I've Been Meaning to Post This:

April 4, 2011, Spring Break
Day One: Happiness
Giuliana, hair flying, turns cartwheels in the April wind and sunshine. Her brothers toss a baseball back and forth in the street, and I am curled up in a red Tommy Bahama lawn chair, coloring and enjoying Spring.


April 5, 2011, Spring Break
Day Two: The Monster of Polliwog Park
Tuesday afternoon the sunlight was too beautiful to stay in doors. I packed up a bag filled with the unwanted heels from our past few loaves of bread, the stale remainder of an angel food cake, and two stacks of white cheddar cheese rice cakes which everyone in the house refuses to eat. Armed with our supplies, Vinny, Giuwels, and I set off for Polliwog Park. There are many things we love to do there. We like to see how close we can get to the dozens of turtles sunning themselves on the banks of the pond. We like to run full speed into a flock of pigeons or sea gulls for the sheer joy of watching them all fly away in a whirl of feathers and wings and indignant squawks. We like to feed the polite pairs of Mallard ducks that swim so calmly up for food. But most of all, we love to toss some crumbs out over the water and then stand quietly back as we wait for the Monster of Polliwog Park to surface. A catfish the size of a small dog, with whiskers as big as pencils, lives in the depths of Polliwog Pond, and to see him is almost as grand as seeing the White Whale. He's enormous, mysterious, hideously repulsive and yet strangely enticing. You want to see him, but when he rises to the surface with his huge vacuum-like mouth sucking up all the food in its path, you're completely horrorstruck that such a creature exists. We spent our afternoon tossing rice cakes onto the water and screaming, "It's a BEAST!" whenever the legendary animal appeared. In conclusion, I can only say that I hope the Monster of Polliwog Park likes cheddar!



April 6, 2011, Spring Break
Day Three: "Even at Our Swiftest Speed, We Couldn't Break from the Concrete"
Yesterday afternoon as the kids were wheeling their bikes out of the garage, I noticed a white beach cruiser parked in the back of the garage that looked to be just about my size. Vinny said it was Michael's, so I dashed upstairs and interrupted his tutoring session to ask if I could ride his bike for awhile. Having obtained permission, I ran back downstairs, cleared away all the junk piled around this beautiful but hardly-used bike, and hopped on. I think Vinny and Giuwels were just as delighted as I was because they immediately began clamoring to go for a real Bike Ride--which is different than their normal experience of riding up and down the street in front of their house. So we set off on our grand avdenture Around the Block. Manhattan Beach is full of hills, which makes for some challenging biking conditions--especially when riding with a 5 year old who's still got training wheels. Of course, the downhill part is everyone's favorite. The exhiliration and delight on Giuliana's face as she raced down the slope of 27th Street was worth the more arduous trek back up 25th Street. She was reduced to walking her bike up the hill, and I joined her in her plight. The uphill work builds character and determination. The downhill rides remind us that our souls can fly.