When I found this apartment back in August, I knew it was an answer to prayer and I felt very grateful to find a quiet place with cool room mates near my school and near a night market. The longer I live here the more I like it. Mainly, the more time I spend in the park the more I love it.
5 minutes from my front door is a very long park that snakes and curves beside the river for miles and miles. Each morning, I can ride up the park to school or go for a run there after work when my head needs to be cleared. I could join in a game of basketball (haven't gotten the nerve up to do this one yet, male dominated past time), enjoy the river, or just watch. Watch birds, watch packs of stray dogs (harmless, really), watch people spray paint, watch couples in tango lessons or watch the moon.
This past Sunday, I rode my bike home after church and noticed how lively and energetic the park was on the weekends compared to my week days commutes. I love seeing people enjoy themselves outside. Especially in a city that can be noisy and crowded this park is a wonderful space for everyone to come and enjoy and move their bodies. It's a chance to be "country" in the city, take off your shoes and let the grass sneak in between your toes, fish on the bank, feed the birds, enjoy the animals stray and wild that linger all around you.
"You can take the girl out of the country but you can't take the country out of the girl."
To fully understand my love for this park you need to know about my parents. One of the many things I love about them is they often "kicked us kids out of the house", telling us to play outside. So, I grew up playing in the woods, digging in the dirt, picking leaves and petals at random. Then, taking them between my finger and thumb nail, cutting them into little pieces and inhaling the sweet or woody fragrance before climbing a tree or playing under one. Playing outside, enjoying nature and using all our senses to appreciate it and explore in it is a gift from God. It is good to lose our sense of time and place in an engaging, outdoor activity. It like therapy for me and I know that no matter how old I will grow on this earth I will always need to go outside and play.
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