September 1

I guess I am working on a little bit of a reinvention of myself. Today, I added a component to my morning walk: I took my homework with me to the park, and sat at a table under the picnic shelter and read the chapter on description. And ate an apple.

The park is busy in the mornings, busier than I knew when I had an actual job. At least half of the people are walking dogs. Almost everyone sticks to the path, crunching along on the red gravel, which is nearly worn away on the center of the path, but is piled higher against the concrete curbs. In other, older, parks, the City made walking paths that meandered around the park and that had grass and trees on both sides of the path. Here in this park, though, the outside edge of the path is the street's curb. It's not nearly as pathlike as it ought to be.

That doesn't bother me: I strike out across the grass, taking my own direction. Today I learned, when my left shoe was nearly pulled off my foot in a patch of smelly muck, that avoiding the greenest grass is a good idea, because that's where the water pools. And the muck lurks.

Chas. A. Guy Park
Lubbock, Texas

PS - Periodically, someone alters the wooden sign at the corner of the park so that it reads "Chase A Guy" - I like that name so much better than, in my mind, that IS the name of the park.