5:00

is the best time to go to the park. . . especially in late july when the ice cream doesn't quite melt as quickly and dusk is just under your breath. we've lately discovered the joys of having dinner al fresco swing-side and today when we met bridget & crew we figured out why it was so blissful. on tuesday when owen and i walked up to the chaparral park with sierra we sat up in the playhouse with the dog and watched while the bunnies carefully came out of the honeysuckle bushes and ate strawberries. then, raced the moon home in time to take a long bath, read a few pages from moominpapa at sea and fall asleep. rather, sierra and owen slept soundly while i had two full hours of a quiet, content house before crashing out myself. but tonight it was apparent the rest of the neighborhood had caught on--and we didn't have the run of the playground. however, it was a 5:00 park crowd which is worlds differnt than the daytime park politics. the nannies have gone home for the day. the mom playgroups have disbanded. the sand kings have put away their spades. at 5:00 playground time is pure indulgence; it's the after hours crowd.

owen asked me on tuesday if we could have an after dinner park walk again. i answered: yes, tomorrow and tomorrow and the next tomorrow after that. tonight we found wednesday again right here in the ranch.