Saturday in the Park

Have you ever stumbled upon a different part of a place you thought you already knew? This is precisely what happened to the husband and me on a recent trip to Prince's Island Park in Calgary.

During the winter, (which was like the Narnian winter for us. Always winter, never Christmas and unbelievably mercilessly neverending and freezing cold) we ventured out to Prince's Island Park quite a few times. We walked across the bridge we ambled around with the dog, we discussed how much better it would be if the temperature wasn't in the negative integers. And even when it began to thaw around the city we explored the park quite a bit. But, somehow, we had always missed the side of the park in the pictures above.
This part of the park, upon lucky discovery, is dotted with wildlife and Canadian Geese with their goslings. There were flower beds and wide open spaces where people picnicked and played frisbee and held hands. Part of the beauty, of course, was the season, and the loveliness of this specific day, but there was something...oddly European about this new part of the park, though. Something, slow and sweet and it made us feel as if we had stumbled upon a secret.

It was a beautiful day, and we remarked on it constantly. We pointed out babies in buggies and excitedly discussed when we would bring our own (as yet unborn at the time of writing) son to the park for a picnic. We oohed and aahed over bright flowers and let our small dog sniff every tree, bush, and plant we walked by. It was, in a word, glorious.

A little slice of heaven in the middle of our new city, what a treat.