Summer in the Park

Last week Thurday, I picked up Mr.4444's mom and my mom and joined my sister, Mary, at a local park during lunch hour for the "Concert in the Park" series. The Copper Box band was playing a free, lively concert, and the place was packed!

It was quiet at first, but before long, spirited folks were up and dancing. These two got going right away.The band was quite good. Two of their featured instruments were an accordian and a washboard, so imagine my surprise to see these two jamming! (Yes, that's a kilt!)Mom didn't dance, but she was up for a little fun. Check out this photo of her and the gyro salesman I recruited for the photo. Isn't she a kick?!Even those who couldn't stand up and dance got in on the merriment!And of course, what's a picnic lunch in the park without kids? We all observed in silence as a preschool teacher approached with a rope with handles holding about 12 little cuties. They followed her just like ducklings as she escorted them to a grassy space right in front of my chair. While they quietly and patiently waited, she spread out a a sleeping bag, sat in the middle of it, and said, " Okay, everybody sit down." And I kid you not, every single one of those rugrats snuggled up to her on that sleeping bag and sat down. Every single one,; not on the grass--on the sleeping bag. It was a tight fit (she was not a small person), and we were all speechless at how much control she had over the kids. It was terribly cute. I wish I had taken a photo, but I just didn't think of it til later.

While that was impressive, we were all relieved 10-15 minutes later, when the kids began to act like normal children and got up and moved around a little. I even took a few shots of them dancing with the abandon only kids can show. One of them insisted that I take her photo, and I did. Of course, once I did that, everyone wanted a pic.

She then insisted that I let her take my camera over to her teacher so she could show her the photo. Peeling her stubborn fingers off my camera, I firmly but kindly told her no, that she could not. She boldly snapped, "Why?! I'll bring it back!" I told her I would show her teacher, but she could not handle my camera. She gave me that, "Some people!" look.

I took a few more pics, and the kids were mostly pretty cute. Of course, when I bought a popsicle, they all stared at it with wide, sad eyes, even though each of them had had their own popsicles five minutes earlier. Feeling a little smothered, I took a walk to take some pics, but I eventually came back and took out my change purse to find some change for a drink. Suddenly, my chair was surrounded by 3-foot tall panhandlers. The boldest (guess which one) said, "Can I have some money? Pleeeeease can I have some money?" and soon they were like a nest of chirping birds, hungry for worms. I said no, but they did not budge, and a couple of them actually had their hands out. I said, "Listen to me. You need to step away from my chair. I am not going to give you any money. I don't even know you!"

Bold One pipes up, "My name is Shanika!" and her posse followed, "My name is Sarah!" "My name is Simon. What's your name?"

Too funny. (Annoying--yes, but funny, too.)