Saturday, May 23, 2009

Night on the "Small" Town: Zanesville

At noon today, Benjamin and I sat on the bench in the front yard trying to get the sun to burn away the rotten day both of us were having.



I was slightly envious of him. His rotten day meant when things were going the wrong direction for him, he would dissolve into a complete fit of temper and uncontrollable screaming. But even in the midst of my attempting various methods of handling his frothy fury, I thought, "Yep. There are days when I wish I could just let loose and scream with full lungs of air and just let all the stuff inside burst out like a bad blister." Yet, deep down I do believe that hearty screaming doesn't really change reality.

So I didn't join him. Subdued crying is more my forte.

After some sun therapy, a picnic lunch and some chatting, we picked up our pieces and managed to not feel utterly terrible.

And then our day became great.

First, Isaac and Dylan woke up from their naps rested and peaceful.
Second, Meerkat Manor is an afternoon diversion we all agree on.
Third, I snuck a nap on the couch which helped me to at least put my troubles back in a drawer so that I could enjoy the moment.

There's was only one interruption.
"Emergency! Emergency! Blue Puppy has cottage cheese on him!"

Toys away, shoes on feet, it was time for my date with three incredibly handsome guys.

It was a great date.

We gathered up our favorite Papa John's pizza to go and motored down Maple Avenue over the Muskingum River via I-70 and took our first exit past one of the Carnegie libraries our very own John McIntire library.

It was the Caboose down by Zanesville's train yard we were after. The caboose sits on it's own little mini track and the pizza could barely hold up against the allure of trips across Germany and the entire nation. The boys traveled many miles there and enjoyed the picnic.

Since no outing with Benjamin and Isaac would be complete without a bathroom break, we left our train to head over to the Zanes Landing park. Home of the Lorena Sternwheeler.

We walked along the river and saw the sunset and trees reflected in the water.

We kept hearing music from the pavilion, so once we could bid adieu to the Lorena, we leaped over the little hill to see what that was all about.

Apparently, there were some bands playing at a "free concert" there. We stayed for one of them. "Wild in Waste" from Lancaster, Ohio. Two electric guitars, one bass, a drum kit, some decent musicians and lots of amps. We rocked, don't you know! Isaac kept his eye on that drummer. Dylan danced and Benjamin applauded and kept an eye on the skateboarders in the corners.

When we got home, he stood on the red wagon and pretended to do a skateboard trick.

Our rotten day became a great spring evening. It's the ending we all needed and wanted.

Happy. And yes. Ever after kisses. Lots of them.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a lovely summer day...in a lovely little town...I remember some of those places as we visited a few of them with the Davis' when we were in Zanesville.

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  2. That sounds idealic. Renee, you make me so excited to be a Mom someday. (P.S. someday does NOT mean anytime soon =])
    Also, sometimes screaming into your pillow at least releases some pressure.

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