Mission Doldrums

My son has a cold (or perhaps allergies) and my husband happens to be out of town for a couple days. It's the first time I've flown solo with the little guy for two days in a row. It's been a tough couple of days. Be that as it may--I feel semi-rehabilitated after an ibuprofen tablet, a late-evening shower and a small glass of whiskey (I swear, not much more than a shot), plus handfuls of my son's crunchy cheese snacks. But I'll try to keep this short, to allow myself to get to bed ridiculously early.

Took the kid to Dolores Park today--I think I've only been there twice before, and both times were for a political demonstration. My ulterior motive for going was to stop in a cafe somewhere for a cup of coffee, but I did manage to make it to the playground as well.

The park was a mob scene--no other way to describe it. I would guess that around two hundred people were there, sunning themselves on the lawn and engaging in a variety of activities, some of them illegal, some not. I've never seen so many different forms of circus and parade-type pursuits going on someplace other than a circus or a parade, and by that I mean: tightrope walking, twirling long batons, juggling balls, making dogs do tricks, and so forth. The pot-smoking was, I guess, the "old school" form of entertainment.

I must admit that I wasn't really getting into the spirit of the moment. I kept thinking about my husband in New York and wishing I was with him; I was probably thinking about that coffee as well, and how I'd rather be sitting in a cafe reading a book and drinking it. Also, my son was almost hit once by a stray frisbee; then someone nonchalantly threw a baseball not far from where we were strolling, not close enough to hit him, but carelessly nonetheless. I think the only part of that excursion that my kid really enjoyed was watching a few cute dogs walk by, and the only part I enjoyed was when I was finally sitting in the car again on the way home, eating pumpkin bread and drinking an excellent cup of coffee. There are days like that.