Monday in the Park with Teens

                                                    Above, Punch and K on path.

Yesterday was Presidents' Day, a school holiday. I took Punch and her friend K to Yantacaw Brook Park for a short walk before going for a small-plate empanada/plátanos with mango smoothie and cherry lemonade for the girls lunch at Noches de Colombia downtown. 

The pocket park looks like something out of a storybook, with ducks showboating in the pretty pond. We walked three of the short park loops. It always feels like a little bit of heaven in that spot, because it’s so tranquil.

Even though the girls walked ahead of me most of the time, I caught some snippets of talk about the piercing of navels, birthday parties, manicures and boys--Punchy’s boyfriend; some boy who has a girlfriend now; and one who moved to another town when his parents divorced but still lives part-time in Montclair. 

It was score one for me, though. I smiled to myself. Even though their phones were in hand (of course they were), I got the two teens out to breathe fresh air and walk in the sunshine, ever so briefly. 

Good night.