A Walk in the Park

In case you were wondering why I haven't blogged lately, I have been recovering from surgery, and nothing really seemed interesting enough to bother blogging about.

While I recover, my daily schedule is very different from my normal frantic rush. Every day now, I get up and go for a walk in the park. I've noticed some curious patterns.

• Almost everyone in the park is retirement age. I wonder what it must be like to have the free time to do this regularly.
  
• The most popular activity is tennis -- the courts open at 8:30am, and people are lined up waiting. The men generally wear tennis whites, while some of the women go a little bit crazy and dare to wear lavender shorts.
  
• Women like to walk in pairs, chatting sociably. One woman proudly sports a metallic gold fanny pack
  
• Men like to jog or bike by themselves, purposefully. On the average they work out harder than the women. Their faces are sometimes alarmingly red, or even more alarmingly grey. I find myself reviewing the steps of CPR in my mind, and wondering where the nearest defibrillator is.
  
• One couple walks together. Every once in a while, without any apparent signal, they break into a jog for a short distance before dropping back to a walk. They always look very serious. They don't talk, although they might politely nod the head as I pass.
  
• Most of the single walkers are listening to I-pods.
  
• I haven't seen anyone pushing a stroller. Don't people do that anymore?
  
• I haven't seen anyone riding a horse (even though the nicest paths are equestrian-only).
  

It's as if I am a temporary member of a different society. But my Visa will be expiring soon and I'll be returning to my normal 'country', where I get up and get on the train instead of going to the park.