I’ll be honest, I’m not much of an athlete. When it comes to that, I’ll leave it to my Flying Salmon cohort, Louise (you may have already read about her adventures running at Mount Si and Fort Steilacoom). However, when the sun comes out in Seattle, I do try to pull myself away from the computer screen and get outside to enjoy it. Case in point: last week. My baby boy was fighting another cold (they get a lot of them, apparently, during their first year), and I knew that the best thing I could do for him was to get him to sleep. Since he’s not much of a napper, I took him to Green Lake in North Seattle, hoping that the gently bumpy ride in the stroller would do the trick.
It happened to be a gorgeous day–the sun was out, the daffodils and cherry blossoms were in bloom, and there was barely even a breeze. At any other time than on a Monday afternoon, the lake would have been packed on a sunny day like this. But the workday was still in session, and I managed to snag a coveted parking spot on the east side of the lake by the Green Lake Community Center. It was perfect.
While my little boy napped, I took in the sights, the sounds, and the smells surrounding me. I’ve almost always gone to the lake with a friend, but this time, rather than being immersed in conversation, I noticed the crunch of tennis shoes on gravel, the faint hum of the cars on the nearby Highway 99, the metallic clicking of bicycle spokes. As parents strode by me with their children in jogging strollers, I took my time and observed the couple having a picnic on the grass, the young man playing his guitar, and the bicyclist weaving through walkers with his cat riding on his shoulder. The fragrance of the first blossoms of spring was a gentle perfume carried on the faintest breeze, and the sky was pure blue. My son may have been the impetus for this trip to the lake, but the walk was equally restorative for me.