The last couple of weeks have been so stressful that I ended up in bed dying.  Or so I thought.  In retrospect it was probably a good thing as it stopped me from rushing into many decisions I might live to regret.

On Sunday (aka Mother’s Day) we decided to drive over to Tilden, a 2,017 acre park straddling the hills between Berkeley and my small town of Orinda California. The park boasts an antique carousel, a child’s size steam train, a reedy lake for swimming, hilly golf course, botanical gardens, a small farm, and of course oodles of hiking trails and picnic areas.  

When I was a child there was nothing I loved more than a carousel.  One ride around was never enough. I could ride all day, round and round to the sound of an organ and had to be dragged back to solid ground crying when it was time to go.  I dreamt of visiting every carousel in the world and even of having one in my backyard when I grew up.

My children were happy with only a couple of rides and on Sunday my granddaughter only wanted one.  It’s a sad thing when a girl doesn’t beg for one more ticket to ride the carousel.  What is the world coming too?

Not exciting enough for kids these days.

Not satisfied with a beautiful, albeit, plaster palomino, Audrey wanted to find a real horse so we went to the farm. The Little Farm is in a beautiful pine grove but alas there were no horses.

There was a cow.

And bunnies but you couldn’t feed them.

How about you?  Was one ride on the carousel enough for you? Check out other ThursdayDoors on Norm Frampton’s site.

By the way, I’m still weighing publications options.  I decided not to rush but take my time.  Thank you all for your kind wishes!