05/14/2013

Lately we’ve been going on walks as a family, partly to get in shape for our upcoming Trek in August, but also because it’s just kind of nice to spend an hour wandering around town with each other.

Last night we headed over to a local park, following the stream that runs near our house. Being the curious guy I am, I told everyone we should trace the stream and find out “where it comes from”. There’s quite a bit of water running through it these days (thanks to the recent snow and rain), so I wondered where the source is. We followed it past the park and tracked it to a road on the north end of town, where it disappeared into a tunnel beneath the road. We crossed the road and looked all over the area but couldn’t find the stream! Strange. I’d expect it to continue somewhere north, but nothing was obvious.

In any case, with that still a mystery, we decided to walk along the train tracks on our way home. Who wants to go along a boring sidewalk when there’s a half-mile of track straight through town? Along the way, we discovered it’s actually pretty difficult to walk on the rails– they’re narrow, slightly curved on top, and very smooth. Kyra and I had a contest to see who could go the farthest without losing balance and falling off (she won). La and I learned that if you walk side-by-side, holding hands across the tracks, it’s much easier. I’m sure there’s some kind of deep meaning there.

On our next walk, I want to go the other way along the stream to figure out where it ends up. I know it winds south to a point near 9th Avenue and then goes under the road. Does it come out somewhere? Is it all a big trick?