beating the heat in the neighborhood

Recently I joined a gym. Shocker, I know. Yes, it's the first time I have ever joined a gym. I was terribly nervous about it, being the nonathlete that I am. I don't know how to use anything. I didn't want to look stupid. I'm just totally out of my element. Anyway, this isn't really about the gym, but I will say, that in order to make this worthwhile, I decided to just jump in. I got a few sessions with a trainer, gone to a few of the classes, and am working on a 5k training program. I'm figuring out the gym thing.

But one of the things I totally didn't know about was the whole community aspect of a gym. Seeing the same people over and over. Making connections.

Yesterday, I was picking up Marlowe from the (free!) childcare (ok, maybe not free--but included in the gym cost), and another mom was picking up her kid, and she said something about their going to a sprayground later.

At that my ears perked up. I've been looking all over for such fun. I found a couple listed online, but in faroff parts of town, so I haven't ventured forth yet. I was starting to feel like spraygrounds were things other cities had, and our poor city who can barely keep its libraries open just wasn't going there.

But, lo, and behold, this park that I pass all the time has a newly refurbished playground and sprays for the kids to play in! I didn't know there was more to this park than the basketball courts. Best of all, it's only about 10 minutes away. And the new playground part is really, really fun, too.

Later, it occurred to me that this is what you people in the 'burbs call "running through the sprinkler." Well, we do what we can do.