Walking

In our neighbourhood, almost every one has an alley. I love that. Sometimes we walk past a house I find beautiful, or interesting, or odd, and I just have to duck down the alley and take a look at it from the back. It's so fascinating to get these little glimpses into people's real lives. Is there yard a paved concrete jungle with a broken down car? Or are there grapes hanging over trellises and tomatoes growing abundantly in little pots? Are there children's toys scattered across the lawn? Is neat laundry hung out on a line? Is there a beautiful granite water feature trickling away? Is there a family speaking Italian out on their summer deck, or four teenage girls huddled around the glow of a TV inside with a Bollywood musical? Do they have a beat-up old Rabbit or a fancy Lexus? I love our neighbourhood because we see all these things.

I think we may switch up our bedtime routine for the summer. After bed/bath/book/nurse, instead of the long ordeal of falling asleep we may just toss him in the stroller with his "Bear" and his blanket and wander the neighbourhood. We did it tonight and it worked very to transfer a sweaty little child into his crib afterwards. That's one of the things I miss about pre-parenthood - evening walks. Once bedtime happens, you have to be here. D goes on a walk by himself sometimes, but I can't be bothered to go alone. And yet I love the luxury of talking, walking, dreaming, planning.