recreation/re-creation

this afternoon, my sisters and i (along with our respective husbands, which still sounds alittle funny and odd to say), went on a bike ride with our dad at the local park.  i was trying to remember the last time we'd ridden our bikes as a family, and it must have been when i was in high school and we were all still under the same roof.

the park by my parents' house wasn't always there.  it used to be a massive field that was across the street from our old house.  it was so neglected and overrun with grass and weeds that it reminded me of a wheat field.  it could have actually been one, but i can't be sure.  the middle sister and i would walk over there to play, much shorter than the growth, getting lost in the land.  sometimes we would test how far we could go before one of us chickened out (more likely to be me) and we'd turn around towards home.  a few times we saw deer, and i remember twice we discovered a buck.

when we found out about the plans for the park, we couldn't wait.  it took a couple years to develop, and i still remember the first few times we went after it was officially open, how new and fresh it looked, the black pavement of paths undiscovered.  one summer i'd get up early (a true feat) to go jogging with my dad.  we would often go at night too, with just the sounds of the crickets and our sneakered feet hitting the ground in rhythm.

the middle sister and i loved to bring our bikes too.  there was an entrance to the park right across the street, so we'd pedal over and hook onto a larger loop that brought us to a bridge that spanned over a creek.  that was the best area for honeysuckle; even to this day i could smell the sweet scent as i rode by.  there is still wildlife around (today we spotted a groundhog), and back then, we would still see the deer.  i remember one particular time when we tried to catch up to a one as we raced down a hill.  we couldn't, of course, but it was still fun trying.

there is also another memory i particularly like.  on the last night (or so we thought) before we moved, my sister and i snuck out of the house to the park.  there, on the swingsets, we said our goodbyes to our town and talked about how much we would miss the place we had come to know so well.

it's a wonderful feeling to be able to come back to a place that holds so many fond memories, and to share it with the same people who helped create them in the first place.