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Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Found: One lazy afternoon at park
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This past weekend was pretty lazy for me. I was sick and tired of hearing about Michael Vick and all the usual rigmarole. My brain needed a day off. What to do?
My girlfriend and I went to explore Duluth, to see what Duluth was like during the day.
We started off with lunch at The Soda Shop on Hill Street, bordering the town center park. I had a sandwich, and my girlfriend had a salad. I really, really wanted some ice cream, but they didn’t have anything low sugar. I am diabetic, and I had already used by my weekly sugar allowance, so I enjoyed, with zeal, what turned out to be a very good sandwich.
Then, we moved on to the Main Street coffee shop. I had such a good experience last time, I had to try and see if I would have a similar experience. The young man working at the counter was very helpful, very polite, and obviously a sales executive in training. We shared a light conversation, and learned about some of the nuances of what goes into making a good barista. And yes, the coffee again was excellent.
We then went out to the park, sat on a swinging bench and watched people. The fountain in the square was at full blast, and kids were darting in between the jets of water, keeping cool, laughing and having a good time. There are various people walking under the shade of the leaves, and a few walking dogs. Did you know that the city of Duluth provides little baggies at the entrance of the park, so that conscientious pet owners can clean up after their dogs? What a novel idea.
An impromptu game of whiffleball started on the grass. A group of teenagers came out of the soda shop, brandishing cameras and making their friends pose for them. Various couples and intermittent singles sat on some of the other benches, watching, and moving on. A new clock chimed 4 o’clock, which got me a little by surprise. I hadn’t been expecting that, but I thought it was a pretty cool thing, almost a Norman Rockwell experience.
So yes, it was lazy and boring. But that’s kind of my point. We had talked the previous week about taking a drive somewhere and leaving the city behind us. We talked about Helen, Dahlonega, Hiawassee. By the time we got to putting a plan into action, though, we had wasted enough of the day that neither one of us was all they eager to make a trek. Little did we realize that our own back yard provided exactly the kind of relief and experience for which we were both looking.
Does your town provide you a quiet place to go for a lazy Saturday
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