Day 4,445—the Park Tour on Father’s Day 2026!—

 

Start time: 9:06 a.m.

Weather: Mid 70s, wind 10.5 mi/h, Humidity 74%

  I went through the nice neighborhood first. I have watched this massive home get built through the years. It looks like they will be done sometime this year. It is amazing how much changes when you’re standing still. Almost every business within a one-mile radius of me has changed in the past five years. It is interesting to see a place like Fuzzy Taco’s close. When it opened six years ago, it was so popular, but then it was randomly announced that it was closed.

  Next, I went through the trail around the retirement community. It is only about a mile, scenic, usually vacant, and I enjoy listening to the birds. After that, I go through the bird sanctuary in Blackburn Park. It is unusually busy today, and I see two people immediately as I run up the hill, making the most of the quarter-mile trail. Then I go back to Shrewsberry, stop, and take a picture of a flower in a tree, trying to get one in focus while the bees dive headfirst into one pollen paradise after another. Fluffy yellow pollen drips from their legs as they exit, looking for more. I didn’t get the picture. A person with a child and another with a dog walks by me awkwardly. I smile and say, “Hi!” 

  I go through Shrewsberry park to the trail around the seminary. It is the longest trail section by far, and I do close to three miles there. I see so many deer, one so young it couldn’t have been more than a couple of weeks old. It looked like a small dog. I headed back towards home through the old trail system and was home. Looking forward to spending some time with my family on Father’s Day.

  My son has recently asked me, “Dada, what’s your name?”

  I looked at him and said, “My name is Father.” So now, he has been calling me father more and more but he doesn’t exactly say, “father,” so he says, “fadther,” but the way he says it is so delicate as I see his mind working trying to pronounce it correctly. Yesterday, both of my  kids asked me to read to them. They both were holding books that I had bought for them. Vivian wanted me to read her Junie B. Jones ’ graphic novel that I got her six months ago. She had been so against it at first, but once we had read all the Dog-Man books we got from the library 10 times, she decided to give it a chance. She can sound out words, which is  progress, but she isn’t reading independently as far as I know. She does stay up late almost every night flipping through graphic novels.

  I got Felix a Monster Truck Search-and-Find book, and he was fighting with his sister over who would get to read it to him. I thought about a time in the future when I could start reading them the Harry Potter books and who knows what else. I remember when my dad used to read us those books about a veterinarian who lived in the English countryside. My mom used to read to us a lot, too, mostly the bible. I don’t know how long my two kids will be excited to read a book I bought them and carry around, demanding that I read it, so I am going to try to hold onto these moments as long as I can. And buy them more books.