The Neighborhood Park

So there's this huge freakin' park right near the house: Prospect Park. Interestingly, it was designed by the same guys who more famously created Central Park, and it's even been said they consider this one their masterpiece. So, yesterday, when I was home after taking a red eye from California, I decided to take the Block (aka Stella) for a walk to check it out.

You can see from the map that there's a lake in the southern part of the park, right near our neighborhood. So I decided, just for a kick, that my first walk would be around it. Now, it isn't THAT big, but it took me an hour and a half, so that was plenty of time for something odd to happen. And sure enough, some couple's puppy decided to go a little crazy and jumped right into an algae filled corner of the pond. I came two seconds from jumping in after it, because the way this guy was yelling, I thought it was a child. Other than that moment of drama, most of the walk was just staring at different birds and accepting people's compliments as they gawked at my very cute dog. (Just once, I want someone to come up to me, start petting the dog, and start saying, "You're such a lucky dog, you have such a good looking owner!" I'm starting to feel like maybe my dog is too attractive for me.)

The problem with leaving right near a great park is that you feel guilty if you aren't regularly taking advantage of it. Like, tomorrow I have a half day and the weather's supposed to be perfect. But what if I want to go to a bar or work on fixing up my basement? Then I wasted the nice weather, and (I can hear that guilt-trippy little voice in my head whining) THE PARK IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!