following the path along as it wound down the hill into some delightful sights. While I did not inherit my mother’s exceptional sense of direction, I could tell that we had eventually rounded back towards the parking lot, so I was hopeful (oh so hopeful) that the path we had followed all along would, in fact, take us back to our vehicle. You see, that walk coincided with Amos’ discovery that he could stand up in the stroller and cause all sorts of problems. The sky also got darker faster than I had anticipated, so I didn’t think I had time to turn around and get back with all of us still sane.

Boy was I sad to discover that the path took us to the bottom of a very steep and unpathed hill and then veered back out into the park at large. But do you think I turned around and walked that wandering path back up to the parking lot? No-sir-ee-bob. I said, “Kids: we are going up.”

I was able to haul the stroller about 1/4th of the way up that hill with Amos in it while Lily and Peter imitated mountain goats and bound to the top. Then I lodged the stroller against a tree…

…and carried Amos up to the top of the hill. [I really wish I had remembered to snap another picture from down below because this image doesn't do the grade justice; oh well.] Then I went back down (am I the only one who finds this the most daunting?) to grab the stroller and haul that up and over the top.

Phew! We needed a rest after that. No one ever said life with Mama was boring, kids!

Danger!

I just re-acquainted myself with an old time-waster.

So far, I have successfully restrained myself from googling Weltris, but it is only a matter of time, I’m sure.

Just What the Doctor Ordered

I have long promoted This American Life, not that they need my endorsement. It is one of those shows that I know everyone has told you to listen to, and if you are still resisting, you are really losing out. In October, they did two shows about health care in the United States, and they are fabulous. I am linking to them here, and please please listen. You can listen online or download the podcasts. You will not regret it!

First Episode: More is Less

Second Episode: Someone Else’s Money

(Although you can certainly listen out of order.)

If I could needlepoint, I would totally make this for you for Christmas:

Inconceivable!

I have encountered this image twice in the last week, and I need an explanation for it.

Do you have one?

In Memorium: Halloween 2009

Did anyone else notice how Halloween happened a week early this year? Although the actual date was this last Saturday, there seemed to be a lot of community Halloween activities the previous Saturday. Just me? OK.

Well, our first Halloween activity was on Wednesday at Church. I tried to make it a low-key effort. The kids used costumes from my Mom’s stash–I had planned on Lily being Little Red Riding Hood (Word Girl’s new pants had not yet arrived), but I think the jewelry of a Pirate Girl seduced her, I had planned on Peter being the cowboy, but he made a fine pirate, and I would have been very happy to have Amos uncostumed, but he was put in this Mouse outfit (which I wore once upon a time), and if there is one thing that Amos doesn’t like, it is getting his clothes changed, so I left it.

We took our neighbor to the party, and clearly, she is a professional model. Peter, meanwhile, couldn’t understand why we were posing when we should have been PLAYING. Amos really got into character and tried to run away.

On the REAL Halloween, we went all out.

Lily says she would like to be Word Girl every year. FABULOUS! That makes my Mom job a lot easier.

Peter makes a great pirate; he kept trying to make a pirate face for the pictures, but couldn’t hold it: too sweet for meanness.

Amos just happened to be wearing overalls that day, so I threw a bandana and hat on him and called him: farmer. As you can see, he is not a hat guy.

Good to go.

We had excellent weather and enjoyed trick-or-treating. When the aliens invade, I hope they don’t come on Halloween and think that it is NORMAL to dress up as something (anything) you are not and knock on everyone’s door expecting candy. They will be very disappointed to find out our merriment, good will, and free candy is limited to one day a year.

Of course, we have nothing on this guy:

And Many Happy Returns

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday Dear Amos

Happy Birthday to you!

Get Out the (Scarecrow) Vote

A few weeks ago we graced the streets of lovely Fairport for their Scarecrow Festival. Despite it being a manufactured attraction to entice you to come and spend money in their fair town, we had a great time. It helped that the weather was fantastically autumnal. I could have done without the non-free (in fact, pricey) children’s entertainment, but we were mostly content to walk the streets, see the scarecrows, and partake of strictly complimentary attractions.

There were LOT’S of clever scarecrows (and some scary ones), but of course I appreciated the more historical ones like this:

While some might lament the injection of petty politics into the sacred Scarecrow Festival, I thought this was a stroke of political genius. Hey, if will.i.am won’t write you a song, the next best thing has got to be a Scarecrow with a sense of humor.

Vote!

Subversive

I went to a certain unnamed giant chain bookstore to sit in their cushy reading chairs today and read my library book.

2 Years ago Today

Was the first day we could legally collect signatures to petition for Barack Obama’s name to be on the ballot.

You’re Welcome.

Halloweening

We didn’t get around to carving our pumpkins until last week. I was not looking forward to it. I think I have only done the carving once before, a few years ago, and obviously, my kids are not in a position to help yet. But they did design their faces and enthusiastically scooped, so then all I had to do was carve and keep the knives away from little fingers.

I think they turned out alright, and I actually quite liked the carving, although I am sure I was using the wrong tools for it. I won’t dread it so much next year (how’s that for enthusiasm?).

I took the kids to Powers Farm Market on Tuesday. In my circle, Powers is far and away the most used pumpkin patch (even though there is no patch–you just pick a pumpkin up out of an area full of pumpkins), and I definitely knew to avoid it on weekends. But it wasn’t too bad on a weekday. We tried to go through the haunted teepees, but Lily was scared in there when she went 2 years ago with her preschool, and she is still convinced that it is scary. Every year she says she wants to try, and then every year we barely make it past the entrance.

She was very interested in the haunted hayride, though. I thought it was a pleasantly creepy experience, although it definitely helped that we did it in the daylight!

I’ll tell you what’s really scary there, though: the technicolor chickens!