We live in one of the most amazing places in the country and even so I can find things to complain about. I used to live in San Francisco. In fact, I grew up there but as I got older I could find all kinds of things to complain about. Especially, when it was too damn hot! I think top on the list was the "Urine Factor" which elevated as it got warmer. I can't even imagine what it must be like today when it's close to 90. Actually, I can and don't want to. I don't have that problem any more but on occasion I can find myself complaining about trivial things like hot weather. Yes, its just awful that I have to suffer for the 15-20 days of the year that it reaches the upper 80's or low 90's. Poor little O' me.
Now I may complain about things but I am also a person to do something about it once it comes to mind. And whether my complaint is about the heat or how much I hate driving on I-80 or the occasional lack of courtesy for pedestrians, I have always been able to find piece of mind and take my kids to one of the many East Bay Parks to get away from it all and save my mind, body and soul (sanity).
I live on the Island so the first thing I do is think about the beach but at 2pm on a 80+ degree day I don't feel like pretending to be a potato chip. Nor do I want my wife to come home and see our kids have turned into little Red Lobsters. So then there is Roberts Park which has Oak shaded pool but also has a ton of hiking trails through Redwood groves and is about 10+ degrees cooler with a breeze. Plus, there are natural watersheds so they/I can take off our shoes and cool off a bit, throw rocks and make big splashes, you know because that's what 42 year old adults do. Or maybe I can grab some fishing poles and head over to Lake Anza where coincidentally the kids can also swim or Lake Temescal or Chabot, and so on. But the options don't stop there, I start thinking about Cull Canyon and how a creek opens up into a large swimming lagoon perfect for small children and you can bob around in an inner tube (when's the last time you did that?). There are a ton of things that I can do to escape the heat and crowds when the weather turns against me. It's simply something that I never thought about until I moved here and had kids. In the City I went to a Museum, Golden Park or maybe Ocean Beach where it was probably fogged in on an 80 degree day. That was it. Those were my options and I really don't like not having any. So thank you East Bay parks and your 117,000 acres, 1200 miles of hiking trials and 11 freshwater swimming areas.
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So if you also think it's too damn hot or maybe you're too damn bored or the kids are too damn cracky... I encourage you to discover what makes living here so incredibly awesome. Then I can write another blog complaining how busy the parks are.
BTW - I'm going to Crab Cove
