stop.

I don’t remember when I changed my to-work walk route, but I do remember why I changed it: my old route included stairs. An old basketball injury has bestowed upon me a bad knee so my idea of hell is actually a never ending flight of stairs with fangs. (My homebound route still involves stairs though – not one, not two, but three underpasses!)

So anyway, as I was walking to work this morning I paused at sprinklers. No, I did not pause in front of them (though that would have been nice, it’s scalding), I just stared at them. I’ve been walking past that park for a few months and only noticed them this morning. I’m not actually sure why: Were those sprinklers installed recently? (I doubt that.) How could I have assumed that the grass, trees, and shrubbery survived on nothing but the drool of squalling brats and great landscapers?

Then I realized that I haven’t actually been to the chapel when I walk by it every day, I haven’t walked around the park on a regular day, I haven’t fed the fish (I don’t know if it’s allowed), and I haven’t checked the giant Easter egg spaceship (yes, it really does look that way) and the other statues in that park up close. Every time, every morning, I’m hurrying to somewhere and I didn’t even stop when yellow flowers were falling from the giant tree and carpeted the walkway across the pond.

Well, note to self Rio: visit said park, look like a damned tourist by taking pictures, sit on the bench and think of nothing.