My children lead a, shall we say, soft life. No moon boots and snow mountains for them to traverse on their mile long walk to school. No wind whipping through their just-washed hair until icicles form on the braids. Still, Brigid feels a longing from deep within her soul for the icy, crunchy snow-covered sidewalks of her homeland. This is her in the backseat of my car on the way to Kindergarten Friday morning:
The funniest thing for us tough northerners-turned-Arizonans to witness this time of year is the native Arizonans reaction to the “winter” weather. The highs during the day dip all the way down into, like, the 50’s. At work this week, one of my cube-neighbors blew out electricity to her entire row because she, along with others in the row, was running her space heater too hot! People… it’s 60 AND sunny outside! I admit I will throw a sweater on in the morning when it is in the 40’s or 50’s, but even after living here for 4 years I still don’t even shake up the least shiver for this kind of weather. You can also spot the tourists from a mile away because they are the only ones driving convertibles with the tops down, or daring even to wear… shorts!
It is really is nice here this time of year. You get to laugh at me in July, but now it’s our turn to finally come out of our air-conditioned prisons since it’s no longer 120 degrees… in the shade! We can once again romp and play at the park without risk of our skin frying to the pavement or piece of metal playground equipment.
Last Sunday we got together with Ann & Keith at
The Railroad Park for the afternoon. The Railroad Park in Scottsdale has been our favorite destination for the kids since before Aidan was even born. The park has free admission, and a 10-minute ride on the train around the park costs only $2/person. The park is more than just fun for kids, since the Arizona Model Train club meets there as well, and there are often large train displays that the kids can watch.
Oh yeah, Aidan doesn’t like that or anything.
It’s also very educational. It’s important to teach kids not to play on the tracks when a train is about to RUN THEM OVER… !!
Ok, the train wasn’t really going to "smooth over" the children, as Brigid would say. It’s really a museum train that President Woodrow Wilson used during his election campaign to give speeches and choo-choo around the country. Pretty cool and educational, huh?!
The good ol’ days.
I also used to love trains when I was a kid. Maybe it’s in the genes and Aidan picks it up from me… who knows. I used to ride my bike down to the tracks (the other side of them and all) and watch trains whisk by all day long. I learned that at night, if you whip a rock from the tracks at a freight car, it makes a spark. This probably falls on the list of things I’m glad my parents never knew about.
Well... I guess they know now...
