Sunshine daydream

Missing Iowa...and Sweet Man. He's back there while the kids and I sink our roots in at home. And it's good to be home for a while. I think. I hope.

The calendar is becoming full and there are fun days ahead, but I have been daydreaming a little about our favorite playground in Cedar Falls. Well, actually it's a few miles south of Cedar Falls in charming Hudson, IA. If ever you need a new hometown, Hudson would be a good pick. We discovered its park on a rainy day's drive to a dairy farm and vowed we would come back to play.

We visited several times but one afternoon in particular comes to mind.  Lulled into sunny relaxation as I knit and the babes played, I looked up and had to shake my head a bit to wake up from a scene that seemed surreal.

From my bench in this block-sized park, I watched people pushing strollers, walking dogs. The bell from the school across the street rang and students streamed into the sunshine. Kids on bikes yelled for each other from one sidewalk to another. In one corner of the block, the local high school's concert band was setting up for their spring show and tuning instruments. Ladies were decorating a shelter for a reception after the concert. A pick-up basketball game had started. A little girl called for more pushes on the swings...usually that's my little girl but this day it was someone else's. My kids spun 'round and 'round on the merry-go-round taking turns with newfound playmates. All under a bright blue sky to contrast with the lush green of spring in full burst.

I half expected Mr. Rogers to sit down next to me...won't you be my neighbor?

It sounds like I'm making this up, doesn't it? I promise I am not embellishing...but it was too picturesque to quite believe. Such a nice moment. It felt a little like we were not just visitors and that somehow I'd been there before.

It  took a minute for me to realize I recognized this scene from the pages of a silly little flap book I used to read to the kids...Welcome to My Town. The only thing missing in the real life version was an ice cream truck ringing its bell and stopping for customers *snap.*

I'm thankful for that afternoon. Have to wonder if those moments are rare. Or is it just rare for me to recognize them?