Another New Place brought to me by my friend M, who apparently spent the equivalent of years at this neighborhood park and rec center as she raised her children.

You might think, from the name, that this is a park for turtles. Alas, that is a little misleading.

The park is formally named Friendship Rec Center, but I suppose gets its informal name from a large turtle (made of tiles) that occupies a center place inlaid into the pavement. It’s cute and charming, but may be slightly disappointing for anyone expecting live turtles.

Nonetheless, it was hard to too disappointed on this beautiful day. Indeed, this was a day made to spend at a park–sunny, 70’s, perfectly blue October skies. I got particularly nostalgic to see the baseball field, since it was a baseball field that started this whole One New Place craze for me.  I wandered around, watched the kids, took pictures, and then continued on my way to the hospital and back into my routine.

I never knew this park was here before, tucked just a few blocks off the main street. It took so little time for me to have this small vacation built into my day, and brought so much pleasure and calm into my otherwise rush-rush day. Why haven’t I done this more/before this year? Routine is such a powerful prison.