When I think of an ideal day, it comes pretty close to this past Sunday. One of the key ingredients is to not have any rigid plans, but just a general sense of, "Let's see where this goes". It was a typical mid-60s February Sunday and we spent it in Atlanta. This is one of the really key benefits of the new life that we're creating down here - being in the close-enough orbit of a big bustling city... Macon has all the charms (and prices) of a thriving small town, but with all the benefits of a Top-10 city within an hour or so. It's nearly ideal.
We have a membership to Zoo Atlanta, so we try to visit whenever we're in Atlanta... this was our sixth visit in the last year, but it was the most extraordinary yet. This is because we didn't bring a stroller with us, and we essentially just "took a walk in the park" with Daniel. We followed his lead as he let us know what the really cool things were (and weren't). On this Sunday afternoon, there were no crowds and we happened to stumble upon several animal feedings... of course, the pandas are ALWAYS eating (Daniel asked to sleep with his panda later that night, instead of his usual Elmo).
After the Zoo, we headed to one of our new favorite neighborhoods that we've recently "found" - the Monroe/10th-Street/Piedmont area. Angel remarked that it had the "upscale bohemian" quality of Park Ave in Rochester. What was really neat was to see all the houses that share an architectural kinship with our house, only these are in a prime downtown Atlanta location. There were dozens of dogs being walked, with nobody showing they had a care in the world. Just people enjoying a peaceful early-Spring day. We ordered a take-out pizza from Mellow Mushroom (I DREAM about this pizza at night) - and I wondered aloud if we had ever before imagined we would buy a $25 pizza and feel it was justified! We also explored the nearby Trader Joe's hip grocery store - Angel tried a sample of curried chicken and I sampled the free coffee. For his part, Daniel got a blue balloon and took it outside to show the chocolate lab we had passed at a cafe. Then he let it go (which he loves to do).
Then we were off to Piedmont Park, which looks an awful lot like Central Park, only a fraction of its size. We munched the pizza and Daniel joined a couple dozen other kids on the awesome playground. As the sun set, we packed the car back up and headed toward the I-75 South ramp, stopping off at my favorite Dunkin Donuts on Ponce de Leon Ave.
Why is this an ideal day? Because for a change we were "just living". No agendas, no deadlines. And, as I'm starting to realize as a true piece of wisdom, the real pleasures of the day centered on time with the family... and yummy food! Throw in the big-city backdrop, free and healthy activities, and pleasant weather... shake well, and you've got a perfect day!
We have a membership to Zoo Atlanta, so we try to visit whenever we're in Atlanta... this was our sixth visit in the last year, but it was the most extraordinary yet. This is because we didn't bring a stroller with us, and we essentially just "took a walk in the park" with Daniel. We followed his lead as he let us know what the really cool things were (and weren't). On this Sunday afternoon, there were no crowds and we happened to stumble upon several animal feedings... of course, the pandas are ALWAYS eating (Daniel asked to sleep with his panda later that night, instead of his usual Elmo).
After the Zoo, we headed to one of our new favorite neighborhoods that we've recently "found" - the Monroe/10th-Street/Piedmont area. Angel remarked that it had the "upscale bohemian" quality of Park Ave in Rochester. What was really neat was to see all the houses that share an architectural kinship with our house, only these are in a prime downtown Atlanta location. There were dozens of dogs being walked, with nobody showing they had a care in the world. Just people enjoying a peaceful early-Spring day. We ordered a take-out pizza from Mellow Mushroom (I DREAM about this pizza at night) - and I wondered aloud if we had ever before imagined we would buy a $25 pizza and feel it was justified! We also explored the nearby Trader Joe's hip grocery store - Angel tried a sample of curried chicken and I sampled the free coffee. For his part, Daniel got a blue balloon and took it outside to show the chocolate lab we had passed at a cafe. Then he let it go (which he loves to do).
Then we were off to Piedmont Park, which looks an awful lot like Central Park, only a fraction of its size. We munched the pizza and Daniel joined a couple dozen other kids on the awesome playground. As the sun set, we packed the car back up and headed toward the I-75 South ramp, stopping off at my favorite Dunkin Donuts on Ponce de Leon Ave.
Why is this an ideal day? Because for a change we were "just living". No agendas, no deadlines. And, as I'm starting to realize as a true piece of wisdom, the real pleasures of the day centered on time with the family... and yummy food! Throw in the big-city backdrop, free and healthy activities, and pleasant weather... shake well, and you've got a perfect day!
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